12
A greeing to discuss the four- point agenda of the farm- ers, the Ministry of Agriculture on Monday invited 40 protest- ing farmers’ unions for the next round of talks on Wednesday to find a “logical solution” to the current impasse over the three new farm laws that has led to massive protests near Delhi’s borders for the last one month. This will be the sixth time that the Centre will be making an attempt to convince farmers to call off their month-long agi- tation. However, a joint front of farmer unions had proposed that the talks be held on Tuesday. Meanwhile, reacting to the Government response, farmers’ unions have agreed “in-princi- ple” to a Government propos- al for talks, but said the Centre should have spelt out the agen- da of the meeting in its invite. Samyukt Kisan Morcha — an umbrella body of 40 unions protesting against the con- tentious legislations — said the farmers have agreed to go for the meeting on the date proposed by the Centre, while All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has said the Centre has shown an unwillingness to resolve the issue. “The Government has used vague and unspecific lan- guage, indicating its unwill- ingness to discuss the full agen- da items proposed by farmers,” the organisation said in a statement. It also said the Government is trying to find ways to blame farmers in order to cover up its consistent adamant stand of continuing with the three farm laws and Electricity Amendment Bill. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, however, said he is hopeful to find an early solu- tion to end the impasse. Speaking at a virtual event organised by Confederation of NGOs of Rural India (CNRI), he said a “wall of lies” has been spread in a “planned manner” among farmers against the new farm laws, but it will not last long and protesting peasants will soon realise the truth. Earlier in a letter to the unions, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal noted that the farmers’ groups had commu- nicated their willingness to hold discussions with an open mind. “The Government of India is also committed to logical solution of the relevant issues with an open mind and honest intentions,” he said. However, the Government letter does not specifically make reference to the farmers’ key demand for repeal of three reform laws. With regard to the pro- posed agenda by the unions for the meeting, Aggarwal said a detailed discussion will take place on three farm laws, MSP procurement system as well as Electricity Amendment Bill and ordinance to tackle air pol- lution in and around Delhi and NCR. The decision to finalise the date for next of round talks was after a high-level meeting held by Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on the farmer crisis. However, the Government letter did not make any specif- ic reference to one key condi- tion proposed by the unions seeking talks on modalities for the repeal of the Acts. The date given by the Government for the next round of talks is the same day when unions have also decided to hold a tractor march from Singhu Border and Tikri Border to the Kundli- Manesar-Palwal (KMP) high- way. The last formal meeting took place on December 5, in which union leaders had demanded a clear “yes or no” answer from the Government on their main demand of the repeal of the three laws while the sixth round of talks origi- nally scheduled for December 9 was called off a day after an informal meeting of Shah with some union leaders failed to reach any breakthrough. M ore than 1,500 telecom towers in Punjab have been damaged by farmers protesting against the three farm laws, disrupting services in some pockets, sources said. Power supply to towers that relay telecom signals was snapped and cables cut in several parts of the state as farmers vented their anger on the infrastructure owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s firm Jio as they saw him along with infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani as major ben- eficiaries of the new laws. Neither Ambani’s Reliance group nor Adani's companies are into the business of procur- ing foodgrains from farmers. “Till yesterday, 1,411 tow- ers were damaged and today the count has gone well past 1,500,” a source with knowl- edge of the matter said. In Jalandhar, some bun- dles of Jio’s fibre cable were also burnt. Jio has 9,000 plus tow- ers in the state. Another source said the most common way of damag- ing the telecom towers was to cut off the power supply. In at least one case, the generator at a tower site was physically taken away and allegedly donated to a local gurudwara. Videos of Jio employees being threatened and made to flee have gone viral. Continued on Page 2 T he Government on Monday launched a two- day dry run for coronavirus vaccine programme in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Assam. The focus of the dry run will be on management of pos- sible adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) as well as on adherence and manage- ment of infection control prac- tices at the session site to pre- vent disease transmission. The mock drill is being car- ried out in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, in Rajkot and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) in Punjab and Sonitpur and Nalbari districts in Assam. The Centre had asked each of the four States to plan the dry run in two districts and preferably in five different ses- sion-type settings — district hospital, community health centre (CHC) or primary health care centre (PHC), urban site, private health facil- ity and rural outreach. At least 125 intended ben- eficiaries each in four States who had registered on the Co- WIN App were sent SMSes informing them about the time and place of their “Covid-19 vaccination” under a mock- drill and preparations made to administer the shots at desig- nated centres. It is being conducted to test the laid out mechanisms for Covid-19 vaccination in the States and provide insights into any gaps to be addressed before the commencement of the actual vaccination drive, according to officials. They said the exercise test- ed the functionality of Co- WIN, which is an online plat- form for monitoring the deliv- ery of Covid-19 vaccine, deployment of team members, checking cold storage, trans- portation arrangements and other arrangements while fol- lowing all necessary protocols. It will also include testing of cold storage and trans- portation arrangements for Covid-19 vaccine and man- agement of crowds at session sites with proper physical dis- tancing, the Ministry said. As per the checklist shared with the States by the Union Health Ministry, beneficiaries will be pre-identified and an SMS will be sent to them in advance with the name of the vaccinator and the time of the immunisation. Continued on Page 2 New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who had tested positive for Covid-19 and was hospi- talised in Dehradun after devel- oping fever, was admitted to AIIMS in Delhi on Monday. T he Union Home Ministry on Monday extended the Covid-19 Pandemic Guidelines for Surveillance, Containment and Caution to January 31, ask- ing States to keep vigil on the tackling of new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom. The current guideline was issued up to December 31. “The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an order today to extend the earlier Guidelines for Surveillance to remain in force up to 31.01.2021. While there has been a continuous decline in the active and new Covid-19 cases, there is need to maintain surveillance, containment and caution, keeping in view the surge in cases globally, and emergence of a new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom (UK),” said the Home Ministry in a statement. The Ministry said con- tainment zones should be demarcated carefully and pre- scribed containment measures must be strictly followed with- in these zones. “Covid-appropriate behav- iour promoted and strictly enforced; and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prescribed in respect of various permitted activities followed scrupulously,” said the MHA asking States to adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prescribed by the Union Health Ministry. In November, the MHA had said in addition to guide- lines already in place since October, States and Union Territories, based on their assessment of the situation, may impose local restrictions, such as a night curfew. However, the MHA has said State Governments shall not impose any local lockdown outside the containment zones, without prior consultation with the Union Government. The Government has advised vulnerable persons, i.e., persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, to stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes. T he Congress is likely to pro- pose the name of Rahul Gandhi as its next party chief at a conclave being planned in Rajasthan by the end of January 2021. AICC sources said Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is keen to hold the conclave in Jaipur or Udaipur and desires to stage manage Rahul’s return as Congress president. Incidentally, during the last national conclave of the Congress in 2012 at Jaipur the Gandhi scion was appointed as national vice-president of the AICC. Sources in the AICC said the Congress conclave will be held in January or February 2021 after the internal organi- sation polls being undertaken by the party’s Central Election Commitee in a phase-wise and virtual mode. Gehlot has been in talks with Rahul’s office for the con- clave with a proposal to hold the session either in Jaipur or Udaipur. The final decision on this will be taken after Rahul’s return from abroad. Sources said the proposal for the re-appointment of Rahul as Congress president will be put forth during the conclave even though Rahul has strictly said no to his come- back. Rahul relinquished the presidentship on moral grounds after the dismal per- formance of the party in Lok Sabha elections 2019. “However, many feel that his statement that he is ready to do anything for the party at a meeting with senior leaders and Sonia Gandhi, has been assumed as his acceptance to take over as the Congress pres- ident. Hence the mood in the party is in that direction,” said a senior leader. Sonia has already declared that she will in no case continue to head the party which she agreed to continue as interim in August for only six months, party leader said. Continued on Page 2 T he Assam Government on Monday tabled a Bill in the Legislative Assembly to abolish all State-run madrasas by con- verting them into general schools from April 1 next year. Despite a united Opposition objecting to tabling of the Bill, Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma intro- ducted The Assam Repealing Bill, 2020 on the first day of the three-day winter session. The Bill proposes to abol- ish the two existing Acts — The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995 and The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrasa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018. “This bill is not to control and repeal the private madrasas,” Sarma said, adding inclusion of the word “pri- vate” in the “statement of objects and reasons” of the Bill was a mistake. The Assam cabinet had on December 13 approved a proposal to close down all madrasas and Sanskrit Tols (schools) however, the legisla- tion brought in the Assembly during the day did not contain anything related to the Sanskrit schools. Continued on Page 2 A day after an AIADMK MP openly snubbed the BJP saying that either it should accept the chief ministerial candidature of Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) for the 2021 Assembly election or go its own way, a major firefighting oper- ation has started at the highest level in Chennai to resuscitate the sinking partnership from a possible disaster. The CM met Tamil Nadu BJP president L Murugan on Monday following interven- tion by Union Minister for Power Piyush Goyal, according to a source close to Murugan. Though Murugan did not disclose what transpired in the meeting, the Chief Minister is believed to have told him not to take seriously the MP’s warning to the BJP to the heart. “Murugan said that it was for BJP national president JP Nadda to endorse the chief ministerial candidate’s name because the AIADMK was part of the NDA alliance,” said Murugan’s close aide. Narayanan Tiruppati, BJP’s senior spokesman feigned ignorance about the meeting between EPS and Murugan. “All I could say right now is that the AIADMK and the BJP are constituents of the NDA. There is no possibility of any kind of breaking of the alliance as on today,” said Narayanan. He also pointed out that it was Murugan who first con- gratulated Palaniswamy when the executive committee of the AIADMK declared the latter as the CM candidate. The reception accorded by the AIADMK Government to Home Minister Amit Shah when he visited Chennai last month is still fresh in public memory. The Chief Minister and his deputy O Panneerselvan along with senior Government officials were at Chennai airport to receive and see off Shah during the latter’s visit to the State in November. “The BJP had not approached the AIADMK for any favours. It was during an official function in Chennai attended by the Home Minister that Panneerselvan and Palaniswami declared that AIADMK would continue its alliance with the Hindutva party. Nothing has changed since then,” said Narayanan. U S President Donald Trump has signed into law a Bill that reaffirms the right of Tibetans to choose a successor to the Dalai Lama and calls for establishing an American con- sulate in Tibet, prompting China to warn that the Act will seriously disrupt and hurt bilat- eral relations. The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 modifies and re-authorises various pro- grammes and provisions relat- ed to Tibet. Trump signed the Act on Sunday as part of the massive $2.3 trillion package for the year-end bill to provide long-delayed coronavirus relief. Reacting to Trump’s move to sign the Government spend- ing bill that includes provisions about Taiwan and Tibet, China on Monday expressed firm opposition to it. The act will seriously dis- rupt and hurt China-US rela- tions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing. The Chinese Government firmly resolves to safeguard national sovereignty and secu- rity, and strongly urges the US to stop using Tibet-related and Taiwan-related issues to intes- rfere in China’s internal affairs, Zhao said. Continued on Page 2

2020/12/29  · Congress president. Incidentally, during the last national conclave of the Congress in 2012 at Jaipur the Gandhi scion was appointed as national vice-president of

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    Agreeing to discuss the four-point agenda of the farm-ers, the Ministry of Agricultureon Monday invited 40 protest-ing farmers’ unions for the nextround of talks on Wednesdayto find a “logical solution” tothe current impasse over thethree new farm laws that hasled to massive protests nearDelhi’s borders for the last onemonth.

    This will be the sixth timethat the Centre will be makingan attempt to convince farmersto call off their month-long agi-tation. However, a joint front offarmer unions had proposedthat the talks be held onTuesday.

    Meanwhile, reacting to theGovernment response, farmers’unions have agreed “in-princi-ple” to a Government propos-al for talks, but said the Centreshould have spelt out the agen-da of the meeting in its invite.

    Samyukt Kisan Morcha —an umbrella body of 40 unionsprotesting against the con-tentious legislations — saidthe farmers have agreed to gofor the meeting on the dateproposed by the Centre, whileAll India Kisan SangharshCoordination Committee(AIKSCC) has said the Centrehas shown an unwillingness toresolve the issue.

    “The Government hasused vague and unspecific lan-guage, indicating its unwill-

    ingness to discuss the full agen-da items proposed by farmers,”the organisation said in astatement. It also said theGovernment is trying to findways to blame farmers in orderto cover up its consistentadamant stand of continuingwith the three farm laws andElectricity Amendment Bill.

    Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar, however, said he is

    hopeful to find an early solu-tion to end the impasse.Speaking at a virtual eventorganised by Confederation ofNGOs of Rural India (CNRI),he said a “wall of lies” has beenspread in a “planned manner”among farmers against the newfarm laws, but it will not lastlong and protesting peasantswill soon realise the truth.

    Earlier in a letter to theunions, Agriculture Secretary

    Sanjay Agarwal noted that thefarmers’ groups had commu-nicated their willingness tohold discussions with an openmind.

    “The Government of Indiais also committed to logicalsolution of the relevant issueswith an open mind and honestintentions,” he said.

    However, the Governmentletter does not specifically makereference to the farmers’ key

    demand for repeal of threereform laws.

    With regard to the pro-posed agenda by the unions forthe meeting, Aggarwal said adetailed discussion will takeplace on three farm laws, MSPprocurement system as well asElectricity Amendment Billand ordinance to tackle air pol-lution in and around Delhi andNCR.

    The decision to finalisethe date for next of roundtalks was after a high-levelmeeting held by Union Home

    Minister Amit Shah withUnion Minister Piyush Goyaland Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar on the farmer crisis.

    However, the Governmentletter did not make any specif-ic reference to one key condi-tion proposed by the unionsseeking talks on modalities forthe repeal of the Acts. The dategiven by the Government forthe next round of talks is thesame day when unions havealso decided to hold a tractormarch from Singhu Border

    and Tikri Border to the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) high-way.

    The last formal meetingtook place on December 5, inwhich union leaders haddemanded a clear “yes or no”answer from the Governmenton their main demand of therepeal of the three laws whilethe sixth round of talks origi-nally scheduled for December9 was called off a day after aninformal meeting of Shah withsome union leaders failed toreach any breakthrough.

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    More than 1,500 telecomtowers in Punjab havebeen damaged by farmersprotesting against the threefarm laws, disrupting servicesin some pockets, sources said.

    Power supply to towersthat relay telecom signals wassnapped and cables cut inseveral parts of the state asfarmers vented their anger onthe infrastructure owned bybillionaire Mukesh Ambani’sfirm Jio as they saw him alongwith infrastructure tycoonGautam Adani as major ben-

    eficiaries of the new laws.Neither Ambani’s Reliance

    group nor Adani's companiesare into the business of procur-ing foodgrains from farmers.

    “Till yesterday, 1,411 tow-ers were damaged and todaythe count has gone well past1,500,” a source with knowl-

    edge of the matter said.In Jalandhar, some bun-

    dles of Jio’s fibre cable were alsoburnt. Jio has 9,000 plus tow-ers in the state.

    Another source said themost common way of damag-ing the telecom towers was tocut off the power supply.

    In at least one case, thegenerator at a tower site wasphysically taken away andallegedly donated to a localgurudwara. Videos of Jioemployees being threatenedand made to flee have goneviral.

    Continued on Page 2

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    The Government onMonday launched a two-day dry run for coronavirusvaccine programme in AndhraPradesh, Punjab, Gujarat andAssam.

    The focus of the dry runwill be on management of pos-sible adverse events followingimmunisation (AEFI) as well ason adherence and manage-ment of infection control prac-tices at the session site to pre-vent disease transmission.

    The mock drill is being car-ried out in Krishna district inAndhra Pradesh, in Rajkot andGandhinagar in Gujarat,Ludhiana and Shaheed BhagatSingh Nagar (Nawanshahr) inPunjab and Sonitpur andNalbari districts in Assam.

    The Centre had asked eachof the four States to plan thedry run in two districts andpreferably in five different ses-sion-type settings — districthospital, community healthcentre (CHC) or primaryhealth care centre (PHC),urban site, private health facil-ity and rural outreach.

    At least 125 intended ben-eficiaries each in four Stateswho had registered on the Co-WIN App were sent SMSesinforming them about the timeand place of their “Covid-19vaccination” under a mock-

    drill and preparations made toadminister the shots at desig-nated centres.

    It is being conducted to testthe laid out mechanisms forCovid-19 vaccination in theStates and provide insights intoany gaps to be addressed beforethe commencement of theactual vaccination drive,according to officials.

    They said the exercise test-ed the functionality of Co-WIN, which is an online plat-form for monitoring the deliv-ery of Covid-19 vaccine,deployment of team members,

    checking cold storage, trans-portation arrangements andother arrangements while fol-lowing all necessary protocols.

    It will also include testingof cold storage and trans-portation arrangements forCovid-19 vaccine and man-agement of crowds at sessionsites with proper physical dis-tancing, the Ministry said.

    As per the checklist sharedwith the States by the UnionHealth Ministry, beneficiarieswill be pre-identified and anSMS will be sent to them inadvance with the name of the

    vaccinator and the time of theimmunisation.

    Continued on Page 2

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    New Delhi: Uttarakhand ChiefMinister Trivendra SinghRawat, who had tested positivefor Covid-19 and was hospi-talised in Dehradun after devel-oping fever, was admitted toAIIMS in Delhi on Monday.

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    The Union Home Ministryon Monday extended theCovid-19 Pandemic Guidelinesfor Surveillance, Containmentand Caution to January 31, ask-ing States to keep vigil on thetackling of new variant of thevirus in the United Kingdom.

    The current guideline wasissued up to December 31.

    “The Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) issued an ordertoday to extend the earlierGuidelines for Surveillance toremain in force up to31.01.2021. While there hasbeen a continuous decline inthe active and new Covid-19cases, there is need to maintainsurveillance, containment andcaution, keeping in view thesurge in cases globally, andemergence of a new variant ofthe virus in the UnitedKingdom (UK),” said the HomeMinistry in a statement.

    The Ministry said con-tainment zones should bedemarcated carefully and pre-scribed containment measuresmust be strictly followed with-in these zones.

    “Covid-appropriate behav-iour promoted and strictlyenforced; and the StandardOperating Procedures (SOPs)prescribed in respect of variouspermitted activities followedscrupulously,” said the MHAasking States to adhere to theStandard Operating Procedures(SOPs) prescribed by theUnion Health Ministry.

    In November, the MHAhad said in addition to guide-lines already in place sinceOctober, States and UnionTerritories, based on theirassessment of the situation,may impose local restrictions,such as a night curfew.However, the MHA has saidState Governments shall notimpose any local lockdownoutside the containment zones,without prior consultation withthe Union Government.

    The Government hasadvised vulnerable persons, i.e.,persons above 65 years of age,persons with co-morbidities,pregnant women, and childrenbelow the age of 10 years, to stayat home, except for meetingessential requirements and forhealth purposes.

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    The Congress is likely to pro-pose the name of RahulGandhi as its next party chiefat a conclave being planned inRajasthan by the end of January2021.

    AICC sources saidRajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot is keen to holdthe conclave in Jaipur orUdaipur and desires to stagemanage Rahul’s return asCongress president.

    Incidentally, during thelast national conclave of theCongress in 2012 at Jaipur theGandhi scion was appointed asnational vice-president of theAICC.

    Sources in the AICC saidthe Congress conclave will beheld in January or February2021 after the internal organi-sation polls being undertakenby the party’s Central ElectionCommitee in a phase-wise andvirtual mode.

    Gehlot has been in talkswith Rahul’s office for the con-clave with a proposal to hold

    the session either in Jaipur orUdaipur. The final decisionon this will be taken afterRahul’s return from abroad.

    Sources said the proposalfor the re-appointment ofRahul as Congress presidentwill be put forth during theconclave even though Rahulhas strictly said no to his come-back.

    Rahul relinquished thepresidentship on moralgrounds after the dismal per-formance of the party in LokSabha elections 2019.

    “However, many feel thathis statement that he is ready todo anything for the party at ameeting with senior leadersand Sonia Gandhi, has beenassumed as his acceptance totake over as the Congress pres-ident. Hence the mood in theparty is in that direction,” saida senior leader.

    Sonia has already declaredthat she will in no case continueto head the party which sheagreed to continue as interimin August for only six months,party leader said.

    Continued on Page 2

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    The Assam Government onMonday tabled a Bill in theLegislative Assembly to abolishall State-run madrasas by con-verting them into generalschools from April 1 next year.

    Despite a unitedOpposition objecting to tablingof the Bill, Education MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma intro-ducted The Assam RepealingBill, 2020 on the first day of thethree-day winter session.

    The Bill proposes to abol-ish the two existing Acts — TheAssam Madrassa Education(Provincialisation) Act, 1995and The Assam MadrassaEducation (Provincialisation

    of Services of Employees andRe-Organisation of MadrasaEducational Institutions) Act,2018.

    “This bill is not to controland repeal the privatemadrasas,” Sarma said, addinginclusion of the word “pri-vate” in the “statement ofobjects and reasons” of the Billwas a mistake.

    The Assam cabinet hadon December 13 approved aproposal to close down allmadrasas and Sanskrit Tols(schools) however, the legisla-tion brought in the Assemblyduring the day did not containanything related to the Sanskritschools.

    Continued on Page 2

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    Aday after an AIADMK MPopenly snubbed the BJPsaying that either it shouldaccept the chief ministerialcandidature of EdappadiPalaniswami (EPS) for the 2021Assembly election or go its ownway, a major firefighting oper-ation has started at the highestlevel in Chennai to resuscitatethe sinking partnership from apossible disaster.

    The CM met Tamil NaduBJP president L Murugan onMonday following interven-tion by Union Minister for

    Power Piyush Goyal, accordingto a source close to Murugan.

    Though Murugan did notdisclose what transpired in themeeting, the Chief Minister isbelieved to have told him notto take seriously the MP’swarning to the BJP to theheart.

    “Murugan said that it wasfor BJP national president JPNadda to endorse the chiefministerial candidate’s namebecause the AIADMK was part

    of the NDA alliance,” saidMurugan’s close aide.

    Narayanan Tiruppati, BJP’ssenior spokesman feignedignorance about the meetingbetween EPS and Murugan.“All I could say right now is thatthe AIADMK and the BJP areconstituents of the NDA. Thereis no possibility of any kind ofbreaking of the alliance as ontoday,” said Narayanan.

    He also pointed out that itwas Murugan who first con-

    gratulated Palaniswamy whenthe executive committee of theAIADMK declared the latter asthe CM candidate.

    The reception accorded bythe AIADMK Government toHome Minister Amit Shahwhen he visited Chennai lastmonth is still fresh in publicmemory. The Chief Ministerand his deputy OPanneerselvan along withsenior Government officialswere at Chennai airport toreceive and see off Shah duringthe latter’s visit to the State inNovember.

    “The BJP had notapproached the AIADMK forany favours. It was during anofficial function in Chennaiattended by the Home Ministerthat Panneerselvan andPalaniswami declared thatAIADMK would continue itsalliance with the Hindutvaparty. Nothing has changedsince then,” said Narayanan.

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    US President Donald Trumphas signed into law a Billthat reaffirms the right ofTibetans to choose a successorto the Dalai Lama and calls forestablishing an American con-sulate in Tibet, promptingChina to warn that the Act willseriously disrupt and hurt bilat-eral relations.

    The Tibetan Policy andSupport Act of 2020 modifiesand re-authorises various pro-grammes and provisions relat-ed to Tibet. Trump signed theAct on Sunday as part of themassive $2.3 trillion packagefor the year-end bill to providelong-delayed coronavirus relief.

    Reacting to Trump’s moveto sign the Government spend-ing bill that includes provisionsabout Taiwan and Tibet, Chinaon Monday expressed firmopposition to it.

    The act will seriously dis-rupt and hurt China-US rela-tions, Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesperson ZhaoLijian told a media briefing inBeijing.

    The Chinese Governmentfirmly resolves to safeguardnational sovereignty and secu-rity, and strongly urges the USto stop using Tibet-related andTaiwan-related issues to intes-rfere in China’s internal affairs,Zhao said.

    Continued on Page 2

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    The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police hasarrested a man for embezzlement and misappropria-tion of funds of more than Rs 12 crores of private compa-nies.

    The accused has been identified as Anurag Mahajan,a resident of Dwarka.

    According to Dr O P Mishra, the Joint Commissionerof Police, EOW, the complaint was received in which thecomplainant stated that Anurag was appointed as aDirector of Tumlare Software Services Pvt Ltd andTumlare Travel Pvt Ltd in the year 1999 and 2004.

    “Over the years, Anurag Mahajan was performing theresponsibilities of a Director as well as Chief Accountantand was the sole in-charge of managing the accounting,finance and book-keeping functions of the complainantcompanies. Anurag fraudulently transferred amount of Rs12,84,90,255 from the companies’ bank accounts to his per-sonal bank accounts by using forged and fabricated doc-uments,” said the Joint CP.

    “A case was registered in 2018 and investigation wastaken up. During investigation, it was revealed thatAnurag misusing his fiduciary position and control overthe affairs of the company forged and fabricated documentsas genuine and falsified the books accounts of the com-panies. The accused dishonestly and fraudulently transferredan amount of Rs. 12,84,90,255/- and misappropriated thesame in share trading in Future and Options segment,” saidthe Joint CP.

    “The accused was absconding since long time but afterreceiving specific inputs, the police team apprehendedAnurag on December 27,” said the Joint CP adding that fur-ther investigation is going on.

    ������������ �45�6478�

    Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice-chairmen and RajinderNagar MLA, Raghav Chadhaon Monday inauguratedreplacement work of sewerlines in Delhi’s Todapur village.

    During the occasion,Chadha also assured the resi-dents of Todapur Village thatthe damaged sewerage line willbe replaced within a period of90 days.

    “Proper treat-ment of generatedsewage can only hap-pen if there's a func-tioning sewerage linein each house. Iassure all the resi-dents of TodapurVillage that all and any of theirproblems with respect to thesewage line will be over in 90days. I humbly seek your coop-eration for this time period,”said Chadha.

    “Delhi being the nationalcapital, cannot afford to havecontinuous malfunctioning ordamaged sewer lines. Everyconstituency must have a func-tional sewerage system for col-

    lection, pumping, treatmentand disposal of domestic efflu-ents to check environmentalpollution,” said Chadha.

    “Under the leadership ofDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, every locality thatfalls within the ambit ofNational Capital Territory(NCT) shall have functionalsewer lines. No resident ofDelhi will have any complaintsas far as collection, treatmentand proper disposal of gener-

    ate sewage is con-cerned,” said Chadha.

    Chadha also said,“I remember when Iwas campaigning herein Todapur Village,an aggrieved residentheld my hand and

    said it was difficult to get goodmarriage proposals for theirchildren because of the amountof sewage that would get accu-mulated in the area. One hadto wade through knee-deepsewage. The damaged sewerline led to massive accumula-tion of sewerage, making itexceedingly difficult for resi-dents to live in TodapurVillage.”

    ������������ �45�6478�:�)8$F�$�$6

    Farmers stayed put atNational Capital’s bordersfor 33rd day demanding CentreGovernment to repeal the farmlaws. Thousands of farmershave been protesting at variousborder points including Singhu,Tikri, Chilla and Ghazipurborders of Delhi.

    At Ghazipur border (UPGate), the farmers raised slo-gans against Prime Ministerand also took out the funeralprocession of him.

    On Monday, BiharMember of Parliament (MP),Pappu Yadav also came to UPGate and supported the farm-ers. Yadav alleged that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andHome Minister Amit Shahwant to hold power in thecountry by making a quarrel.

    Yadav also alleged that theBJP leaders want to take overpower by creating a quarrel inMaharashtra, West Bengal,Hyderabad and Bihar. He saidthat he has come here to sup-port the fight of Annadata andtill the demand of the farmersis met, they will have support

    to the farmers in every way.Several farmers from

    Punjab and Haryana alsojoined the protestors at Singhuand Tikri borders. The protestshave also led to traffic conges-tion forcing police to divertvehicular movement.

    Taking to Twitter onSunday, the Delhi Traffic Policealerted commuters about theroutes that remained closedowing to the agitation andsuggested them to take alter-native roads.

    “The Chilla & Gazipurborders are closed for traffic

    coming from Noida &Ghaziabad to Delhi because offarmer protests. People areadvised to take alternate routefor coming to Delhi via AnandVihar, DND, Apsara, Bhopra &Loni borders,” it tweeted.

    “Singhu, Auchandi, PiauManiyari, Saboli & Mangeshborders closed. Please takealternate route via LampurSafiabad, Palla & Singhu schooltoll tax borders. Traffic hasbeen diverted from Mukarba &GTK road. Please avoid OuterRing Rd, GTK road & NH 44,”it tweeted.

    ������������ �45�6478�

    Commemorating the birth anniversary of BJP stalwartand late former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, UnionHome Minister Amit Shah unveiled his statue at Feroz ShahKotla stadium here on Monday.

    Remembering the iconic leader, shah said that Jaitleywas an ‘outstanding personality’ known in the political arenafor his sportsman’s spirit.

    “It is a great privilege for me today and a matter of plea-sure that I got the opportunity to unveil the statue of ArunJaitley in this stadium where the historic moments of Indiancricket have been lived, have been in memory and historywill be created for decades to come,” said Shah.

    “He was an outstanding personality known in the polit-ical arena for having Sportsman's spirit. His specialty wasto contribute in many fields at the same time and to takethe tasks to the completion regardless of time frame,” saidHome Minister. Shah recalled that Jaitley went to Jail for19 months during Emergency when the ‘democracy of thecountry was severely attacked’. “He was associated with pol-itics since college life and when the democracy of the coun-try was severely attacked and Indira Gandhi declaredEmergency, then as a youth president of Delhi University,Arun Ji was in jail for 19 months and strongly opposed theEmergency,” said Shah. “Be it the strategy of Gujarat elec-tions or preparing the team for the same, Arun Ji alwaysused to take everyone along. He also served the post ofLeader of Opposition for 10 years and he had proven abil-ity to keep his opinion firmly on any issue, answer aggres-sively while maintaining decency and without hurting thedignity of the Parliament, making sure that ruling party gotthe message loud and clear,” said Shah.

    “Arun Jaitley always strongly raised the voice of the pub-lic. It was because of his role in the Opposition that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi got an absolute majority in 2014and formed the BJP government. He was a close friend ofModi ji and led the most important ministry when Modiji became the Prime Minister. The pace of economic recov-ery accelerated during Jaitley’s time, which the country willremember for centuries,” he said.

    Further remembering the late icon he said, “There aretwo important events that gave a new direction to the Indiancricket, firstly when it was decided to sell the rights of thematch which gave an opportunity to the Indian cricket tomove forward and the second when the IPL was started,the cricket lovers and I had a lot of questions in the mindand Arun Jaitley ji had exact answer to every question, with-out any confusion as he prepared a strong IPL blueprint,as a result of which the IPL is on track and cricket emergedas employment platform for thousands of youth.”

    ������������ �45�6478�

    Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday inaugu-rated India's first-ever driver-less train operations on DelhiMetro's Magenta Line alongwith the fully operationalNational Common MobilityCard service on the AirportExpress Line via video confer-encing.

    According to officials, thedriverless trains will be fullyautomated, which will eliminatethe possibility of human errorand after the start of driverlessservices on the Magenta Line(Janakpuri West-BotanicalGarden), the Pink Line (MajlisPark-Shiv Vihar) of DelhiMetro is expected to have dri-verless operations by mid-2021.

    "The National CommonMobility Card, which will befully operationalised on theAirport Express Line, willenable anyone carrying aRuPay-Debit Card issued fromany part of the country to useit for travelling on the route,"said the official.

    While addressing the peo-ple at the launch event, the PM

    said metro has been expandedto different cities, a testimonyof people's "ease of living"being ensured by his dispen-sation and in coming time themetro train services will beextended to 25 cities with anover 1,700-km network by2025 in the country.

    The PM said that the cen-tral government did not seeurbanisation as a challengebut used this as an opportuni-ty and took a swipe at earlierregimes, saying they did notaddress the infrastructuredemands of growing cities fordecades.

    Modi said that with the dri-

    verless metro trains, India hasbecome one of the few coun-tries in the world, where suchservice is available. He also saidthat the government hasworked to unify services to helppeople, referring to measureslike GST, FAStag cards, agri-culture market, and one nation,one ration card.

    "In 2014, only 248 kilome-tres of metro lines were oper-ational in the country. Today itis about three times more withmore than seven hundred kilo-meters. We are trying toexpand it to 25 cities with1700 kilometre network," hesaid.

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    India joined the coveted list ofnations in the world havingmost eco-friendly beaches onMonday with at least eightbeaches—Kappad in Kerala,Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla(Diu), Kasarkod and Padubidri(Karnataka), Rushikonda(Andhra Pradesh), Golden(Odisha) and Radhanagar(Andaman & Nicobar Islands)— conferred with internation-al Blue Flag certificate.

    A Blue Flag beach is aneco-tourism model endeav-ouring to provide the touristsor beachgoers clean andhygienic bathing water, facili-ties, safe and healthy environ-ment and sustainable develop-ment of the area.

    Japan, South Korea and theUAE are the only other Asiannations who have been con-ferred with a couple of BlueFlag beaches.

    The Blue Flag was hoistedin these beaches virtually byUnion Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar on Monday,suggesting a global recognitionof India’s conservation andsustainable developmentefforts. Blue Flag beaches areconsidered the cleanest beach-es of the world.

    The Flags were also simul-taneously hoisted on thesebeaches physically by stateministers and senior officials ofthe respective state and Unionterritories.

    India secured theInternational Blue FlagCertification for these beacheson 6 October when anInternational Jury comprisingof member organisationsUNEP, UNWTO, UNESCO,IUCN, ILS, FEE etc.announced the award atCopenhagen, Denmark.

    Blue Flag certification is aglobally recognised eco-label

    accorded by “Foundation forEnvironment Education inDenmark” based on 33 strin-gent criteria.

    Terming it a “proudmoment” for the country,Javadekar said the certificationis a global recognition ofIndia’s conservation and sus-tainable development efforts.

    While hosting the flag,Javadekar said that neat andclean beaches are an indicatorthat the coastal environment isin good health and the BlueFlag certification is a globalrecognition of India’s conser-vation and sustainable devel-opment efforts.

    The EnvironmentMinister further said that hun-dred more such beaches willbe made Blue Flag in thecoming 3-4 years and high-lighted that cleaning beachesneeds to be a made a “JanAndolan” not only for its aes-thetic value and tourismprospects but more impor-tantly towards reducing themenace of marine litter andmaking coastal environmentsustainable.

    The Government had onSeptember 18 recommendedthese eight beaches for thecoveted international eco-label. India began its humblejourney in 2018 for develop-ment of pilot beaches (oneeach in coastal states/UTs)and presented the first set ofeight beaches for the certifi-cation for the ensuing touristseason 2020.

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    The CBI has bookedFaridabad-based firmRicha Industries Ltd. and 11directors of the company fordefrauding Indian OverseasBank and Union Bank of Indiato the tune of about � 237 crore.

    The agency registered thecase following a complaintfrom the Indian Overseas Bankunder various Indian PenalCode (IPC) Sections relating tocriminal conspiracy, criminalbreach of trust, forgery of valu-able security, forgery for thepurpose of cheating, usingforged documents as genuineand criminal misconduct bypublic servants.

    The loan account of theaccused firm became NPA andthe Bank alleged in its com-plaint that the accused firm andits directors besides unknownpublic servants cheated thebank to the tune of �236.74

    crore from 2015 onwardsacross Faridabad, Haryana andUdham Singh Nagar,Uttarakhand.

    The accused company hadallegedly siphoned off thebank’s funds and cheated thelending banks to the tune of�236.74 crore.

    The account of the accusedcompany was declared fraud onApril 15 by Indian OverseasBank and on August 21 thisyear by the Union Bank andreported to the Reserve Bankof India.

    Among other issues, thecompany was flagged by theauditor to have indulged inbooking of loss by overstatingconsumption of entire stockduring 2015-16 and 2016-17which was abnormally high ascompared to the past trend.

    It also allegedly divertedfunds from the textiles divisionto the PEB (Pre EngineeringBuildings) division.

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    ����� �45�6478�

    Congress on Monday cele-brated its 136thFoundation Day at its head-quarters in Delhi even thoughparty president Sonia Gandhiand former party chief RahulGandhi gave the event a miss.Senior leader A K Antonyunfurled the flag at the AICCheadquarters in the presence ofsenior leaders like GhulamNabi Azad, Anand Sharmaand party general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra.

    While Sonia Gandhi hasbeen avoiding attending pub-lic events due to health issues,Rahul Gandhi left on a shortpersonal visit abroad only onSunday.

    On the occassion, the AllIndia Congress Committeeurged members to organise‘Tiranga Yatra’ and other“innovative campaigns” whilefollowing all Covid-19 proto-cols.

    Taking to Twitter, RahulGandhi marked the occasionby highlighting his party’spledge for “truth and equality”and said that “Congress hasbeen committed from the

    beginning to raise the voice ofthe nation”.

    Speaking to media,Priyanka Gandhi said the gov-ernment should “listen to thevoice of farmers and take backthe laws” and should not paintthe agitation as a “politicalconspiracy”.

    “It is a sin to use the kindof words they are using forfarmers. Government isanswerable to farmers.Government should listen tothem and take back the laws,”Priyanka said.

    She, however, avoidedquestions pertaining to hisbrother’s trip abroad when theparty is on its final stage oforganisational polls and elect-ing a new head of the party.

    She responded only questionsrelated to the farmers struggle.

    Rahul Gandhi’s absenceon the occasion come underattack from the BJP. MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan questionedRahul Gandhi’s disappearanceon an important occasion forthe party.

    Congress GeneralSecretary KC Venugopalaccused the BJP of “indulgingin low-level politics” and hit-ting out at Rahul Gandhi“because they want to targetonly one leader”. “RahulGandhi has gone to see hisgrandmother. Is it wrong?Everybody has the right toundertake personal visits,” hesaid.

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    ����� �45�6478�

    As it scouts for the genomesamples of the Covid pos-itive flyers who have returnedfrom new variant-hit UK andmade genome testing manda-tory for 5 per cent of the totalpositive Covid cases, theUnion Health Ministry onMonday issued a detailedaction plan which the genom-ic surveillance consortiumwould follow if the new strainis detected.

    The Indian SARS-CoV-2Genomics Consortium(INSACOG) has been formedto expand whole genomesequencing across the nation.

    According to consortium’saction plan, in case the UKvariant or any other variantmutation is detected in anysample, the virus will be sentto any of the two notifiedCOVID Virus Repositories atRCB- Faridabad or NIV, Punefor isolating the virus andfurther culturing.

    “This can then be sharedas per notified guidelines for

    the development of assays,which will help in the valida-tion of diagnostics and alsotesting of the vaccines underdevelopment. The molecularsurveillance will be closelylinked with the epidemiolog-ical surveillance and clinicalspecimens will also be col-lected for relevant clinical cor-relations,” the INSACOG said.

    Further, the relevant casedetails, travel details, of anysample detected with the newUK variant, or any other foundto be of significant from a pub-lic health perspective, will becommunicated to NCDC(Director) Nodal Unit. Nodetails shall be revealed beforedue approval by the competentauthority.

    “NCDC Nodal Unit willmaintain a database of allsamples of the new variants (ofpublic health significance).The data will be epidemiolog-ically analysed, interpretedand shared with state or dis-trict for investigation, contacttracing and planning responsestrategies. All the genomic

    sequencing data will be main-tained in a National databaseat two sites, NIBMG, Kalyaniand IGIB, New Delhi,” itadded.

    Ten regional genomesequencing labs are — CSIRInstitute of Genomics andIntegrative Biology in Delhi,CSIR Centre for Cellular andMolecular Biology inHyderabad, DBT NationalInstitute of BiomedicalGenomics near Kolkata, DBT-Institute of Life Sciences inBhubaneswar, DBTInSTEM/NCBS in Bengaluru,DBT-Centre for DNAFingerprinting andDiagnostics in Hyderabad.

    It also includes NationalInstitute of Virology and DBTNational Centre for CellScience in Pune, National

    Centre for Disease Control inDelhi and NIMHANS,National Institute of MentalHealth and Neuro-Sciencesin Bangalore.

    According to experts,India needs to increase viralGenomic surveillance in orderto understand the spread ofthe virus in a rapid and robustmanner. In that context, theIndian SARS-CoV-2Genomics Consortium willhelp to expand whole genomesequencing of SARS-CoV-2virus across the nation, aidingunderstanding of how thevirus spreads and evolves.

    Ten regional genomesequencing laboratories spreadacross the country will cater tothe nearest states, which willsend five per cent of the pos-itive samples to these labs forgenome sequencing. The viralgenome sequencing data gen-erated by regional genomesequencing laboratories will besent to the National Centre forDisease Control (NCDC),Delhi for collation and inte-gration.

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    In the backdrop of themonth-long and ongoingfarmers’ agitation on the out-skirts of Delhi, the BJP onMonday cited BJP’s win in theBihar Assembly poll, 11 Stateby-elections and 8 local bodiespolls to claim that “rural India”,including “kisan”, is firmly“standing” with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

    “Kashmir ho ya Gauhati,apna desh apni maati...”,declared Union MinisterSmiriti Irani as sought to pro-ject recent poll victories of theBJP as an endorsement of farmreforms carried out by theModi-government about six-month ago.

    The minister said the out-come of elections, held betweenSeptember and December, arean indication that Modi and theBJP have been able to securethe trust of the people.

    She said since the lawswere passed opposition was

    creating misinformation thatpeople were not happy andexpressing their anguish.

    Addressin a press confer-ence here Irani said support forthe news laws and theGovernment’s response to theCovid-19 pandemic, whichwas carried out simultaneous-ly with the Modi Government’sdevelopment agenda has playeda key role in scripting theparty’s performance.

    “Ever since the agriculturereform bills have been passedin Parliament the oppositionparties have been trying to cre-ate misinformation that thepeople in rural areas are unhap-py with the Union government.But the democratic processshows the truth ...how in therural areas whether it is farm-ers or ordinary people, espe-cially women have shown theirfaith in PM Modi and the BJP,”said the union minister.

    Irani said since September27, 2020 and till December 22,the BJP won the Bihar assem-

    bly elections, by polls in 11state; and eight local bodyelections.

    The Minister who is alsoan MP from Amethi, UP, saidas against BJP which got over-whelming support , Congresscollected a duck in some ofthese states.

    “Unki party ka haal unkenivrtman adhyaksh ki hi tarahhain”, she quipped taking a digat Rahul Gandhi who lost his2019 Lok Sabha poll to herfrom Amethi.

    Farmers are demandingroll-back of three farm lawswhich they apprehend wouldhandover farm marketing tothe big corporates and phase-out Minimum Support Priceand the “Mandi system’. Thegovernment is firm on notscrapping new laws sayingreforms in farm sector are longoverdue and need to be donefor modernisation and increas-ing income of the farmers.

    The stand-off is on despitesix rounds of negotiations.

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    Pune-based Serum Instituteof India (SII) on Mondayannounced the launch of theworld’s most affordable pneu-mococcal conjugate vaccine(PCV) in India that aims toprovides protection against 10variants of pneumococcus bac-teria causing pneumonia,meningitis, ear, and bloodinfections in children.

    SII, which is the world’slargest vaccine maker by vol-ume, has priced the PCVbranded as Pneumosil at $3 perdose for public market, and lit-tle over $10 per dose for privatemarket. In India, three dosesare required for the full PCVvaccination.

    Pneumococcal conjugatevaccine is imported and sold inIndia by Pfizer and GSK. Whilethe Pfizer vaccine Prevener 13is sold at Rs 3,801 per dose,GSK vaccine Synflorix is sold

    at Rs 2,195 per dose, makingthem the costliest vaccine in thechild immunisation schedule.

    Prevener 13 provides pro-tection against 13 variants ofpneumococcus bacteria com-pared to 10 of Synflorix.

    The high cost of the vac-cine had the Indian govern-ment delay the inclusion ofPCV in the universal immuni-sation programme (UIP),meant to vaccinate childrenfree of cost. The launch of SII’saffordable PCV will allow theIndian government to intro-duce this vaccine as part of UIP.

    Adar Poonawalla, ChiefExecutive Officer of SII, saidthe company had a capacity toproduce 100 million doses ofPCV per annum.

    The company has begunshipping the vaccine toUNICEF, for supplying to childimmunisation programmes invarious low and middle incomecountries. The PCV has been

    prequalified by the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO).

    Poonawalla said India toois in the process of placingorder for 20 million-30 milliondoses of the vaccine and that itwould help it to prevent 50-60percent of infant deaths innext two to three years depend-ing on the coverage.

    Pneumococcal disease is asignificant contributor to theunder-five mortality rateworldwide. Annually, an esti-mated 71 percent of deaths inchildren are caused by pneu-monia and 57 percent aresevere pneumonia cases.

    Every year nearly 67,800children under 5 years of agedie in India from pneumo-coccal diseases.

    Recognizing its wide-spread fatality, the WHO rec-ommends the inclusion ofPCV in routine childhoodimmunization programmesin all countries.

    ����� �45�6478�

    India and South Korea willdiscuss the entire gamut ofdefence ties and security sce-nario including Chineseaggressive posturing in theSouth China Sea during ArmyChief General M M Naravane’sparleys with the Korean topbrass during his three-day dayvisit to Seoul starting Monday.

    The two countries are keento further explore possibilitiesto forge joint ventures indefence production in India.Korea of late has emerged as abig supplier of military plat-forms and weapons to India.Naravane will take stock ofthese ties with the senior mil-itary and civilian leadership inSeoul, officials said here onMonday.

    Both nations have a con-vergence of outlook in thestrategic and defence realm.India’s “Act East Policy” findsresonance in the presentRepublic of Korea administra-tion’s “New Southern Policy”.

    The major areas of concernfor South Korea are increasingChinese hegemony in theSouth China Sea, security of sealines of communication(SLOCs) due to incidents ofpiracy and hostilities with theDemocratic People’s Republic

    of Korea (DPRK). Seoul con-siders New Delhi as a stabilis-ing influence in the IndianOcean region, they said whilehighlighting the importanceof the Army chief ’s visit.

    Incidentally, the ArmyChief ’s visit to South Koreacomes two weeks after con-cluding a six-day crucial tourof the United ArabEmirates(UAE) and SaudiArabia that reflected India’sgrowing strategic ties with thetwo influential Gulf nations. Itwas the first ever visit by anIndian army chief to SaudiArabia.

    Last month, Naravane trav-elled to Nepal on a three-dayvisit that had significant diplo-matic over tones. In October,the Chief of Army Staff, accom-panied by Foreign SecretaryHarsh Vardhan Shringla, trav-elled to Myanmar during whichIndia decided to supply anattack submarine to theMyanmar Navy besides agree-ing to further deepen militaryand defence ties.

    Meanwhile, in Seoul,Naravane will meet the coun-try’s minister for nationaldefence, army chief and chair-man of joint chiefs of staff. TheArmy chief will also meetSouth Korea’s minister ofdefence acquisition planningadministration (DAPA).

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    The Election Commissionsuccessfully held Assemblypolls in Bihar, one of India’smost populous states despitethe COVID-19 pandemic andis now preparing to conductpolls in states and union terri-tories as per schedule nextyear, its chief Sunil Arora saidsumming up 2020.

    The Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC) pointedout that the exercise involvednearly 7.3 crore voters andover 1.06 lakh polling stations.

    “We were able to conducta COVID-safe election, with avoter turnout of 57.34 per cent,which was higher than the56.8 per cent turnout recordedduring the previous election in2015,” Arora told PTI.

    This was also an electionmarked by enthusiastic partic-ipation of women voters, whooutnumbered men at thepolling booths, he said.

    The facility of postal ballotswas extended to citizens abovethe age of 80 years and personswith disability.

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    While most political partiesrefused to speculate onBoard for Control for Cricketin India president SouravGanguli’s two-hour-long parleywith Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar, State BJP presidentDilip Ghosh on Mondayreminded that performance wasthe key to getting priced posi-tions in the BJP adding peoplelike Ganguli would be an assetto the party.

    When asked to commenton the Monday’s one-on-onemeeting between Dhankhar—often alleged by the rulingTrinamool Congress as the BJP’sde facto points-man in Bengal— and the former India captain,Ghosh said he had no infor-mation about such discussionshaving taken place between thetwo.

    “He is a famous personal-ity … one of the most success-ful batsmen and captains of theIndian cricket team … notonly Sourav Ganguli but any-one can meet the Governor,” hesaid adding however “I don’tknow whether there is anypolitical connection in thismeeting.”

    On his willingness to get thecricketing southpaw in the BJP’steam he said, his party alwayswanted people like SouravGanguly to its ranks.

    “Our doors are always openfor people like him. In the pasttoo, many celebrities joined ourparty and in the coming daysmore willcome. When good people of

    repute join your party it sendsa positive message to the peo-ple.”

    When asked as to whetherGanguli featured on top of the

    BJP’s list of next ChiefMinisterial candidate Ghoshsaid, “anyone can work on anyposition because the BJP alwaysputs right kind of people in rightplace so as to serve the peopleproperly.” When asked specifi-cally whether he would like tosee him as the next ChiefMinister of the State she said,“anyone can be a Chief Ministerbut for that one has to join theparty, perform and deliver,”adding the top leadership woulddecide the things at an appro-priate moment.

    When the same questionwas put to senior BengalMinister Subroto Mukherjeehe too showed his ignoranceabout the Sunday’s meetinghaving taken place between theGovernor and Ganguli. Whentold that the meeting had indeedtaken place he said “I should not comment on

    anyone meeting the Governor… I can only say that India isplaying well in the second testin Australia … but for themeeting you are talking aboutI am least interested aboutthat…”

    Ganguli who enjoys anexcellent chemistry with UnionHome Minister Amit Shah ear-lier told the media not to readmuch into the Sunday’s meetingas it was a courtesy call.

    “A meeting was long over-due as he had expressed hisinterest in visiting the EdenGardens … I had gone to invitehim to visit the stadium …nothing more should be readinto this meeting,” Ganguli whohas throughout his career main-tained a neutral political stancenotwithstanding his goodchemistry with all the politicalparties like the Left Front, TMCand now the BJP said.

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    Little more than a week after HomeMinister Amit Shah’s grand road-show at Bolpur, Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee is all set to take outher own “padyatra” along the same routeon Tuesday.

    Though the road show is seen as ananswer to Shah’s rally the main themeof the of Tuesday’s march have beenbased on the songs of Poet LaureateRabindranath Tagore who foundedShantiniketan at Bolpur then a smalltribal hamlet.

    Several artists from various districtsof Bengal will participate in the road-show and perform Rabindra Sangeet,sources said.

    Meanwhile in a related developmentBanerjee on Monday said that theState Public Works Department (PWD)

    would take back the control of a roadnear the Visva Bharati University cam-pus.

    The 2.9 km long road connectingtwo campuses of the centrally controlleduniversity -- Santiniketan andSriniketan – was handed over to theuniversity in 2017.

    The decision was taken after reportsthat the University authorities hadmade the road out of bounds for thegeneral public. The Chief Ministerwho was at Bolpur on Monday said“there are many complaints from localpeople that they are not being allowedto use the road and it was causing incon-venience. So, the PWD will now takecontrol of it.”

    The decision is seen as a part of theongoing Centre-State (read BJP-TMCconflict in the run up to 2021 BengalAssembly elections.

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    With the ruling Janata Dal(United) going through acrisis in Bihar, the reins of theparty have been entrusted toChief Minister Nitish Kumar'smost trusted aide and formerIndian Administrative Serviceofficer RCP Singh.

    How well would Singh playthe role of the JDU's 'Bigg Boss',only time will tell. But it isbelieved that strengthening the

    organisational structure andexpanding the party to otherStates will be a major challengefor Singh.

    Nitish Kumar has been theuniversally accepted and tow-ering leader in the JDU. In sucha situation, there are seriousapprehensions whether Singhwill be able to create his ownimage as an acceptable leaderof the party. There are manystrong leaders in the partywho have the capability to take

    over the leadership reins. Willthey accept Singh as theirleader, is a question beingasked.

    The JDU, which was thelargest party in Bihar, couldonly achieve the third positionin the recently concludedAssembly polls. Singh had ear-lier earned praise for the role heplayed in the expansion andstrengthening of the party.

    In the JDU's NationalExecutive meeting, the party

    had indicated that it no longerwants to be strong only in Biharand passed a proposal regard-ing the JDU's expansion toother states on similar lines asin Bihar.

    Former Bihar minister andLegislative Councillor NeerajKumar said, “Singh has beenassociated with the JDU for along time and has played animportant role in the organi-sation. His administrative expe-rience and communication

    skills will prove to be very use-ful in the organisational devel-opment of the JDU.”

    A senior JDU leader said it

    was becoming quite a dauntingchallenge for Nitish Kumar tohandle the dual responsibilityof Chief Minister as well asparty President. Change wasconsidered necessary to give anopportunity to new generationleaders and to energise theparty workers so entrusting theresponsibility of leading theparty was given to Singh.

    Even when GeorgeFernandes and Sharad Yadavwere president of the JDU

    Nitish Kumar remained themost visible face of the party.Party leaders said that Kumarhad taken the party to newheights.

    From the start, Singh wasseen as the successor of NitishKumar. Singh comes from theKurmi caste and is one ofKumar's most trusted aides.

    It is also considered a chal-lenge for Singh to keep in stepwith the other political outfitswho are part of the NDA

    alliance in Bihar. Senior BJPleader and Rajya Sabha MPSushil Kumar Modi said thatunder Singh's leadership theBJP-JDU political relations andalliance will be furtherstrengthened.

    Congratulatory messageshave been pouring in afterSingh became the party'sNational President, but itremains to be seen how hewould deal with the upcomingchallenges.

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  • Replying to a private newschannel’s query on “onenation, one election”,Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC) Sunil Arorapithily said that the ElectionCommission was ready for it if thelegislature (Parliament) carriesout the necessary (constitutional)amendments. The ElectionCommission was not authorisedto decide on it, he clarified.

    The amendments that theCEC was referring to were per-haps Article 83 (2) and 172 of theConstitution of India which per-tain to durations of the House ofPeople and State Assemblies,respectively. At present, theyenjoy a term of “five years fromthe date appointed for its firstmeeting”. At any given time, dif-ferent State Assemblies would bein different stages of their lifecycle. No elected Governmentwould voluntarily like to give upthe term even a day earlier thanis absolutely necessary. However,at present, the President of Indiaunder Article 85 (2) (b) can dis-solve the Lok Sabha. TheGovernor of a State, under Article174 (2) (b), can dissolve a legisla-tive Assembly.

    Prime Minister NarendraModi’s idea of simultaneous elec-tions is apparently more compre-hensive. The BJP’s election man-ifesto, “Sankalp Patra-2019”,pitches for simultaneous elec-tions to Parliament, StateAssemblies and local bodies witha view to “reducing expenditure,ensure efficient utilisation of theGovernment’s resources and secu-rity forces, and effective policyplanning”. The manifesto statesthat the BJP will try to build con-sensus on this issue with all polit-ical parties. However, no attemptat “consensus building” appears tohave been undertaken by it so far.

    The Election Commission ofIndia’s authority to conduct elec-tions extends over the House ofPeople (the Lok Sabha), Councilof States (the Rajya Sabha), Statelegislative Assemblies, legislativeCouncils, the President and theVice-President of India and so on.It has been constituted underArticle 324 of the Constitution ofIndia. The offices of the ChiefElectoral Officers in all States andUnion Territories are part of theElection Commission. The elec-tion to local bodies like panchay-ats and municipal corporations/municipalities, on the other hand,are conducted by the StateElection Commissions constitut-ed under Article 243K. Moreover,

    panchayats and municipalitiesalso enjoy five-year durationunder Articles 243 E and 243 U,respectively, of the Constitutionof India. However, there are noclear-cut constitutional provi-sions to dissolve these localbodies prematurely.

    In 2015, the department-related Parliamentary StandingCommittee of Personnel,Public, Law and Justice hadexamined the issue of“Feasibility of HoldingSimultaneous Elections to theHouse of People (Lok Sabha)and State LegislativeAssemblies”. From ReportNo.79 of the StandingCommittee — tabled in bothHouses of Parliament — onDecember 17, 2015, it appearsthat political parties were divid-ed on the subject. In their writ-ten submissions, the AIADMK,DMDK, Asom Gana Parishad,the Indian Union MuslimLeague and the ShiromaniAkali Dal supported the idea,though with certain riders. Onthe other hand, the IndianNational Congress, TrinamoolCongress, the NCP, the CPI andthe AIMIM opposed the idea asimpractical.

    The first general electionsto the Lok Sabha and to theState Assemblies were heldsimultaneously in 1952. Thepractice continued in threesubsequent elections in 1957,1962 and 1967. However, thesynchrony got disturbed due tothe premature dissolution tosome legislative Assemblies in1968 and 1969. Later, the term

    of the Fifth Lok Sabha wasextended until 1977 underArticle 352. Thereafter, theSixth, Seventh, Ninth, Eleventh,Twelfth and Thirteenth LokSabha were dissolved prema-turely. On numerous occa-sions, various States went underthe President’s rule underArticle 356, and came out of itat different times through freshlegislative elections.

    The committee found thatseven out of 16 Lok Sabhaselected in 1969, 1977, 1980,1984, 1996, 1998 and 1999witnessed premature dissolu-tion. The Anti-Defection Act,1985, that prevented switchoverby breakaway factions in casethe Government loses majori-ty, has a direct bearing upon theterm of the legislature.

    Putting the clock back to1952 might not be easy. But amore important question is,how desirable would it be? Theproposal comes with attendantlogistical and expenditure chal-lenges. In terms of numbers, theElection Commission of Indiahas Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs) and Voter VerifiablePaper Audit Trail (VVPAT)machines in excess to the num-ber required for the Lok Sabhaelections. In reply to a questionin the Lok Sabha (vide unstarredquestion 1911 dated July 3,2019), Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad informed theHouse that 14.88 lakh BallotUnits and 11.3 lakh ControlUnits (constituting an EVM)and 11.59 lakh VVPATmachines were used in the 2019

    general elections. The ElectionCommission has 23.3 lakh BallotUnits, 16.35 lakh Control Unitsand 17.4 lakh VVPAT machines,including those blocked in elec-tion petition cases. A majority ofthese were procured over thepreceding three years. In replyto another question (videunstarred question 5198 datedJuly 24, 2019), the Ministerreplied that the ElectionCommission had procured13.95 lakh Ballot Units and10.55 Control Units between2016 and 2019 at an estimatedcost of �2056.20 crore (exclud-ing taxes and transport).

    The Election Commissionknows the template of handlingsimultaneous elections. The2019 general elections wereheld simultaneously along withelections to four legislativeAssemblies like AndhraPradesh, Sikkim, ArunachalPradesh and Odisha. However,the Election Commission’sinventory of EVMs andVVPAT machines, though inexcess to the requirement forgeneral elections, might bequite insufficient for holdingsimultaneous elections all overIndia. The older EVMs, whichhave outlived their lifespan,have to be retired and replaced.This would mean (a) signifi-cant enhancement, if not dou-bling, in the number of EVMsand VVPAT machines avail-able; (b) augmenting storagefacilities for these during elec-tions (strong rooms) and per-manently (warehouses).

    The Standing Committee

    concluded that simultaneouselections are not feasible in thenear future. However, citingthat under Sections 14 and 15of the Representation of thePeople Act, 1951, the ElectionCommission can notify elec-tions to the Lok Sabha and Statelegislative Assemblies sixmonths prior to the end of theirnatural term, it suggested hold-ing elections in two phases. Itimplied that elections to somelegislative Assemblies could beheld along with the Lok Sabhapolls, and others in the mid-term of the Lok Sabha. TheStanding Committee recom-mended the plan to be initiat-ed with effect from November2016. The Government sat overthe report for more than twoyears before sending it to theLaw Commission. The LawCommission’s report has notbeen finalised as of date. In fact,after the 21st Law Commission’stenure ended on August 31,2018, there is no clarity aboutthe Law Commission itself.This has recently resulted in apublic interest litigation beingfiled in the Supreme Court.

    At present, “one nation,one election” seems more of arhetoric than a resolution. Eventhe ruling party knows well thatit would be difficult to tacklethe situation if simultaneouselections result in hungAssemblies in four or fiveStates simultaneously.

    (The writer is an author andindependent researcher based inNew Delhi. The views expressedare personal.)

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    The green shoots seen in October, in partic-ular the rise in the Index of IndustrialProduction (IIP) by 3.6 per cent, haveprompted agencies to revise their growth assess-ment for the current financial year (FY) from theminus 9.5-10.5 per cent projected earlier to minus7.5-8.5 per cent, now. For the FY 2021-22, whenthe impact of the virus is expected to subside toa large extent due to the availability of the vac-cine, it is only natural to expect an economicrebound. However, it is necessary to take a prag-matic view based on an objective assessment ofhow the situation unfolds on ground zero.

    To begin with, the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) growth had already started sliding fromthe third quarter (Q3) of the FY 2018-19 and con-tinued all through the FY 2019-20, culminatingin a low of three per cent during its last quarterending March 31. During the whole of 2019-20,the growth plummeted to a decade low of 4.2 percent, down from an average 7.5 per cent record-ed in the previous five years.

    A nationwide lockdown in March dwelt abody blow by bringing most of the economicactivities to a grinding halt. As a result, there wasa precipitous decline in GDP growth by 24 percent during Q1 of the current FY ending June 30.The slide continued during Q2 ending onSeptember 30, though the deceleration wasmodest at 7.5 per cent (courtesy the graded exitfrom the hard lockdown).

    However, the crucial point is that even ifgrowth rebounds to the seven per cent-10 per centrange, the resultant GDP would have merely recu-perated to the 2019-20 level or about �14,500,000crore or $2.1 trillion. The Union Budget for 2020-21 was prepared with an overarching focus onmaking India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25,a target that Prime Minister Narendra Modi setat the start of his second inning in May 2019.

    To reach there, the economy needed to growclose to 20 per cent per annum consistently overa period of five years — a rate never seen beforeeven in a single year. It was totally unrealistic.Now, with the setback of 2019-20 and 2020-21and India likely to remain stuck at $2.1 trillionduring 2021-22, the target of $5 trillion by 2024-25 is unrealistic. For now, we need to analyse thereason behind the slowdown during these twoyears apart from the COVID-19 impact. The twodeterminants of growth are demand (this includesprivate consumption, Government demand andexports) and investment.

    During 2019-20, thanks to the massive lossof jobs and declining incomes, even as privateconsumption suffered, an increase in Governmentspending failed to offset this loss. A number offiscal measures announced by Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman in August/September 2019(steep reduction in corporate tax, tax refund toexporters, sops for the real estate sector, supportto housing finance companies and so on) besidesmonetary policy support, including reduction inthe repo rate by 1.35 per cent, failed to providethe required demand boost.

    During 2020-21, both the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) and the Centre unleashed their fire-power to counter the effect of the virus. Whilethe former cut the repo rate again by 1.15 per centand injected mammoth liquidity close to�8,00,000 crore besides granting a six-monthmoratorium on repayment of banks loans, the lat-ter came up with stimulus packages announcedby Sitharaman in three tranches in May, October

    and November. These packages interalia targeted MSMEs (micro, smalland medium enterprises), NBFCs,power distribution companies (PDCs),migrant labour, agricultural credit, thelower middle class, agriculture infra-structure and farm reforms, structuralreforms in coal, minerals, civil aviation,defence, fertilisers and the MahatmaGandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (MGNREGA), healthand the State