• Home

  • Documents

  • › uploads › 2020 › epaper › ...ingness to discuss the full agen- ... presidentship on moral...
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. 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 proto- cols. 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. 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. 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 introducted The Assam Repealing Bill, 2020 on the first day of the three-day win- ter 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. 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.

› uploads › 2020 › epaper › ...ingness to discuss the full agen- ... presidentship on moral grounds after the dismal per-formance of the party in Lok Sabha elections 2019

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    0

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • �����������������������

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

    ���������������������������

    ������������� ���� ��������������������������������������������������������!!!���������������������������������������������������������������"�#����������������

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

    �����������������

    ������"������������������%���%����

    ������"��������������&���������������������

    �������������'�������%������%

    ���������������������%��(���������������

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

    �&��������

    ����������*���������+�����'���"#!� "�������������������������������������0�"������1�����2����#������-���%������$��������������"���������������������������%�����0���2�����#�������������+���#������.�����3����������

    �������

    �+���������� �45�6478�

    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.

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

    ����� �45�6478�

    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 past

    1,500,” 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.

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

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

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

    ����� �45�6478�

    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 proto-cols.

    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 in

    advance with the name of thevaccinator and the time of theimmunisation.

    �������������!����� �����

    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.

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

    ����� �45�6478�

    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.

    ��������"�����������������������������#��$�

    ������������+�����45�6478�

    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 decision on thiswill be taken after Rahul’sreturn 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.

    ����� )25$8$1�

    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 totabling of the Bill, EducationMinister Himanta BiswaSarma introducted The AssamRepealing Bill, 2020 on thefirst day of the three-day win-ter session.

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

    Education (Provincialisationof 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.

    ��������

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

    ��������

    ��������84��$�

    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.

    ����� 5$/8��)19�:�4�3��)�

    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 the Act onSunday as part of the massive$2.3 trillion package for theyear-end bill to provide long-

    delayed coronavirus relief.Reacting to Trump’s move

    to 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.

    ��!�%� ��������������"��&����'(�������������)��

    "��� ������������

    ( �(������ ����������������) ���(����

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

    *����������� ��� ���������+�,%����(������(�

    ������ ��������������������������������������&������������ �;�= ��;�@ >�;<-�'������ >�!?���= ?!B$���/���������4C�������$%%�������

    "��������*����6478���72�,�95 �89"$7���82�$�4/5$-

    -$��8��-$�"2- �8$�6�)$-8�648-$62� 8D64-$�$6�E�3$D5$6$

    �7��8)�7�'"��20-���������������������������

    ���������,���������������� /3,�/$/$9��������/��/

    �-!�#�-#�.�9�4��$1�9��

    9�4�474�1�9�

    /-�0��1$F4-�$�3$��-4"9-1/�$11$�,�9���1/

    1-99"/�����$)9-�9 ,$-$�$,8

    ��!-�"�*2

    "$,�$E9�6�*97795�9�����/1�14/1�$)$��/1��F

    ��������������������

    ������������

  • ������������������������� ������� ���!"#�!$!$

    ����������������������

    ��������������������������������������������� ����!�����������������"������������#$%�%��&�����'�������(�������)*+�������(��+%$**)*�,���-��*%.)+/$*01/.�������������23��������������������-��))�����+44�4��������������������5����!�����6���+�������������7�������!�����6����

    ��������47�27�5�78!��7��%�**!��6�������7����� �����9��-����6���:���6����;�����

    ������6 �(����;�������������6��3�����'����#�����6-��$� �����8��

    �9�� �������<����(�-�9'����+%%***)������6*%%+/*%%*/==�������������#�����6&+0%�������$�-#4'��8��� ���-(�+)*%0*%�2��������6*%)*+/1.>1**;/1.>>**�������9#�����6/��&���������������(�������&�?

    �7���������9+))$*%$�,���������6*=))+)0/$//0+/=

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

    ����������������������������� ��������������� ������������������������������������������ ��������������� �� ��������������� ������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������!����������������"��������������

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

    ������������������������������������������#�������������������������������

    ����$���

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

    ����� /8�&7$

    Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Mondaysaid that permission should be

    sought from BBMB to carryout sports activities such asparasailing, paragliding, waterscooter, kayaking, speed boat,cruise boat, water zorbing balls,

    house boat, shikara, floatingjetty and floating restaurant inPong Dam.

    Presiding over the firstmeeting of Pong Area

    Development Board here, hesaid that possibilities shouldalso be explored for setting upof an Institute of Excellence inwater sport in collaborationwith Indian Navy/ Coast Guardso that maximum tourists areattracted towards Pong Damreservoir.

    Thakur said the mainobjective of the Board was toensure integrated and planneddevelopment of the Pong areaand prepare policies and plansto promote tourism and culturein the Pong area and also help

    in generating employmentopportunities.

    The Chief Minister saidthat effective steps must betaken to undertake permissibleactivities in the area, addingthat steps must also be taken to

    attract private funding for exe-cution of tourism projects. Hesaid that steps would be takento strengthen the Pong AreaDevelopment Board and betterroad connectivity would beprovided alongside the Pong

    Dam area so that tourists couldbe wooed to visit this destina-tion.

    Expressing his displeasureover the poor implementationof ADB funded Tranche-I pro-ject worth Rs. 8.33 crore,Thakur said an inquiry wouldbe constituted in this regardand a report may be submittedwithin a month. The ChiefMinister said that activities ofRegional Water Sports Centreat Maharana Pratap Sagar, PongDam must be diversified toattract water sports lovers to

    this area. He said lakhs ofmigratory birds visit this sanc-tuary area every year thusmore watch towers should beerected to facilitate the visitorsto have a glimpse of thesebirds.

    Thakur said Rancer GiriIsland in the Pong Dam couldalso be developed as thou-sands of tourists visit this Islandby boats every year. He saidthat floating jetties should alsobe provided at various strategicplaces so that people couldenjoy the boating.

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

    ������������

    Shimla:The year end revellersin Shimla and several othertourist spots of HimachalPradesh were elated with snow-fall, the season's first in Shimla,it snapped road linksin upperparts of the State.

    Roads in the higher reach-es of Kinnaur, Shimla, Chamba,Mandi, Kullu and Sirmaur dis-tricts were hit by heavy snow-

    fall and work was on to reopenthese, officials said.

    In the state capital andother popular tourist resortslike Manali and Dalhousie,internal roads were too slipperyfor traffic as these were ladenwith snow.

    Even walking in the streetswas risky. Shimla saw 9 cmsnowfall, while Manali and

    Dalhousie had 14 cm and 22cm snow respectively. Hoteliershave cheered up with the snow-fall in the hope that tourists willcome in large numbers on theNew Year's Eve.

    Tourist spots near Shimla,such Kufri, Fagu and Narkandaalso experienced snowfall,making the hill stations evenmore picturesque.

    /����������������G����������������������������%%����������������������#�

    ����� /8�&7$

    The Government of Indiahas selected COVID-19software sample collectionmanagement system preparedby National InformationScience Centre, HimachalPradesh for Digital IndiaAward-2020. This Award willbe given in the innovation inpandemic category.

    The Award would be pre-sented by President Ram Nath

    Kovind for which a virtualFunction is being organised on30th December, 2020 at NewDelhi.

    A Spokesperson of theNational Information ScienceCentre (NIC), HimachalPradesh on Monday said thatHimachal Pradesh was giventhe responsibility to developsoftware at National level.Under the dynamic leadershipand guidance of Chief MinisterJai Ram Thakur and active par-ticipation of National HealthMission and HealthDepartment, NIC HimachalPradesh designed and devel-oped this software.

    ) ���- ��!��� ��.')/�0���(���/

    ���(���� �,�������'�����!�

  • �������������������������� ������� ���!"#�!$!$

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8

    Issuing a stern warningagainst vandalisation ofmobile towers and disruptionof telecom services in the state,Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Mondaydirected the state police totake strict action against allthose resorting to such unlaw-ful activities.

    Making it clear that hewill not tolerate destruction ofany private or public propertyin Punjab, the Chief Ministersaid that he was forced totoughen his stance as hisrepeated appeals to perpetra-tors of such acts had beenignored.

    The Chief Minister assert-ed that he will not let Punjab beplunged into anarchy at anycost and nobody can beallowed to take law into theirhands.

    Pointing out that the StateGovernment had not objectedto or stopped peaceful protestsin the state against the Centre’s

    “black” farm laws for the pastseveral months, he said thatdamage to property and incon-venience to the citizens couldnot, however, be endured.

    The Chief Minister’s warn-ing came as the total numberof mobile towers impacted inthe State went up to 1561, ofwhich 25 had been physicallydamaged, allegedly by somefarmers and their supporters inviolation of the directions of theKisan Unions to keep theirprotests against the Centre’sblack farm laws peaceful.

    Calling upon farmers andtheir supporters to put animmediate stop to suchdestructive activities, whichwere being disowned by farmerleaders themselves, the ChiefMinister said that disruption oftelecom services could lead toa communications blackout inthe State, causing its people,especially students and work-ing professionals, to suffer seri-ous consequences.

    With examinations, espe-cially Board exams, nearing

    and students dependent ononline education amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, suchcommunication breakdowncould seriously affect theirfuture, he said.

    The Chief Minister saidthat the State Government hadalready distributed 1.75 lakhsmart phones to Class XII stu-dents to equip them for theBoard exams, but the vandal-ization of telecom propertywas hampering the students.

    The Chief Minister furthersaid that professionals workingfrom home, with many of themhaving come to Punjab duringthe pandemic, could lose theirjobs due to such acts of violenceand damage to property.

    Even banking services,which were also largely depen-dent on online transactions inthese times of crisis, were tak-ing a major hit due to theseunlawful acts, he added.

    The farmers’ agitation hadso far been successful and hadgarnered the support of peoplefrom all sections of the societyand across the country due to

    its peaceful nature, said theChief Minister, warning thatuse of violence could alienatethe protestors from the mass-es, which would be detrimen-tal to the interests of the farm-ing community.

    While the PunjabGovernment’s sympathies werewith the agitating farmers,which was why it had alsobrought in state amendmentBills in the Vidhan Sabha tonegate the CentralGovernment’s legislations,nobody could be allowed totake law and order in theirhands, said Capt Amarinder.

    Notably, of the 1561 towersaffected over the past few days,146 were impacted sinceMonday morning due to dis-ruption of power supply to 32towers, which led to discon-nection of services of theremaining 114.

    So far, 433 towers havebeen repaired, according to anofficial spokesperson. The statehas a total of 21,306 mobiletowers spread across its 22districts.

    �����:������

    ����������������������

    �

    ��������������������

    �//24/�/14-�5$-���)�$)$��/16$&$)4�19�&9��74

    1954-/����� &98$7�

    “We will either return victo-rious or dead.” These wordsof Gurmeet Singh Sandhu, afarmer of Kandala village inSahibzada Ajit Singh (SAS)Nagar district (Mohali) whohad joined the farmers’ ongo-ing agitation at Delhi bordersagainst the Centre’s agriculturelaws about a fortnight back,tragically turned true when hesuddenly passed away duringthe protest.

    He is survived by his wife,a son and two daughters.

    “His hard work, honesty,and integrity would always beremembered,” said PunjabHealth and Family WelfareMinister and Mohali legislatorBalbir Singh Sidhu, payingtributes during GurmeetSandhu’s antim ardas (lastprayers) offered on Monday athis native village.

    Sidhu, attending theprayers, presented a cheque ofRs five lakhs on behalf of theChief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh to Gurmeet’s son,Sukhbir Singh.

    Paying heartfelt tributes tothe departed farmer, Sidhusaid that the struggle startedfrom Punjab to repeal the threeblack laws introduced by theBJP Government “has nowbecome a nationwide strugglein which farmers, labourers,and other sections have alsojoined. Now, the victory of thefarmers is assured.” Sidhu saidthat a team of doctors, underPunjab Youth Congress Mohalidistrict president KanwarbirSingh Ruby has been sent toDelhi for providing medicalservices and two ambulanceshave been permanently sta-tioned for health emergencies.Later, Sidhu also announced agrant of Rs 28.50 lakh for thesewerage system of Kandala vil-lage. The Bhartiya Kisan Unionalso provided financial assis-tance to the family.

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8

    Former Haryana ChiefMinister and President ofthe INLD, Om PrakashChautala on Monday wrote toPrime Minister NarendraModi, appealing for withdrawalof agricultural laws in the inter-est of the country and thefarmers.In his letter, he wrotethat it has been more than amonth since the farmers wereagitating in cold weather but noconcrete solution has beenfound so far. This is a sad sit-uation because farmers gener-ally do not participate in anymovement and if this is hap-pening today, then it needs tobe viewed sensitively, he said.

    He wrote that there isprobably a mistake in the gov-ernment's communication withthe farmers regarding agricul-tural laws, due to which a sit-uation of conflict has arisen.

    The former Chief Ministerwrote to the Prime Minister cit-ing his long political experiencethat the farmers do not wantthe three agricultural laws, so

    they should give up the dogmaand accept the demand of thefarmers. Giving the example ofthe farmers of Bihar, he wrotethat you are well aware of theircondition, who despite beingthe owners of the land, areforced to do work in states likeHaryana and Punjab.

    He said that there shouldbe no haste in enforcing theseagricultural laws nor should itbe made a matter of egobecause even a small piece ofland is dear to his life for thefarmer.

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8

    With no end in sight tothe ongoing farmers’protest against the Centre’sthree farm laws, Punjab’s twomore farmers have “sacri-ficed” their life to the agita-tion.

    A 63-year-old farmerfrom Gurm village in Barnaladistrict, Sukhdev Singh, diedof cardiac arrest at the ongo-ing protest outside the resi-dence of BJP Barnala districtpresident Yadwinder SinghShunty.

    A farmer leader said thata meeting was going on whenSukhdev Singh felt uneasy,and immediately he wastaken to Barnala civil hospi-tal but was declared ‘dead’ atthe hospital.“The dharna out-side Yadwinder’s house was

    going on since October 1,and that too 24X7, andSukhdev was a regular at theprotest and he was an activemember of Bharti KisanUnion (BKU), Ekta-Ugrahan,” said a farmerleader, adding that he leftbehind wife and a son.

    Meanwhile, Mansa’s 70-year-old Malkit Kaur died ina road accident at Fatehabadtown of Haryana whilereturning from the farmers’protest at Delhi border lateSunday night.

    A member of MazdoorMukti Morcha, she wascrossing the road atFatehabad after alightingfrom the trolley while return-ing from Delhi protest that avehicle hit her and she diedafter a few hours.

    ����������������������

    �

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8

    Moving ahead in Sirsa’s illegal armsrecovery case, Haryana Police onMonday claimed to have busted an ille-gal arms manufacturing unit in UttarPradesh and recovered a large quantityof equipment used in making illegalweapons.

    A Haryana Police spokespersoninformed that the crackdown was madeby a CIA team at the behest of kingpinIstaq Ahmed, a resident of BazarMohalla, Baheri, district Bareilly in UP,who was arrested in connection withrecovery of huge illegal arms in Sirsa. Theillegal unit was busted by police duringa raid at Beheri area in UP.

    As many as 19 butts of illegal pistols,10 barrels, 19 springs, 20 screws, 3 trig-gers, one unfinished pistol and otheritems were recovered from the unit. Twoother accused have been identified dur-

    ing interrogation who will be arrestedsoon. So far, four accused including thekingpin have been arrested in this casewith the recovery of 22 illegal pistols, 72live and empty cartridges.

    On December 19, a police team onsecret information had nabbed DaraSingh and Amarjeet Singh after therecovery of a huge cache of weapons inSirsa.

    During their remand period, policearrested Avtar Singh alias Ladi, a residentof Punjab, alongwith five illegal pistolsfrom a hotel in Hisar. Later on, kingpinof the network Istaq Ahmed, was appre-hended from Bareilly in UP.

    The probe revealed that Istaq Ahmadis a person of criminal nature and hasalready been arrested in an illegal armscase. UP police has booked him afterbusting an illegal weapons manufactur-ing unit in 2019. In addition, he was onthe radar of the Uttar Pradesh STF team.

    8�������"��������������������������������������������2"

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8

    Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) willcontest the upcomingMunicipal Corporation andMunicipal Committee elections inPunjab on its election symbol —broom.

    The official announcement wasmade jointly by the state partyaffairs in-charge Jarnail Singh andstate unit president Bhagwant Mannon Monday during a press confer-ence, in the presence of the entirestate party leadership.

    Jarnail Singh said that AAPwould contest all the seats in theforthcoming local bodies’ electionswith full vigor. “These elections willbe fought on the party's electionsymbol. It is a golden opportunityfor the people to bring change in thecities by electing their councillorsamong the people, who would workfor the people,” he said.

    He also asked the Governmentofficials, working in the elections, toperform their duties without anypressure. “There is no need toaccept pressure from any govern-ment as the Congress Governmentin the State would be changed afterone year,” he said.

    AAP’s Punjab unit presidentBhagwant Mann said that crores ofrupees were being swindled inMunicipal Corporations and

    Municipal Committees. “To preventsuch corruption, it is imperative thatan educated and competent personbe elected as their representative.”

    “With the party’s election sym-bol ‘broom’, the political and garbagecontamination would be cleanedfrom the streets,” he said.

    Already, Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) and Congress haveannounced to contest the civicbody elections on the party symbol.

    ������������������������������

    ����

    ��������������������

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8

    Flaying Punjab BJP presidentfor stooping too low in hisefforts to tarnish the ongoingfarmers’ struggle, Punjab’ssenior Congress leaders andCabinet Ministers on Mondaydared Ashwani Sharma to notto cross lines of propriety anddecency in political discourse.

    Senior Cabinet Ministers,including Brahm Mohindra,Bharat Bhushan Ashu, VijayInder Singla, OP Soni andSunder Sham Arora, in a jointstatement castigated Sharmafor leveling unfounded allega-tions against the state top policeofficer, while adding, “this hol-low politicking won't help BJP’salready failed cause”.

    “You have called our farm-ers Khalistanis, urban-naxalsand ultra-left, have not you”, theMinisters asked Sharma addingthat the BJP only masters indeflecting the issue, whichwon't work in Punjab as farm-

    ers have seen through yourmachinations and vile promis-es.

    “His frustration in face ofmassive public rejection offarmer laws is understandablebut losing mental balance sosoon is not,” the CabinetMinister Brahm Mohindraquipped referring to the stateBJP president’s allegationsagainst the DGP.

    The Ministers collectivelyflayed Sharma for trying to viti-ate Punjab’s peaceful atmos-phere by these “irresponsible”statements, while warning BJPleader to abstain from anysuch thing and focus on resolv-ing farmer concerns.

    Underlining the StateGovernment's resolve to ensurefarmers’ welfare, IndustriesMinister Sunder Sham Arorasaid that our anndatas havebeen named and shamed byBJP whose nefarious designsthey have seen through.

    “BJP is shamelessly trying

    to divert attention from press-ing issues the nation faces byindulging in irresponsible anddangerous politicking,” he

    said adding that the Punjab Government wouldnever allow the Centre to suc-ceed in its plans to destroy agri-culture at behest of crony cap-italists.

    “This is shameful, petty,reprehensible, and totallyuncalled for what Sharma hassaid,” Food Minister BharatBhushan Ashu said, addingthat this tantamount to tar-nishing farmers’ struggle bycalling them goons.

    Pointing out that BJP hadmiserably failed to read thepulse of farmers across thecountry, Education MinisterVijay Inder Singla said thatPunjabis especially are feelingcheated by the Centre’s policiesand would demonstrate theiranguish by packing off BJPfrom the state in next assemblyelections.

    "��'���&��������������/������3"����������������������������������

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8:/8�&7$

    Amidst incidents of allegedattacks on BJP leaders anddisruptions of its events inPunjab, senior BJP leader andformer MP Avinash RaiKhanna on Monday blamed iton the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress Government inthe state pointing that main-taining law and order in thestate is its responsibility.

    Notably, the agitatingfarmers had allegedly disrupt-ed events organized by thestate BJP unit at several placesin Punjab to observe the birthanniversary of late PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,with alleged incidents of farm-ers ransacking a makeshiftvenue in Bathinda, gheraoingparty leaders, reported.

    Moreover, a few weeksback, Punjab BJP presidentAshwani Sharma’s car was alsoallegedly attacked by a group offarmers in Hoshiarpur.

    “I do not hold the agitatedfarmers responsible for the

    attack,” said Khanna, assertingthat the State Governmentfailed to maintain law andorder.

    “It (the attack) is the gov-ernment's failure as law andorder is a state subject,” said,Khanna, who is also the in-charge of the party's affairs inHimachal Pradesh, while talk-ing with the media at Shimla.

    On Akali Dal’s decision tosever ties with the saffron partyover the recent farm laws inPunjab, Khanna said that BJPworkers had been demandingfor long that it contest electionin the State on its own. “BJPwould now contest the upcom-ing coming elections on all the117 assembly as well as 13 Lok

    Sabha seats, which would givethe party an opportunity toexpand its base in Punjab,” headded.

    At the same time, Khannamaintained that the CentralGovernment had not takenthe farmers’ agitation lightlyand that was why it held sev-eral meetings with the agitatedfarmers.

    “Prime Minister NarendraModi has himself stated sixtimes that the minimum sup-port price (MSP) would not bewithdrawn, but the farmersare being misled,” he said.

    Khanna said that be it erst-while Atal Bihari Vajpayee orthe current Narendra Modigovernment, the BJPGovernment has brought sev-eral schemes for the benefit ofthe farmers.

    Earlier Kisan credit card,soil health card, and kisannidhi were introduced; andnow, the Modi Governmenthas brought the three farm lawsfor the benefits of the farmers,he said.

    $����#�����3"�����������"��'�������������/�����)��������������$������-���,�����

    Chandigarh:Piercing coldweather conditions prevailedon Monday in most parts ofPunjab and Haryana whichreceived overnight rains,Meteorological Departmentofficials said. Fog reduced vis-ibility in the morning at vari-ous places in Punjab includingLudhiana, Patiala, Bathinda,Faridkot, Adampur andHalwara.As biting cold con-tinued, minimum tempera-tures at most places settledbelow normal limits. Bathindawas the coldest place in Punjabwhile Ludhiana braved a coldnight at 2.1 degrees Celsius.Patiala, Adampur, Halwara,Faridkot and Gurdaspur alsorecorded below normal mini-mums at 3.6 degrees Celsius,3.4 degrees Celsius, 3.6 degreesCelsius, 4 degrees Celsius and5.5 degrees Celsius, respec-tively. However, Amritsar's

    minimum settled above normallimits at 7.2 degrees Celsius.

    In Haryana, Narnaul wasthe coldest place recording alow of 1.6 degrees Celsius.Hisar also reeled under severecold at 2.7 degrees Celsius.Biting cold also prevailed inKarnal, Rohtak, Sirsa, Bhiwaniand Ambala which recordedrespective minimums of 3.6degrees Celsius, 3.2 degreesCelsius, 3.2 degrees Celsius, 4.5degrees Celsius and 5 degreesCelsius.Chandigarh, the com-mon capital of the two states,recorded a low of 6.4 degreesCelsius.Some of the places thatreceived rains overnight includ-ed Chandigarh (4.3 mm),Ambala (4.5 mm), Amritsar(4.2 mm), Ludhiana (1.6 mm),Patiala (2.2 mm), Pathankot(1.4 mm), Adampur (0.5 mm),Faridkot (1 mm) andGurdaspur (4.5 mm). PNS

    !������"���������������������������

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8

    ABJP delegation met PunjabPolice chief Dinkar Guptaon Monday over targeting ofparty offices and workers by"divisive and disruptive forces"who are taking advantage of theongoing farmers' protestagainst the Centre's three farmlaws, and demanded strictaction against them.

    The delegation led by for-mer State minister MadanMohan Mittal expressed itsconcern over the "deteriorat-ing" law and order situation inthe state and claimed that thepolice, despite prior warnings,could not prevent an attack onBJP workers celebrating thebirth anniversary of formerprime minister Atal Bihari

    Vajpayee in Bathinda onDecember 25, according to aparty statement.The delega-tion told the Director Generalof Police (DGP) that "divisiveand disruptive forces were atplay" taking advantage of thefarmers'' stir and "the statepolice must act against them".

    The Punjab unit of theBJP had on Sunday accused thestate's ruling Congress of beingbehind frequent targeting of itsoffices and leaders by somecriminal elements masquerad-ing as farmers.

    ����� �8$�6�)$-8

    In a run up to the almost finalallocation of corona vaccine,the Punjab Government onMonday successfully complet-ed the dry run in 12 sites of twodistricts — Ludhiana and SBSNagar (Nawanshahr).

    “As many as 25 beneficia-ries have been identified fromamong health workers as ben-eficiaries and their requireddata uploaded on portal creat-ed for dry run by the CentralGovernment. The session sitesuploaded on a portal whichlinked with cold chain pointsfor delivery of vaccine(dummy),” said the state Healthand Family Welfare MinisterBalbir Singh Sidhu.

    Giving details about teamsdeputed for the vaccinationprogram, Sidhu said that thevaccinator and four addition-al team members identified and

    vaccination teams were allo-cated vaccination sites at all 12sites as per micro-plan finalizedfor the program.

    He said that team of super-visors were also appointed tooverview the first phase of dryrun so as to ensure the smoothrun of all activities as per stan-dard operation procedure(SOPs).

    Beneficiaries allocated vac-cination sites and they receivedSMS successfully informingthem date, time, and place ofvaccination and AEFI (AdverseEvent FollowingImmunization) managementcentres identified and linkedwith vaccination sites, headded.

    Sidhu said that onDecember 29, lists of benefi-ciaries will be printed and pro-vided to vaccination teams.“Beneficiaries will come phys-ically and they will be verified

    in the portal. They will followthe process and wait for 30minutes,” he said.

    “Arrangement of biomed-ical waste management is alsomade in place.

    104 Helpline was testedmaking a phone call and cor-rect information was providedby helpline operators to all ben-eficiaries,” he said giving thedetails of the dry run.

    Notably, two districts fromPunjab — Ludhiana andShaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar(Nawanshahr) — have beenselected for the dry run, aimedat testing the laid out mecha-nisms for the vaccination roll-out in the health system. InIndia, the Union Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare hasplanned the dry run in Punjaband three other states —Andhra Pradesh, Assam, andGujarat.

    The dry would provide

    insights on any gaps or bottle-necks in vaccine distributionand its administration to thepopulation so that those couldbe addressed before the com-mencement of the COVID-19immunization drive, whichwould supported by the immu-nization partners — UnitedNations Development Program(UNDP) and the World HealthOrganization (WHO).

    In Ludhiana, seven centreshave been set up, two of whichare meant for the city and theremaining five for Jagraon,Rajkot, Machiwara, Payal andKhanna that fall in the district.

    While the centres set-up inLudhiana for the dry run arehoused in Dayanand MedicalCollege and Hospital and theCivil Hospital, the centres atother places are at the respec-tive government hospitals.

    All beneficiaries are to becompulsorily pre-registered on

    the CoWIN portal, which wasformed by the CentralGovernment for monitoringthe delivery of COVID-19 vac-cines, and photo IDs will berequired for the same.

    In Nawanshahr, during thedry run, stock was taken of therequisite infrastructure anduploading of data like thenames of centres where thevaccination will be undertaken,assigning duties to the medicalstaff and information about thepersons who will administerthe vaccine along with theirsupervisors.

    Nawanshahr DistrictImmunisation Officer DrDavinder Dhanda said thatthe necessary infrastructure ateach centre included a waitingarea, an injection room, and anobservation room where theperson undergoing ‘dummyvaccination’ on Tuesday duringthe dry run would be kept for

    half an hour.As per Nawanshahr Civil

    Surgeon Dr Rajinder PrasadBhatia, a special training work-shop of personnel involved inthe dry run exercise was heldhere on Sunday under thesupervision of StateImmunisation Officer DrBalwinder Kaur.

    Dr Bhatia said that theobjective of the dry run of theCOVID-19 vaccine was tointroduce the prescribed meth-ods for vaccination in thehealth system.

    “The exercise will provideinformation about any internaldeficiencies or obstacles beforethe commencement ofCOVID-19 vaccination cam-paign so that these problemscould be addressed in time.

    The main objective of thistrial is to evaluate the func-tional feasibility of CoWINportal,” he said.

    ) �����((����&���1���

    ��������((�

    ����&�( �����������������/�.�!�����

    ���2�$�%���-����������3���&1����

    1���������/����� ��

    �4��(��5���� ����������&

    ��������

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

    ���!!�� ��!���!'"�������'��'!���)��5;����"�!5���'��!>�5=���7�5==��'7��!")'�"'�7�8?�75 '���� �!�)')' '!�7� �7A#'��"�!>��7

    =�� '�7

    '.�,��������6��)�������!����� ��%�� �!����!�� �����(���������!

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

    ����� �45�6478�

    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.

    #�$���������"

    ���%���&������������

    ����� �45�6478�

    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.

    *���$�+$������$ ���� �(��������7$���� ���789�( �

    ����� �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.

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

    �

    ����� �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.

    � ��:����!� ������ ����5���(�����(

    ����� �-��-+) ;+7�"�� ��(�) � ������ ���

    ����� �45�6478�

    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.

    -�����������#������������������������&��H��3"�

    ����� �45�6478�

    Right of being representedthrough a lawyer is part of“due process clause”, theSupreme Court has said whilesetting aside the AllahabadHigh Court order which haddismissed an appeal filed by aman in a 1987 murder case not-ing that his counsel had notappeared during the hearing.

    The apex court, whichrestored the appeal and askedthe high court to consider tak-ing it for hearing at an earlydate, said it was open for thehigh court to appoint an ami-cus curiae to assist it when thepetitioner was not representedbefore it through lawyer in thematter.

    “It is well accepted thatright of being representedthrough a counsel is part of dueprocess clause and is referableto the right guaranteed underArticle 21 of the Constitutionof India,” a bench headed byJustice U U Lalit said.

    “In case the advocate rep-resenting the cause of theaccused, for one reason or theother was not available, it wasopen to the court to appoint anamicus curiae to assist thecourt but the cause in any caseought not to be allowed to gounrepresented,” the bench, alsocomprising Justices VineetSaran and S Ravindra Bhat, saidin its December 18 order.

    The top court passed theorder while hearing a plea

    filed by the convict against theApril 2017 verdict of highcourt which had dismissed hisappeal challenging the trialcourt judgement awarding himlife term in a murder case.

    It noted the submission ofpetitioner’s lawyer that theappeal was disposed of by thehigh court in the absence of anyrepresentation on behalf of theappellant.

    The bench said the highcourt, while noting that theman was not representedthrough lawyer during thehearing, went into the matterand affirmed the view taken bythe trial court.

    “In the circumstances, wehave no other alternative but toset-aside the judgment passedby the high court and to restorecriminal appeal…to the file ofthe high court to be disposedof afresh,” the apex court said.

    It noted that the man, whowas on bail while his appealwas pending in the high court,has since been taken in custody.

    “In the circumstances, werequest the high court to con-

    sider taking up criminalappeal.…for hearing at anearly date and in order tofacilitate the exercise, we directthe registry of the high courtto list the appeal before theappropriate court on January11, 2021 for directions,” thebench said.

    It said the convict shallappear before the high courtthrough advocate on January11 and in case of any default,the high court may considerappointing an amicus curiae toassist it in the matter.

    “During the pendency ofthe matter before the highcourt, the appellant shall con-tinue to remain in custody,” thebench said while disposing ofthe plea.

    The man, along withanother accused, were con-victed by a trial court in themurder case and they weresentenced to life term.

    One of the convicts haddied during pendency of hisappeal before the high courtand proceedings related tohim were abated.

    ����� �45�6478�

    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).

  • ������������������������� ������� ���!"#�!$!$

    ���������������� ,97,$1$

    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.

    ��� � ,97,$1$

    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.

    ���� � "$1�$

    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.

    '����"�������������������������"������������(�)*+���

    ��'�+��,�(�����(�7���')��>'7��B���?��!������,��5#)"5!)?�����';'���'�����"�B57���5!�!���'��'�'!�)?��5!�)#"'"�77' 8)?�B5))76���!>����"'��)�'��'��!'"�B���7'�=5����'�5)'��'�B)�?'"��!���'

    'CB�!7�5!��!"�7��'!>��'!�!>5=���'�B���?

    ���1� ���!�&� ����� �����������- ���=�,�����"� �

    ,��1���&�������� ����� �&

    ���������D����� $7�)$-8

    Under the new educationpolicy, children from class3rd to 5th will be given pre-pri-mary education at Anganwadicentres along with meals. Forthis, educational data of theworkers and assistants workingat these centers will be pre-pared. This will also do thework of teaching children.After the preparation of theeducational data, these willalso be given training at BlockResource Centers (BRC).

    There is a plan for pre-pri-mary studies in Basic

    Education Council schoolsunder the new education pol-icy. Anganwadi centers will beused for pre-primary studies.Children between three andfive years of age will study here.

    Also, activities will be con-ducted at these centers underthe supervision of the BasicEducation Department.

    This has also created thepossibility of additional workon departmental employees.

    Teachers or academic per-sons will give the training to theworkers of Anganwadi centers.This will also provide addi-tional work on them.

    Panaji: Higher secondary andcollege examinations will beheld offline this academic yearin Goa, Chief Minister PramodSawant said on Monday.

    Speaking at a functionorganised to felicitate meritori-ous students at the HarmalPanchkroshi educational insti-tute in North Goa district,Sawant said that there was anx-iety among students about whenand how the exams would beconducted.

    “A lot of students are won-dering when higher secondaryschools or colleges will resumeclasses. We are stressing on

    offline exams this year. Class XI,XII as well as college exams willbe held offline,” Sawant said.Currently, schools in Goa areonly allowed to hold offlineclasses for Class X and Class XIIstudents, while other studentsare taught online by education-al institutions. Classes for ClassX and Class XII students beganfrom November 21 this year.

    According to the GoaBoard of Secondary and HigherSecondary Education, examsfor Class X are scheduled tobegin from May 13, while ClassXII exams are scheduled tostart from April 26. IANS

    *��)����������!��������"������ ��)����������)���!�����!������+

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

    ������������ � 3$&&2

    With the arrest of another overground worker (OGW)belonging to the Lashkar-e-Tayyebaterror outfit , the joint team of secu-rity forces in Jammu & Kashmirhave unearthed a sinister plot ofPakistan based handlers to targetfamous religious places and disturbpeace in the region.

    In the last four days, jointteams of security forces have avert-ed three major terror strikes withthe arrest of six terrorists and theirassociates and recovery of arms andammunition.

    According to the preliminaryreports, handlers sitting acrossPakistan were directing theseOGW's to carry out terror strikesespecially on famous religiousplaces in order to disturb peace in

    the communally sensitive Jammuregion.

    According to a statement issuedby the office of Inspector Generalof Police, Jammu range on Monday,“Police in Jammu district arrestedone person linked with the pro-scribed terrorist organization LeTwho was tasked by the handlersfrom across the border to carry outgrenade blasts in the city at NHWbye pass road last evening”.

    Police have identified thearrested person as MohammadAshraf S/O Ghulam Din R/O Lar,Mahore, Reasi A/P Peerbaghcolony, Sunjawan, Jammu. Twohand grenades were recovered fromhis possession.

    Official sources claimed thehandler across the border was incontact with more terror operatives.Jammu police have launched a

    massive manhunt to track downtheir footprints to avert any otherstrike.

    This is the second terror mod-ule linked with LeT which has beenbusted by the Jammu police in thepast one week. A similar modulelinked with TRF (LeT) was bustedearlier in which 02 persons name-ly Raees Ahmad Dar S/O GhulamHassan Dar R/O Churath, Devsar,Qazigund and Sabzar AhmadSheikh S/o Ghulam Ahmad SheikhR/o Ashmuji, Kulgam were arrest-ed with one Ak series rifle, one pis-tol, two magazines of AK rifle, 60rounds of AK rifle and 15 roundsof pistol.

    Another module was busted inPoonch on Sunday with the arrestof three militants of the newly float-ed JK Ghaznavi Force in Mendhararea who were planning to target

    religious places of minorities start-ing with the famous temple of Ari.Six grenades have so far beenrecovered from their possession.Apart from three arrests, two morepersons have been detained forquestioning. SSP Poonch RameshAngral said that the arrested mili-tants were planning to carry out agrenade attack on a religious placeat Ari in Mendhar at the behest oftheir Pakistani handler to disturbpeace and communal amity in thedistrict.

    Some videos regarding tacticsof grenade lobbying were alsofound in the mobile phones of theaccused. SSP Poonch added that itis a major success for securityforces as a major terror plot of mil-itant strikes and inciting commu-nal violence has been averted inPoonch.

    ��-�������������������������������������������

    ���� � /8$&7��I2"J

    Aman has filed a complaintagainst his newly-marriedwife who has allegedly runaway from his home with cashand gold jewellery.

    In his complaint filed at theShamli police station, Pinku,who is a resident of theSimbhalka village in Shamlidistrict, said he got married onNovember 25. His wife, who isa resident of Baghpat district,was missin


Impracticable, inhospitable, and dismal country': An

Impracticable, inhospitable, and dismal country': An

Documents
Naked Economics Undressing the Dismal Science. Who feeds Paris?

Naked Economics Undressing the Dismal Science. Who feeds Paris?

Documents
The Dismal Science Quiz Prelims

The Dismal Science Quiz Prelims

Education
An Introduction to the Dismal Science of Economics for ... · PDF fileAn Introduction to the Dismal Science of Economics for Those Concerned with more ... and aggregate economic activity

An Introduction to the Dismal Science of Economics for ... · PDF fileAn Introduction to the Dismal Science of Economics for Those Concerned with more ... and aggregate economic activity

Documents
BP Has a DISMAL SAFETY RECORD, DO YOU?

BP Has a DISMAL SAFETY RECORD, DO YOU?

Business
October 27, 1998 DISMAL SCIENCE FICTIONS

October 27, 1998 DISMAL SCIENCE FICTIONS

Documents
Climate Change, Catastrophes and Dismal Theorem: a critical … · 2016-10-14 · Climate Change, Catastrophes and Dismal Theorem: a critical Review. How to analyse the extreme scenarios

Climate Change, Catastrophes and Dismal Theorem: a critical … · 2016-10-14 · Climate Change, Catastrophes and Dismal Theorem: a critical Review. How to analyse the extreme scenarios

Documents
Dismal Scientist

Dismal Scientist

Documents
02x03 – the Dismal 14th Century

02x03 – the Dismal 14th Century

Documents
dismal day saying goodbyes

dismal day saying goodbyes

Documents
The Dismal State of the Social Sciences in Pakistan

The Dismal State of the Social Sciences in Pakistan

Documents
Great Dismal Swamp - United States Fish and Wildlife … Trail Guide2-24-17(1...Great Dismal Swamp National Wildife Refuge Lake Drummond Lake Drummond, at 3,100 acres, is the largest

Great Dismal Swamp - United States Fish and Wildlife … Trail Guide2-24-17(1...Great Dismal Swamp National Wildife Refuge Lake Drummond Lake Drummond, at 3,100 acres, is the largest

Documents
file · Web viewFridayAllotment Gallery05:00 PMGrey and Dismal Green by Stephen SpicerGrey and Dismal GreenVisual ArtsFridayAllotment Gallery08:00 PMOn Borrowed Time by Richard

file · Web viewFridayAllotment Gallery05:00 PMGrey and Dismal Green by Stephen SpicerGrey and Dismal GreenVisual ArtsFridayAllotment Gallery08:00 PMOn Borrowed Time by Richard

Documents
HOW TO REVERSE THE DISMAL FAILURE RATE OF DIGITAL … · 2019-07-22 · 177. How to Reverse the Dismal Failure Rate of Digital Transformations Tony Saldanha Adventures in Transformation

HOW TO REVERSE THE DISMAL FAILURE RATE OF DIGITAL … · 2019-07-22 · 177. How to Reverse the Dismal Failure Rate of Digital Transformations Tony Saldanha Adventures in Transformation

Documents
On the dismal state of a dismal science?

On the dismal state of a dismal science?

Documents
prognosis of patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction remains dismal

prognosis of patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction remains dismal

Documents
Website: ; e-mail:principal@nct.ac › images › application-forms › NCT_Handbook_2015.pdf · the year 1980-81, under the Presidentship of Hon’ble Shri. R.Venkataraman, the most

Website: ; e-mail:[email protected] › images › application-forms › NCT_Handbook_2015.pdf · the year 1980-81, under the Presidentship of Hon’ble Shri. R.Venkataraman, the most

Documents
FROM DISMAL TO DAZZLING - iLight Technologies · Claremont University Consortium (CUC) administrative center. AN iLIGHT SUCCESS STORY FROM DISMAL TO DAZZLING Plexineon Redefines an

FROM DISMAL TO DAZZLING - iLight Technologies · Claremont University Consortium (CUC) administrative center. AN iLIGHT SUCCESS STORY FROM DISMAL TO DAZZLING Plexineon Redefines an

Documents
A dismal failure in regulating predatory lending …A dismal failure in ABSTRACT This paper analyzes certain aspects of the in fact, the Act delivered on its promise of reform protection

A dismal failure in regulating predatory lending …A dismal failure in ABSTRACT This paper analyzes certain aspects of the in fact, the Act delivered on its promise of reform protection

Documents
A Strategy for Reversing Pakistan’s Dismal Export Performance · 2 A Strategy for Reversing Pakistan’s Dismal Export Performance serve as an economy’s engine of growth. Thus,

A Strategy for Reversing Pakistan’s Dismal Export Performance · 2 A Strategy for Reversing Pakistan’s Dismal Export Performance serve as an economy’s engine of growth. Thus,

Documents
SCS-CN Hydrologic Modeling of the Great Dismal Swamp with

SCS-CN Hydrologic Modeling of the Great Dismal Swamp with

Documents
Making the Dismal Science Less Dismal: An Economic SONG and Dance Incorporating Music into the Economics Classroom Brian O’Roark – Robert Morris University

Making the Dismal Science Less Dismal: An Economic SONG and Dance Incorporating Music into the Economics Classroom Brian O’Roark – Robert Morris University

Documents
Dismal Science: The Shortcomings of U.S. School Choice ... · Dismal Science The Shortcomings of U.S. School Choice Research and How to Address Them ... greatly distorted by the taxpayer-funded

Dismal Science: The Shortcomings of U.S. School Choice ... · Dismal Science The Shortcomings of U.S. School Choice Research and How to Address Them ... greatly distorted by the taxpayer-funded

Documents
Lewis Black gets dark and dismal

Lewis Black gets dark and dismal

Documents
Online Retailers Find a Reason to Celebrate in Dismal Economy

Online Retailers Find a Reason to Celebrate in Dismal Economy

Documents
Practitioner of the Dismal Science? Who, me? … of the Dismal Science? Who, me? Couldn’t be!! Richard B. Freeman Why did I become a labor economist concerned with the institutions

Practitioner of the Dismal Science? Who, me? … of the Dismal Science? Who, me? Couldn’t be!! Richard B. Freeman Why did I become a labor economist concerned with the institutions

Documents
The Dismal Swamp SLAVES IN DISMAL SWAMP The Civil War ... War Brochure 09.pdf · Union forces did not attempt to capture control of the Dismal Swamp Canal until two months later

The Dismal Swamp SLAVES IN DISMAL SWAMP The Civil War ... War Brochure 09.pdf · Union forces did not attempt to capture control of the Dismal Swamp Canal until two months later

Documents
Taking the Dismal Science to 30,000 Feet: The Need for … 2010...Taking the Dismal Science to 30,000 Feet: ... JetBlue Airways Southwest Airlines ... pipeline tariffs and hedging

Taking the Dismal Science to 30,000 Feet: The Need for … 2010...Taking the Dismal Science to 30,000 Feet: ... JetBlue Airways Southwest Airlines ... pipeline tariffs and hedging

Documents
Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Chris Lowie Refuge Manager

Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Chris Lowie Refuge Manager

Documents
Dismal Swamp State Park General Management Plan

Dismal Swamp State Park General Management Plan

Documents