RNI NO.: WBENG/2015/65962

VOL. 7, ISSUE 101 | Wednesday, 14 April 2021 | Kolkata | Pages 12 | Rs 3.00PUBLISHED FROM DELHI | KOLKATA

MILLENNIUMPOST.IN

City: Pg 2Single-day cases reach 4,817; 20 reported dead

Nation: Pg 4‘Covid-19 2nd wave worrying’

Film: Pg 12‘Sunflower’ will surely blow your minds: Sunil

No Half Truths

BJP’s tactics cannot hold me back, I am a street fighter, says Mamata

EC bans Rahul Sinha for 48 hrs, show-causes Dilip Ghosh Suvendu Adhikari let off with a soft rap for ‘mini-Pak’ remark

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all states to inform it about the number of migrant chil-dren and their condition on a plea seeking directions for the protection of their fun-damental rights amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian also asked all the states impleaded as parties in the case to file replies in the matter.

Senior advocate Jayna Kothari appeared for the petitioners.

The top court had impleaded all the states on March 8 and issued notice on the plea filed by the Child Rights Trust and a Benga-luru resident seeking direc-tions for the protection of the fundamental rights of migrant children amidst the pandemic.

The plea stated that due

to the severity of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the Union government announced a nationwide lockdown and during this period, migrant children were affected the most and have been among the most vulnerable.

“Although there has been marked efforts by the respon-dents to provide migrant workers with welfare mea-sures, no report emanated from the Central or the state governments’ detailing relief measures extended to women and children who are stranded or in relief camps and quaran-tine centres at source districts. Continued on P6

SC directs states to inform on condition of migrant

children after Covid lockdown The plea contended that the lockdown has resulted in tremendous hardship for migrant children & till date

there has been no assessment of the exact numbers

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: While the Elec-tion Commission (EC) barred Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee from cam-paigning for 24 hours, it let off BJP candidate from Nan-digram Suvendu Adhikari — who is pitted against her — with a light rap for his “mini-Pakistan” remark made at a public meeting on March 29.

Adhikari had referred to one ‘Begum’ (a veiled dig at Mamata Banerjee), telling the rally that voting for his politi-cal opponent implies voting for a “mini Pakistan”.

The Commission on Tues-day also issued a show-cause notice to BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, asking him to clarify his stance on his recent

provocative statement over the death of four men due to Central forces’ firing at Sital-kuchi in Cooch Behar district during the fourth phase of elections on April 10. The poll panel also barred BJP leader Rahul Sinha from campaign-ing for 48 hours for his state-ments on the same issue.

The ECI has also advised Suvendu Adhikari to desist from using similar statements while making public utterances when the Model Code of Con-duct (MCC) is in place.

The ECI believes that Ghosh’s provocative state-ments had violated the MCC and could incite the sentiments of people, leading to the break-down of law and order and thereby adversely affecting the election process. Ghosh has been directed to explain his stand by 10 am on Wednesday, failing which the Commission shall take a decision without further reference to him.

The BJP state president during an election campaign at Baranagar in North 24-Par-ganas had said more Cooch Behar-like killings might hap-pen in the next phase of the state Assembly elections if “naughty boys like the ones who died in Sitalkuchi” try to take the law into their hands. Continued on P6

PANAJI: The Goa Forward Party walked out of the National Democratic Alli-ance (NDA) on Tuesday, cit-ing “anti-Goan policies” of the BJP-led state government.

However, the move of the GFP, which has 3 MLAs in the 40-member Goa House, will not have any impact on the stability of the Pramod Sawant government in the state since

the Vijai Sardesai-led party is not a ruling constituent.

The GFP extended sup-port to the NDA in 2017 to facilitate the formation of the then BJP-led state government under the leadership of Mano-har Parrikar.

After Parrikar’s death in 2019, the alliance soured when three GFP ministers were dropped from the Pramod

Sawant-led government. The GFP’s state executive

committee and political affairs committee met in Panaji on Tuesday.

Later, GFP president Vijai Sardesai, in a formal letter to senior BJP leader and Union Home minister Amit Shah, conveyed the party’s decision to withdraw from the NDA. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A total of 1,61,736 new Coronavirus infections have been reported in a day pushing India’s tally of cases to 1,36,89,453, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate dropped further to 89.51 per cent, according to data updated by the Union Health min-istry on Monday.

The death toll increased to 1,71,058 with 879 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase for the 34th day in a row, the number of active cases rose to 12,64,698, or 9.24 per cent of the total infections.

The active caseload was at its lowest at 1,35,926 on February 12, 2021, and it was at its high-est at 10,17,754 on September 18, 2020. The number of people who have recuperated from the dis-ease surged to 1,22,53,697, while the case fatality rate has dropped further to 1.25 per cent, the data stated. Continued on P6

Goa Forward Party withdraws from BJP-led NDA

India records 1,61,736

infections, 879 deaths in a day

OUR CORRESPONDENT

BARASAT: Addressing her first rally after the 24-hour campaigning ban, TMC chair-person Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday hit out at BJP saying that being “mortally scared of her” they are trying differ-ent tactics to prevent her from reaching out to people not knowing that they will lose as she is an indomitable “street fighter” and fights like a “Royal Bengal Tiger”.

Addressing a public rally after 8.05 pm at Barasat in North 24-Parganas in support of her party’s candidate Chi-ranjeet Chakraborty, she urged people to judge the situation as the BJP leadership is carrying out poll campaigns at a time when she was being restricted by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

She also attacked the Prime Minister and Union Home minister saying that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah run two syndicates of spreading lies to mislead the masses and play the Hindu-Muslim card for politi-cal mileage. She demanded that the ECI should not allow the Prime Minister to hold rallies on the day of polls.

“I am fighting like a Royal Bengal Tiger. I know that they will create more trouble for me in the next four phases of the Assembly polls in Bengal as all are sitting here taking respon-sibility to beat me. But they are ignorant of the fact that they

cannot defeat me despite their best efforts,” Banerjee said, add-ing: “Keep one thing in mind that I know how to retaliate.”

Accusing BJP of using all Central agencies and organ-isations to “capture Bengal”, she said: “You will lose the battle despite engaging all agencies of the Centre, min-isters from across the country and spending a huge sum of money just because your leader never fights the battle from the ground. But I am a street fighter and I always contest along with my workers instead of giving

mere directions.” The TMC supremo added:

“I failed to campaign for my candidates for 24 hours and again it cannot be done for 72 hours ahead of the fifth phase of elections. So, we are almost losing 96 hours. But BJP lead-ers continued their campaign in the past 24 hours. I would leave it to the people to take their decisions only after judg-ing the situation.”

Asserting that she has been a street fighter and won’t be cowed down by such “intimi-dation tactics” of the saffron

camp, the feisty TMC boss said “efforts are on by the BJP and its agencies to stop her from campaigning”.

Terming BJP as a “worst party”, she said: “How can lead-ers of a political party say that people should be fired on the chest and four more persons should have been killed? The ECI should have banned the party politically. Instead, they have banned my campaign for 24 hours. What did I say? I had just asked people to go to cast their votes unitedly. I am still urging people from all com-munities and religions to cast their votes unitedly.”

She added: “Why does the Prime Minister hold poll campaigns on election days? It would not have mattered if he was a simple leader. But we have to keep in mind that he is the Prime Minister and he is a great liar. He misleads and

cheats people, and considers himself as a super god. I would urge the ECI to stop the Prime Minister’s campaigns on poll days. I will also not hold rallies on those days,” Banerjee said, adding that both (Modi and Shah) misled the people during their rallies at Jalpaiguri, Krish-nanagar and Burdwan.

“In Siliguri, Shah said there will be no NRC. He is lying as the Bill still exists. Again, in Jalpaiguri, he said I did not condole the death of the 18-year-old Rajbangshi youth just to bag the community’s votes. It is false as names of all five, who were killed at Sitalku-chi, including Rajbangshi youth Ananda Barma, were written on the column where I paid flo-ral tributes. He was killed in the firing by miscreants and I still believe that BJP was behind the incident. I am visiting Sital-kuchi tomorrow (Wednesday) and I am also ready to meet the BJP worker’s family members,” she said urging people to cast votes in favour of TMC as this election is to save Bengal and the country.

Banerjee also spoke about a series of development works carried out by her government at Barasat besides what her gov-ernment did for the people of the Matua community start-ing from setting up a college to giving Banga Bibhushan to Baroma. This comes when Shah claimed that she did noth-ing for people from the Matua community.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Protesting against the ‘undemocratic and unconstitutional’ decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) banning her from campaigning for 24 hours, Tri-namool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday observed a unique and exem-plary ‘Satyagraha’ at the Gan-dhi Statue on Mayo Road for three-and-a-half-hours.

Scripting a new chapter in the history of Bengal politics — which had often witnessed loud and violent protests — Banerjee sat next to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on a wheelchair without uttering a single word. It was a pro-test that didn’t witness any sloganeering, use of political insignia, posters or any object that would have helped her to endorse her party. During her lone protest, the wheelchair-bound leader took to painting. Not just that, even her party supporters stood at a distance

of around 100 metres from the leader. A black shawl wrapped around her neck to mark the ‘black day for democracy’, she completed two paintings dur-ing the protest time while sit-ting under a tarpaulin shed.

Earlier in a tweet, Baner-

jee had called the ECI’s move “undemocratic and uncon-stitutional”. Banerjee reached Mayo Road at around 11.34 am, about half an hour ahead of the scheduled time of pro-test. She left the protest site at 3 pm. Continued on P6

Sans words, signs or crowd: Mamata’s ‘Satyagraha’ paints rare scene

Highlights » “I am fighting like a Royal Bengal Tiger. I know that they will create more trouble for me in the next four phases of the Assembly polls in Bengal as all are sitting here taking responsibility to beat me” » ‘Why does the PM hold poll campaigns on election days? It would not have mattered if he was a simple leader’

Move of GFP, which has 3 MLAs in the 40-member House, will not impact stability of the Sawant govt

Mamata Banerjee campaigns at Barasat on Tuesday PIC/AMIT DATTA

Exhibiting a rare show in politics, Mamata Banerjee stages ‘Satyagraha’ all alone on a wheelchair, in Kolkata, on Tuesday PIC/AMIT DATTA

NEW DELHI: An independent board set up by Facebook to look into hate speech and other unde-sirable content on the platform on Tuesday said it will now accept cases from Facebook and Insta-gram users who believe the com-pany wrongfully allowed such content to remain on these social media platforms.

Facebook, which has faced flak in many parts of the world over various issues, including data breaches and handling of hate speech, had set up the Over-sight Board last year.

The board includes former judges, journalists and human rights activists, who review appeals from users on material that has been taken down from Facebook and Instagram, and make binding content decisions for the social net-working platforms. P6

FB, Insta users can appeal

to Oversight Board to purge harmful content

ICA-699(23)/2021

‘EFFORTS ON TO STOP ME FROM CAMPAIGNING’

FILE PHOTO

Single-day cases reach 4,817; 20 reported dead

‘Many pvt hosps yet to set up Covid ward for children’

AMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING: There is rea-son to cheer at the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (Pnhzp) popular as Dar-jeeling zoo.

Three snow leopard cubs were born at a facility under the zoo on April 10.

With the immense success of the captive breeding pro-gramme, the zoo is now plan-ning to release captive bred snow leopards in the wild.

The snow leopard (Pan-thera uncia) are highly endan-gered animals. In summer snow leopards are found in alti-tudes ranging from 2000 m to 6,000 m. in Central and South Asia. They usually lead a soli-tary life.

“On April 10, three cubs were born to Zima, the snow leopard at Tobgeydanra Con-

servation Breeding Centre under the Pnhzp, near Ghoom, Darjeeling,” Dharamdeo Rai, Director Pnhzp. said.

“The cubs have been fathered by Namka. This is the third time Zima has given birth. The mother and the cubs

are doing fine and we hope they survive. They are under con-stant watch,” added the Direc-tor of Pnhzp.

The Pnhzp is the pioneer zoo in India to have initi-ated the captive breeding pro-gramme of snow leopards. In

1986 this programme had been initiated with 4 snow leopards. At present there are 12 snow leopards in the zoo and non display breeding center.

Many of the zoo bred snow leopards have been sent from Pnhzp to other high altitude Indian zoos and to foreign zoos as part of animal exchange programmes.

“We are now in the process of selecting places where the captive bred snow leopards can be released in the wild. Thus the project will be complete and the objective attained” added the Director.

The Pnhzp was founded in 1958 and specializes in the cap-tive breeding of endangered Himalayan species includ-ing Red Panda, Tibetan Wolf; Blue Sheep, Himalayan Tahr and Satyr Tragopan (crimson horned pheasant.)

Good news: 3 snow leopard cubs born at Darjeeling Zoo

Captive bred snow leopards likely to be released in wild

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Sources in the Health Department claimed that various private hospitals in the city were yet to set up a separate pediatric ward for treatment of children infected by Coronavirus.

The sources added that the state Health Department would take up the matter with the pri-vate hospitals, in the wake of spiralling cases of COVID-19.

As a result, people have to largely depend on government establishments like Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), Dr BC Roy Memo-rial Hospital and Chittaranjan Seva Sadan.

A private children’s hospi-tal is also there in Park Circus but it fails to cater to the rush of patients due to the dearth of beds in the current pandemic situation.

The development comes at a time when the health experts stated that the new variant would be causing more infec-tions in children due to the mutation.

Sources in the State Health department said the matter would be taken up with the private hospitals. It was learnt

that in the past few weeks some children had been infected with the virus but many of them were denied admission.

Those who managed to find a place had to get admitted in the general Covid ward of pri-vate establishments.

There were incidents, in which private hospitals tried to refuse Covid-infected chil-dren citing bed issues.

Sishu Sadan Hospital under Chittaranjan Seva Sadan and BC Roy hospital have dedicated Covid units for children but the bed capacity is not quite high. BC Roy has around 20 isola-tion beds while Sishu Sadan

has 30 beds. As a result, the pressure

mostly remains on CMCH. As CMCH has a dedicated unit in the name of Mother and Child Hub, it has to cater to a large number of patients. Covid infected patients are also referred to the Beliaghata ID Hospital. The issue of the pri-vate hospitals having no dedi-cated pediatric ward for Covid patients came to the notice of the State Health department. Following a recent spike in Covid cases, most of the beds in the government hospitals are filled up.

A senior official of Calcutta Medical College said Covid infected children are mostly complaining about diarrhea while some others have respi-ratory issues. “It would be dif-ficult to accommodate Covid infected children if the infec-tion rate continues to go up as it had been in the past couple of days. During the first wave the children were not affected in large numbers. But in the second wave, as the new vari-ant would infect more chil-dren. Coronavirus is mutating fast. All the hospitals have to increase pediatric beds in the future,” the official said.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Covid graph con-tinues to go up in Bengal as sin-gle day infection has reached 4,817 while the figure on Mon-day stood at 4,511. The number of active Covid cases however stands at 29,050. On Monday active cases remained at 26,531.

The State has so far reported 6,24,224 Covid cases out of which 5,84,740 patients have already been released from the hospitals. Around 2,278 patients have been discharged in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, amid rising cases in Hoogly district the administration of Tarakeswar temple decided to not allow devotees to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine.

The State Health depart-ment on Tuesday conducted 1289 sessions and around 1,13,710 people were vacci-nated across the state. Around 76,413 people took the first dose on Tuesday while 31,035 took the second dose. Bengal has so far carried out 83.44 lakh vaccinations till Tues-day. No adverse events fol-

lowing immunization (AEFI) were reported on Tuesday. On Monday, around 2,44,560 peo-ple received vaccination across the State.

Health experts apprehend that the severity of Covid infec-tion may go up further. The Covid recovery rate on Tuesday stood at 93.67 percent. The per-centage of positive cases out of the sample tested stands at 6.51.

The percentage of occu-pancy of Covid beds in the State jumped to 31.09 on Tues-day while the figure of Monday remained at 28.15. The state has so far carried out 95,89,378 Covid sample tests out of which

42,214 were performed in the past 24 hours.

Bengal has seen the high-est death on Tuesday since the infection curve started flat-tening from the latter half of the last year. Around 20 peo-ple died of Covid across Ben-gal in the past 24 hours. The total death toll in the state has reached 10,434. Kolkata has registered 11 deaths in the past 24 hours while North 24-Par-ganas has seen 4, Howrah and Hooghly two each. West Burd-wan has seen one death.

Kolkata in the past 24 hours has registered 1,271 fresh cases followed by North 24-Parga-nas 1,134. The total death toll

in Kolkata has so far reached 3,168. North 24-Parganas has lost 2,560 people so far. The tally of infected patients in Kol-kata has gone up to 1,43,742 while North 24-Parganas has so far seen a total 1,34,710. South 24-Parganas has registered 298 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours. The total number of Covid infected patients in South 24-parganas has gone up 40,238.

There are around 1,796 ICU/HDU beds functional in Covid hospitals. Around 525 ventilators are still function-ing in Covid hospitals. The total number of earmarked Covid beds stood at 7,428 on Tuesday.

STATE’S POSITIVITY RATE STANDS AT 6.51%

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New variant may infect more children: Docs

Sources in the State Health department said the matter would be taken up with the private hospitals

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court has directed the district administration and the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to take necessary measures so that the guidelines laid down by the Election Commission in connection with Covid related health protocols are strictly adhered to by all stakeholders including the political parties and candidates during election campaigns .

The court’s directions came in the wake of two writ peti-tions by two public spirited cit-izens expressing their concern that the people participating in the ongoing election cam-paigns are not adhering to the Covid protocol and this may cause serious spike in COVID-19 cases in Bengal.

“If the Administration finds that a person, whether engaged in election campaign-ing or otherwise, is flouting the Covid protocols, such person must been taken to task imme-diately,” the Court observed.

The court has also given the nod to the administration for resorting to the provisions of Section 144 of the Crimi-nal Procedure Code, 1973 for enforcement of social distanc-ing. The court will hear the matter on April 19 when the state CEO has been asked to file a report in the form of an affi-davit as regards to the measures taken up for implementation of the guidelines for holding a safe election in so far as public health is concerned.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: The Election Commission will deploy 853 companies of Central forces for the fifth phase of elections in Bengal scheduled to be held on April 17 in which 45 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) spanning across Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, and parts of North 24-Parganas, Nadia and East Burdwan are going to polls.

The highest deployment of 283 companies will be in North 24-Parganas in which 16 ACs will be going to polls.

There will be 69 companies for Barasat Police District, 69 companies for Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, 107 companies for Basirhat and 46 companies for Bidhannagar, which has 1014 booths.

There will be 122 compa-nies for seven seats in Jalpaiguri district, 68 companies for four seats in Darjeeling, 53 compa-nies for Siliguri and 21 compa-nies for Kalimpong with 301 booths.

There will be 151 compa-nies for the eight constituen-cies in Nadia district and 155 companies for 8 constituencies in East Burdwan.

The number of sector offices in the fifth phase will be 690 with one SI or ASI of state police being in charge.

Each sector will have four

police constables.There will be 1071 com-

panies of Central forces in the elections out of which 853 will be directly involved with the

5th phase of polls.The total number of polling

booths in the 5th phase will be 15789 with 342 candidates in poll fray.

Touch and Go SeatsSeats polling in fifth phase

of 2021 West Bengal Assembly

elections in which victory margin

was less than 2% in 2016 polls

KBK graphicsPoll

West Bengal Assembly

Polls 2021: Phase-V

1 Basirhat Uttar

Victory Margin:

Winner: ( )

Runner-up: AITC ( )

0.23%

CPM 45.74%

45.51%

2 Raina

Victory Margin:

Winner: ( )

Runner-up: CPM ( )

0.22%

AITC 45.77%

45.55%

3 Monteswar

Victory Margin:

Winner: ( )

Runner-up: CPM ( )

0.37%

AITC 44.11%

43.74%

Source: Election Commission of India

Khandaghosh

Victory Margin:

Winner: ( )

Runner-up: CPM ( )

1.63%

AITC 45.88%

44.25%

5

Nagrakata

Victory Margin:

Winner: ( )

Runner-up: Cong ( )

1.83%

AITC 32.46%

30.63%

6

4 Jamalpur

Victory Margin:

Winner: ( )

Runner-up: AITC ( )

0.74%

CPM 44.53%

43.79%

Panihati

Victory Margin:

Winner: ( )

Runner-up: Cong ( )

1.84%

AITC 44.69%

42.85%

7

Phase-V

Poll date:

April 17

Seats: 45

1

2

3

45

7

6

Fifth phase: EC to deploy 853 companies of Central forces

HIGHEST DEPLOYMENT IN N 24-PARGANAS

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Incidents of vio-lence have gone up in some parts of North 24-Parganas in the past few days.

Many Assembly seats from the district will go to poll on Saturday during the fifth phase of Bengal elections.

District Trinamool Con-gress leaders have, however, put the blame on the BJP.

They also brought allega-tions that BJP backed-goons are entering various places in the district and their main purpose would be creating trouble on the day of election by unleash-ing the reign of terror. There have been instances where Tri-namool Congress activists were attacked by some unidentified goons in some places.

“BJP has no organisational base in the district hence they are trying to resort to vio-lence. They are trying to cre-ate fear among the voters and also threatening our workers. They know that people are with Trinamool Congress,” said the district spokesperson of Trin-amool Congress Rathin Ghosh.

It may be mentioned here that a clash broke out between BJP and Trinamool Congress activists in Hingalgunj on Monday.

It was learnt that some Trinamool Congress workers

were holding an election cam-paign when some miscreants attacked them.

BJP had earlier objected to the campaign by the Tri-namool Congress. When the goons pounced on the Trin-amool Congress workers, it triggered a clash. Miscreants snatched the mobile phone of a Trinamool Congress supporter.

The incident escalated later when some Trinamool Con-gress workers ransacked the house of a BJP local leader. Two people have been admitted to the hospital following this inci-dent. Both groups lodged com-plaints at police stations against each other. Trinamool Con-gress leaders said BJP aided miscreants were behind the attack.

In a similar incident the rally of Trinamool Congress candidate Rahima Mondal contesting from Deganga was attacked on Monday evening. Crude bombs were hurled.

The incident also led to a political clash. Four persons were injured and they were admitted to Biswanathpur Hospital.

A clash broke out between BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters at Naihati on Sun-day night.

One has been seriously injured and admitted to a pri-vate hospital on EM Bypass.

BJP has no base in N 24-Parganas, so

inciting violence: TMC RAILWAY UNION TO PROTEST CLOSURE OF BR SINGH HOSPITAL’S OT DEPTKOLKATA: Railway union will protest against the closure of Operation Theatre (OT) department in B R Singh Hospital, the Head Quarter Hospital and Re-search Centre of Eastern Railway (ER) in Sealdah. “B R Singh Hospital will shut the OT department within two days,” said Dilip Dutta Chowdhury, president of East-ern Railway Men’s Union (ERMU) and in-charge of the B R Singh Hospital He reiterated that the hospital au-thority has decided to shut the OT department fearing spread of the COVID-19 infection. On Monday, ERMU has also given a deputation to the hospital authority demanding continuation of the OT section. The Howrah Orthopaedic Hospital, which used to treat COVID – 19 patients earlier, had stopped treating Coronavirus patients from April 1.“The most critical patients are referred to B R Singh Hospital, Sealdah from Howrah Orthopaedic Hospital for medical intervention,” said an official.

POSTERS DISFIGURED, CLAIMS TMCKOLKATA:The flags, festoons and and posters of Trinamool Congress were disfigured in Gangarampur allegedly by the activists of BJP on Monday night.

In protest, a group of TMC workers-led by the Gan-garampur block Trinamool president Mrinal Sarkar blocked the National Highway 512 demanding im-mediate arrest of the culprits. The blockade continued for 45 minutes. The protestors lifted the blockade after getting the assurance from the local administra-tion and police to book the goons who were respon-sible for the incident. A complaint has already been lodged with the Returning Officer of Gangarampur against seven BJP activists. “The incident took place in Gangarampur’s Kalitala area when I was returning home from the party office,” said the TMC leader.

News at a Glance

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Students’ platform Independents Consolidation (IC) has appealed to the Presi-dency University authorities as well as the West Bengal State Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) to extend the last date of application for Pres-idency University Bachelor's Degree Entrance Test (PUB-DET) 2021.

WBJEEB will conduct common entrance test PUB-DET-2021 and counselling for admission into various three-year B.A./B.Sc. (Honours) undergraduate Courses in the Presidency University.

The last date of application for PUBDET entrance exami-nation had ended on April 8.

The IC in its email to Ara-binda Nayek who is in charge of admission at Presidency and Chairman of WBJEEB Malay-endu Saha has pointed out that a good number of students par-ticularly from the rural areas has reached out to them and expressed their concern over

not filling up form for PUB-DET 2021 since they were not aware of the last date of application.

“The extension of dates would ensure that no student is denied the prospect of study-ing at Presidency University due to lack of proper informa-tion, internet access and other issues,”an IC spokesperson said.

“No aspirant has approached us on this issue as yet. However, the decision in this regard can be taken only by the WBJEEB,” a senior official of the university said.

‘Extend deadline for applying to PUBDET’

Must follow Covid safety

norms at rallies: HC

Covid-19 Stats » Number of deaths in past 24 hours 20 » Total death toll so far 10,434 » Tested COVID positive in the past 24 hours 4,817 » Total COVID positive cases so far 6,24,224 » Total patients recovered from COVID so far 5,84,740 » Discharged from hospitals in a day 2,278 » Total sample tested so far 95,89,378

Representative Image

Representative Image

Representative Image

File Photo

9 days ahead of polls, BJP’s N Dinajpur

prez changedKOLKATA: Barely nine days before polls in North Dinajpur, BJP changed its district pres-ident. On Tuesday, the party issued a notification to replace its existing district president Biswajit Lahiri.

The party gave the charge to Basudeb Sarkar. However, as reported Lahiri was seen on the stage along with Amit Shah during his public meeting in Hemtabad Assembly con-stituency on Monday evening.The district unit received the directive ahead of Amit Shah’s visit to the district for poll cam-paign. Meanwhile, the change of leadership has led to resent-ment among the BJP workers in the district, sources claimed. As per the sources, Sarkar is close to the party’s central leader-ship and Raiganj MP Debas-ree Choudhury. 9 ACs in the district will go to polls on April 22 during the sixth phase of the state Assembly polls. MPOST

Now, book plots in Silicon Valley online

SOUMITRA NANDI

KOLKATA: West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) for the first time has introduced online application facility for booking of plots in Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub in New Town .

A senior official of HIDCO said a company interested to book a plot can browse its website and tap on the Silicon Valley icon to get the details of the vacant plots along with the price.

The companies can go through the terms and con-ditions and initially block the plot through online mode by furnishing the requisite documents.“There is a special committee, which will exam-ine the application and check whether the venture is related with technology to be deemed suitable for allotment of land in the hub and then the booking amount will be charged from the concerned company. Fol-

lowing this, the application will be sent for the nod of the state cabinet,” the official added.

Three plots of one acre each and plots measuring 6.347 acre, 5 acre, 5.590 acre,.726 acre, .876 acre and a large plot of 21.752 acre are presently lying vacant. The plots are available at afford-able rates.

The Silicon Valley proj-ect was launched in August 2018 in Action Area II in New Town to attract investments in IT sector and to build a world class ecosystem for cutting edge technologies and innovation. Initially, 100 acre was dedi-cated for the hub but it filled up soon and another 100 was allocated to cater to the rising demand.IT majors like Infosys and Wipro have taken land at the hub. Other major compa-nies, which have taken land at the hub include Reliance Jio –that has taken 40 acre for set-ting up two international data centers— and TCS (20 acre). RP Sanjiv Goenka Group’s First Source has taken up 5 acre.

3millenniumpost City mpKOLKATA | WEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021

Centre responsible for surge in Covid cases, says Mamata

‘After May 2, people will bid farewell to outsiders’

Spl inoculation drive in city from April 16

Rampurhat: Close association with people, dev work, poll plank for TMC

Setting up of a multi-supersiality hosp, strengthening of roads to be key factors for TMC’s Asish Banerjee

OUR CORRESPONDENT

RAINA (EAST BURD-WAN): The people in Ben-gal would bid farewell to the ‘trigger-happy’ outsiders and the traitors on May 2 after declaration of the Assem-bly election results, Abhishek Banerjee, president of Trinamool Youth Congress said on Tuesday.

Addressing a rally here, Abhishek said: “The trigger-happy outsiders are dreaming to control Bengal after kill-ing the residents. Those who had been gunned down by the CISF jawans in Sitalku-chi had one shortcoming that they were Bengalis,” Banerjee maintained.

Commenting on the inci-dent, Banerjee said it was really surprising that there was no footage of the incident. “It is surprising that 400 to 500 peo-ple had gheraoed the Central force personnel but no one had taken any photograph of the incident. This has raised sus-picion among the people, who feel that killings are a part of a bigger conspiracy.”

Commenting on the relent-less fight put up by Mamata Banerjee with a fractured ankle, Abhishek said: “The BJP leaders have realised the strength of women in Bengal and it is a shame that to counter the only woman Chief Minister in the country, the Prime Min-ister, Home Minister, Defense Minister and their cabinet col-leagues along with the Chief Ministers of several states are coming to Bengal like the daily passengers and their sole busi-ness is to criticise Mamata Banerjee.”

Taking a dig at BJP, Abhishek said: “It is unfortu-nate that BJP which claims it to be the largest party in the

world does not talk anything about development. I chal-lenge the BJP leaders to take part in a debate on develop-ment. I will present the report card of Mamata Banerjee and they should produce the report card of Modi. They should select the venue and the time; I will be present there with papers.”

Abhishek urged people to the polling stations early in the morning and cast their votes. “Every vote you cast in favour of Trinamool, you not

only strengthen the hands of Mamata Banerjee but also take steps towards driving out the outsiders.”

He said after coming to power for the third consecu-tive time, the TMC government would ensure that people get ration at their doorsteps and the students would get loans to carry on with their higher stud-ies. “Mamata Banerjee always keeps her promises and votes for her to ensure steady and all round development of Bengal,” he added.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Holding the BJP-led Central government solely responsible for the spike in Covid cases across the coun-try, Trinamool Congress chair-person Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that free-of-cost vaccination drive would be taken up in urban areas starting from Kolkata from Wednesday onward.

Though she did not detail much about the vaccination drive, Banerjee said: “I want to ensure free-of-cost vaccina-tion for everyone in the state. I had written to the Prime Minister three months back, before the election dates were announced, to provide us a vac-cine so that we can carry out free-of-cost vaccination for all 10 crore people of Bengal. We were also ready to make pay-ment for the same. But they did not provide us the same. How-ever, we have arranged a stock and it would be given free-of-cost to people at health centres in urban areas. It would initiate from Kolkata.”

Raising allegation that she has heard about a vaccination drive being held at a party offi-cer of BJP at Surat in Guja-rat, Banerjee said: “It is just because of the callous atti-tude of Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the Covid graph in the country has once again shot up. They did not come out of their houses to support people during Covid. They only come ahead of the polls.” She also termed the Centre as a faceless gov-ernment that befooled people saying of “double engine” gov-ernment and raised apprehen-sion that the price of cooking gas would be further increased

the day after the election got over.

“We remain with people round the year. I hit the street risking my life at the time of Covid and visited market places, hospitals, etc. I drew cir-

cles on the road to make peo-ple aware about maintaining physical distance. We remain with people during Covid and Amphan like situations and also in festivals of all regions,” Banerjee said while holding a

public meeting at Bidhannagar.Praising her party’s candi-

date from Bidhannagar and outgoing state Fire minis-ter Sujit Bose, Banerjee said: “There was an incident of fire in the city on Monday. I called Sujit and he reached the spot within a minute.”

Giving a call not to cast a vote in favour of “Mir Jafars” and “gaddars”, she urged people to exercise the power in favour of TMC to sustain peace in the state. She cited the example of violence at Barrackpore after BJP’s Arjun Singh had won as the local MP while saying the same. Her call not to cast votes in favour of any defector came relevant as turncoat Sabyasa-chi Dutta is contesting as BJP

candidate from Bidhannagar Assembly segment.

Addressing a rally at Barasat she said: “Why the Prime Minister holds election campaigns on the days of polls? It would not have mattered if he was a simple leader. But we have to keep in mind that he is the Prime Minister and he is a great liar. He is misleading and cheating people consider-ing himself as a super god. I would urge the ECI to stop the Prime Minister’s campaigns on the days of polls. I will also not hold the rallies on these days,” Banerjee said, adding that both (Modi and Shah) mislead the people during their rallies at Jalpaiguri, Krishanagar and Burdwan.

TO INITIATE FREE-OF-COST VACCINATION IN URBAN AREAS

Mamata Banerjee address a rally after the 24 hour ban was over, in Barasat, on Tuesday PIC/AMIT DATTA

Highlights » ‘Centre did not send us enough vaccine though we were also ready to make payment for the same’ » ‘It is just because of the callous attitude of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the Covid graph in the country has once again shot up’ » ‘We remain with people round the year. I hit the street risking my life at the time of Covid and visited market places’ » She urged people to exercise the power in favour of TMC to sustain peace in the state

Key Points » Abhishek said the BJP leaders had realised the strength of women in Bengal » Claims Sitalkuchi incident was part of a bigger conspiracy » The TMC leader opined that it was unfortunate that BJP never talked about development despite being the coun-try’s largest party » Assured people about doorstep delivery of ration after TMC’s win in the ensuing polls » ‘I will present the report card of Mamata Banerjee and they should produce the report card of Modi’

PRITESH BASU

KOLKATA: The four-time MLA and outgoing state Agri-culture minister Asish Banerjee is not only confident of his win for the fifth consecutive term but with a highest ever mar-gin from Rampurhat Assem-bly constituency in Birbhum resting on the development work carried out by Mamata Banerjee government and his close association with the peo-ple in the grassroot level in the tribal dominant Assembly constituency.

Banerjee is one of the oldest lieutenants of Trinamool Con-gress supremo and had ousted CPI(M) from Rampurhat long back in 2001, and with a wide experience of serving as min-

isters of different departments since TMC formed govern-ment in 2011 has ensured an development of his constitu-ency. The development has touched lives of people from all walks of life starting from farmers to students.

When construction widen-ing and strenthening of roads immensely benefitted the stone crushing sector in the region, setting up of a multi supersial-ity hospital along with Naba-run Sasthya Kendra has given a major facelift to the health sec-tor in the region. Students now no more need to travel long distance for higher studies as MA courses in English, Bengali and Sanskrit has been initiated at Rampurhat College itself. Infrastructure of schools have

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: A week-long special vacci-nation drive will be initiated in Kolkata as the maximum number of Covid cases in recent times has been spotted from the city.

The drive in all 144 wards of the city is expected to start from April 16 with still 13 days left for the polls in Kolkata. The election in Kolkata will take place on the seventh and last phases that are on April 26 and 29. The vaccination will take place at Kolkata urban health units.

Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopad-hyay on Tuesday held a meeting with

representatives of different chambers of commerce and district magistrates and superintendents of police of the districts that are going for polls on fifth and sixth phases.

A target has been set to ensure at least

vaccination of around 30,000 people every day in the week-long special vaccination drive. At the same time, housing societ-ies have been allowed to get in touch with concerned healthcare to organise a camp at their premises itself. Necessary clearances will be given for the same.

Clearance has also been given to private offices to arrange for vaccination of their employees above 45 years. At the same time the set norms of using masks, main-tenance of physical distancing, thermal checking, not more than four people in a lift at a time and attendance of 50 percent has to be maintained.

also been developed. Birbhum district is known for its Baul song. Keeping the cultural side of the area in mind, Banerjee has also ensured setting up of 250 cultural stages in villages. For agriculture sector, the local MLA and the state agri-culture minister has also ensured setting up of "river lift irrigation system" in his con-stituency as well.

Banerjee, who is also the chairperson of Tarapith Ram-purhat Development Authority (TRDA), completed construc-tion of a bypass connecting the town besides carrying out mas-sive beautification of the area.

There are some pock-ets where supply of sufficient drinking water will be ensured soon. "We are reaching to the people with the develop-ment work carried out by our government. We are getting

Birbhum Lok Sabha seat from where Satabdi Roy got elected as an MP.

Taking a dig at BJP, Baner-jee said: "They are in power for almost seven years at the Centre, but yet to address the demand of the people of Ram-purhat to give a two minute halt of Satabdi Express at Ram-purhat. People basically expects nothing from them (BJP) as all are well aware of their anti-peo-ple policies."

Both TMC and CPIM have alleged of factional feud in the saffron camp. But the BJP can-didate brushed aside the alle-gation and claimed they are giving a united fight. CPIM and BJP fielded Sanjib Bar-man and Subhasis Chowdhury respectively from the constitu-ency. They also claimed of get-ting people's mandate from the constituency.

TMC’s Asish Banerjee interacts with locals during poll campaign

Abhishek raises doubts as to why no videos of Sitalkuchi firing incident have been made available

Abhishek Banerjee at a rally ,in Baguiati, on Tuesday

Housing societies have been allowed to get in touch with concerned healthcare to organise a camp at their premises itself

ICA-

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‘Covid-19 2nd wave worrying’

CORONA CURFEW, NOT LOCKDOWN: MP GOVT ON CURRENT RESTRICTIONS BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government on Tues-day issued an order stating that restrictions currently in place to tackle a surge in COVID-19 cases were part of “corona curfew” and should not be termed as “lockdown”. The order by state additional chief secre-tary (home) Rajesh Rajora said corona curfew should be imposed by district collectors after consultation with elected representatives, social organisations, residents welfare committees and the people.

3,003 NEW CASES IN PUNJAB, 53 DEATHS CHANDIGARH: The coronavirus tally in Punjab rose to 2.79 lakh on Tuesday with 3,003 new infections, while 53 more deaths took the toll to 7,609, a health bulletin said. There are 28,184 active cases, while 2,612 more coronavirus patients recuperated, taking the number of recoveries to 2.43 lakh, the Health Department said. Seven people died in Hoshiarpur, six each in Sangrur and Gurdaspur and five each in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala, among Covid related fatalities.

Nation Briefs

4 millenniumpostNationmpWEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021 | KOLKATA

NEW DELHI: General Administration Department Chhattisgarh has issued a guideline regarding the Covid test for passengers coming to Chhattisgarh by rail or air. The General Administration Department has issued a letter to all the Divisional commis-sioners, Inspector General of Police, Collectors and Superin-tendents of Police in this regard to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines.

According to the guidelines issued by the General Admin-istration Department, in the context of control of infection

of new variant of Novel Coro-navirus, RTPCR test conducted of passengers at least 72 hours before reaching the railway sta-tion by rail or before reaching the airport by air must be nega-tive. Passengers whose Corona test report will be negative will be allowed to go home. Passen-gers who do not have a negative report will be subjected to a Corona test. In case of Corona positive test result, they will be kept in the local quarantine center as per rules.

According to the guide-lines issued, those passengers who do not have RTPCR test

of the prescribed time period, be tested at the railway station and airport. If the Covid test report is positive, they will be kept in Institutional Quaran-tine, Covid Care Center, Hospi-tal as per SOP issued by Health Department. If an air passenger does not consent to the Covid test in such a situation, he will be quarantined for 7 days at his own expense.

Instructions have been given regarding the covid test-ing of young children with the consent of their parents. Action will be taken as per the SOP prescribed for the contact

tracing of the positive passen-ger in the flight.

Passengers traveling by air whose Covid-19 investigation report is negative will also be advised to stay in the 7-day home isolation and follow the home quarantine rule. The col-lectors of the respective dis-tricts will also ensure necessary arrangements for the followup of such passengers. Instruc-tions have also been given to display necessary arrange-ments at venue and necessary information regarding corona investigation and control at the arrival site. MPOST

Covid negative report mandatory for passengers coming to Chhattisgarh

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday reported the high-est-ever single-day spike of 18,021 coronavirus cases and 85 deaths, a senior official said here. With this, the state's infec-tion tally stands at 7,23,582 and the death toll at 9,309.

The state's previous big-gest jump of 15,353 cases was recorded on April 11.

"In the past 24 hours, 18,021 fresh cases were reported while 3,474 people were discharged during this period. There are 95,980 active cases while 6,18,293 were treated and dis-charged. The state has reported a total of 9,309 deaths since the start of the pandemic," Additional Chief Secretary of Health Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters here. Lucknow reported the highest number of fresh cases at 5,382, while Alla-habad reported 1,856, Varanasi 1,404, Kanpur 1,271, Gorakh-pur 602, according to a health bulletin issued here.

Lucknow reported 18 deaths, Kanpur 10, Allahabad eight and Gautam Buddh Nagar four, the bulletin stated.

Over 80 lakh people have been administered COVID-19 vaccine shots in the state.

So far, 3.71 crore samples have been tested, with 2.18 lakh being tested on Monday, the bulletin said.

Prasad said 12 new RT-PCR laboratories are being opened in the state to augment the test-ing capacity. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday assured that the tourists coming to the state will not be put to any incon-venience at entry points of the state in the grab of Covid test reports.

“The RT-PCR negative test report for the tourists/visi-tors coming from the seven high load states is just a mech-anism evolved to keep track of the persons coming from Covid hotspots and staying in hotels or elsewhere. Nobody will be denied entry to the state on this pretext,” he said at Dharamshala. Thakur reached Dharamshala in the morning to review the Covid situation in the Kangra, which is among four worst affected districts bordering Punjab.

There has been a total of

20 deaths in the past 36 to 40-hours in the state, six of these were from Kangra, apart from five each from Una and Mandi districts.

There have been 1700 fresh cases during the past two days, of which 619 were in the past 24-hours with Kangra test-ing 500 new cases during this period. The active cases in the state on Tuesday reached 6,269.

When asked by media-persons about possibilities of a lockdown, the Chief Minis-ter ruled out such a possibility asserting that the hotel industry has particularly suffered due to lockdown last year.

He said the state govern-ment has imposed certain con-ditions on the tourists visiting from seven states–Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karna-taka, UP, Delhi and Rajasthan .

“We have taken care of the tourism industry to ensure it

does not suffer. We have put in place a mechanism to monitor it accordingly at their places of stays. Tourists and other vis-itors will not be harassed by stopping for Corona reports on the state’s borders because it causes a lot of inconvenience and difficulty to them,” he said.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has asked the local health and administrative authorities to declare a place or locality as mini containment zone where over five Corona positive cases are reported.

Frequency of testing should be increased and people should be encouraged to vaccinate themselves. He urged the local bodies and NGOs to come for-ward and help the State Gov-ernment to educate people in the fight against the resur-gence of Coronavirus which is more potent and deadly than last year.

No harassment of visitors at entry points: Himachal CM

NEW DELHI: The novel coro-navirus variant first identified in the UK is not associated with more severe illness and death, but appears to lead to higher viral load which makes it more transmissible, suggests an observational study. The study of patients in London hospitals is consistent with emerging evi-dence that this lineage is more transmissible than the original COVID-19 strain.

A separate observational study using data logged by 37,000 UK users of a self-reporting COVID-19 symptom app found no evidence that the B.1.1.7. variant altered symp-toms or likelihood of experi-encing long COVID.

Authors of both studies acknowledge that these find-ings differ from some other studies exploring the severity of the B.1.1.7. variant and call for more research and ongo-

ing monitoring of COVID-19 variants.

The studies, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases and The Lancet Public Health, found no evidence that people with the B.1.1.7. variant expe-rience worse symptoms or a heightened risk of developing long COVID compared with those infected with a different COVID-19 strain.

However, viral load and R number –the number of people that one infected person will pass on a virus to –were higher for B.1.1.7., adding to growing evidence that it is more trans-missible than the first strain detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

The emergence of variants has raised concerns that they could spread more easily and be more deadly, and that vac-cines developed based on the original strain might be less

effective against them.Preliminary data on B.1.1.7.

indicates that it is more trans-missible, with some evidence suggesting it could also be asso-ciated with increased hospitali-sations and deaths.

However, because the vari-ant was identified only recently, these studies were limited by the amount of data available.

Findings from the new studies, which spanned the period between September and December 2020, when B.1.1.7. emerged and began to spread across parts of England, pro-vide important insights into its characteristics that will help inform public health, clinical, and research responses to this and other COVID-19 variants.

The study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal is a whole-genome sequenc-ing and cohort study involving COVID-19 patients admitted

to University College London Hospital and North Middle-sex University Hospital, UK, between November 9 and December 20, 2020.

"Analysing the variant before the peak of hospital admissions and any associ-ated strains on the health ser-vice gave us a crucial window of time to gain vital insights into how B.1.1.7. differs in severity or death in hospital-ised patients from the strain of the first wave," Eleni Nastouli, from University College Lon-don Hospitals NHS Founda-tion Trust.

The study in The Lan-cet Public Health journal is an ecological study that ana-lysed self-reported data from 36,920 UK users of the COVID Symptom Study app who tested positive for COVID-19 between September and December 2020. AGENCIES

‘UK variant more transmissible, but does not increase Covid severity’

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Concerned over unprecedented rise in new Covid-19 cases, the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday noted that India’s Covid-19 cases trajectory in the second wave is “worrying” and the states of concern like Maha-rashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat need to ramp up RT-PCR tests.

Addressing a press confer-ence, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the Centre is continuously trying to help states and union territo-ries in tackling the pandemic in a more effective manner.

“The previous highest surge has already been crossed and the “trend is going upward and that is a cause for worry”. The previous highest surge was 94,372 daily cases in September which is now 1,61,736 every day while the daily deaths are also showing an increasing trend,” Bhushan said.

The Health Secretary said, “In case of Maharashtra, the average daily cases week-on-week have grown significantly and have reached a level of over 57,000.”

“The tests per million are also growing but they are not keeping pace with the average daily cases. The share of RT-PCR tests is progressively com-ing down so that is something we repeatedly request the state to address,” he stressed.

“The ideal proportion is 70 per cent RT-PCR tests and 30 per cent rapid antigen tests as both are important. Rapid

antigen tests have their value as a screening test in areas that are densely populated and in those areas which are showing a recent cluster of new cases. Those who test negative in RAT have to be mandatorily sub-jected to RT-PCR tests,” he said.

“For Maharashtra, the weekly positivity rate is very high at 24.66 per cent and this is when RT-PCR tests are rela-

tively low so we have reason to believe that if RT-PCR propor-tion goes up then the positiv-ity may show a corresponding increase and it is not specific to Maharashtra but to all such states,” Bhushan said, adding that we have offered to the states that if they desire then they could make use of mobile testing laboratories.

“In Chhattisgarh, the aver-

age daily cases are up to 11,504 and RT-PCR ratio is very poor. The weekly positivity rate in the case of Chhattisgarh is increas-ing from 1.40 per cent to 27.95 per cent. This is another cause of concern,” he said, adding that in Uttar Pradesh, cases have increased to 10,000 in a day from on average 89 cases per day.

For Punjab, over 3,000 daily cases are being reported and average tests per million have increased but not in the same proportion as the num-ber of cases, he said, adding that in Karnataka, now 7,776 new cases are being reported from 404 daily cases in mid February.

In Gujarat, from 275 cases per week they have increased to 4500 cases, while in Mad-hya Pradesh, now the average cases per day are 4,912 from 267 cases.

Tamil Nadu also has a sim-ilar situation, from 450 daily cases in mid February the cases have increased to over 5000. In Delhi, a weekly average of over 8,000 new cases is being reported now from 134 cases. In Haryana, daily cases have increased to 2,900 every day.

States of concern like Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat need to ramp up RT-PCR tests, says Centre

More than 150 beds ready for Covid patients at a facility in Nehru Science centre in Mumbai, Tuesday PTI

UP records highest-ever daily spike of 18,021 cases

LUCKNOW: In a letter that surfaced on social media, the Uttar Pradesh law minister has lashed out at his state's health authorities, complaining that beds for coronavirus patients are falling short and ambu-lances take hours to arrive in the UP capital, which he said could face a lockdown again.

Law Minister Brajesh Pathak's purported letter on the situation in his constitu-ency also blamed the recent death of a scholar on the lack of an ambulance, though Padma Shri-winner Yogesh Praveen's family has denied making this charge.

When contacted Pathak did not reject the exis-tence of a letter, which also appears to challenge the UP government's claim that it is on top of the fight against coronavirus.

"I had written a confiden-tial letter to the government,"

he said, refusing to elaborate further.

"The beds for COVID-19 patients in hospitals should be increased, testing should be increased and enough testing kits should be made available, said the letter written Mon-day to Additional Chief Sec-retary (Medical and Health) and Additional Chief Secre-tary (Medical Education).

If COVID-related circum-stances are not controlled soon, we will have to impose a lockdown in Lucknow to prevent its spread," it added. The letter surfaced Tuesday on social media.

"It is with extreme pain that I am informing that cur-rently in Lucknow district, the condition of health services is extremely worrying. For the past one week, I have been get-ting hundreds of phone calls from the entire Lucknow dis-trict, he said. AGENCIES

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday said doctors should ensure "rational and judicious" use of anti-viral drug Remdesi-vir, underlining it is to be given only to COVID-19 patients admitted in hospitals and is not to be used in home settings.

At a weekly press conference, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said, "Remdesivir is to be used only in those who require hospitalisation and are on oxygen support. That is the precondition.

"There is no question of its use in the home setting and for mild cases, and it is not to be procured from chemist shops."

The Union health minis-try in its 'Clinical Management Protocols for COVID-19' has recommended the use of Rem-desivir in patients in the mod-erate stages of the illness. The drug has been included as an investigational therapy and rec-ommended only for restricted emergency use purposes.

As the shortage of Remdesi-vir was reported in some areas, its export was banned and the medicine is available in plenty, Paul said, adding that "queu-ing outside chemist shops to procure Remdesivir is creat-ing distortions". "We appeal

to physicians to ensure ratio-nal, correct and judicious use of Remdesivir in hospitalised patients," he said.

In view of a sudden spike in demand due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, India on Sunday banned the export of injection Remdesivir and Rem-desivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the situ-ation improves. To ensure easy access of hospitals and patients to Remdesivir, all domestic manufactures of Remdesivir have also been advised to dis-play on their website, details of their stockists/distributors to facilitate access to the drug, the Union Health Ministry had said.

Drug inspectors and other officers have been directed to verify stocks and check their malpractices and also take other effective actions to curb hoard-ing and black marketing.

The State Health Secretaries will review this with the drug

inspectors of the respective states and UTs, the ministry had said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Indian Med-ical Association (IMA) also urged the medical fraternity to ensure judicious use of Rem-desivir injection in coronavirus infected patients. The second wave of the pandemic has cre-ated an unprecedented demand for Remedsivir injection result-ing in demand and supply mis-match and an artificial panic is created, the doctors' body said.

"This is resulting because of the non-judicious use of this drug in many places beyond the scope of its evidenced-based benefits. The public as well as the medical community must be aware of the absolute indi-cation of the drug and needs to use it judiciously so that the drug is used for those patients who will be benefitted," it said in a statement.

The Centre has also advised the states that the extant 'National Clinical Management Protocol for COVID-19', which is based on evidence, has been developed after many interac-tions by a committee of experts and is the guiding document for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. MPOST

Remdesivir meant for hospitalised patients: Govt

AMID RISE IN DEMAND

‘Not enough Covid beds, ambulances in Lucknow’ The emergence of variants has raised concerns that they

could spread more easily and be more deadly

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat reg-istered 6,690 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest single-day count so far, taking the tally to 3,60,206, while a record number of 67 patients succumbed to the infection, the state health department said.

As many as 67 more per-sons died due to the infection, also the highest so far in a day, pushing the toll to 4,922, said a release by the department.

With 6,690 new cases, the statewide COVID-19 tally went up to 3,60,206, said the release.

Out of the 67 persons who succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, 25 died in Surat district, followed by 23 in Ahmedabad, 7 in Rajkot, 4 in Vadodara, 2 in Banaskantha and one each Anand, Bharuch, Chhotaudepur, Gandhinagar, Junagadh and Sabarkantha, it said. AGENCIES

Highest 1-day spike in cases, deaths in Guj

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: With an aim to expand the basket of COVID-19 vaccines and enhance the pace of inoculation in India, the Central government on Tuesday said it has fast-tracked emergency approval for for-eign-produced jabs that have been granted similar clearances in other countries.

The move is significant as it may make available several vac-cines, including those made by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, in India with cer-tain conditions. The first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines shall be assessed for seven days for safety outcomes before it is rolled out for fur-ther immunisation programme within the country, the Union Health ministry said.

The government has decided that COVID-19 vaccines which have been developed and are being man-ufactured in foreign coun-tries and which have been granted emergency approval for restricted use by authori-ties in the US, Europe, the UK, Japan or which are listed in the WHO Emergency Use Listing may be granted emergency use approval in India.

They will be given emer-gency use approval man-

dating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial in place of conduct of local clinical trial under the provisions of the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules 2019, the ministry said.

“This decision will facilitate quicker access to such foreign vaccines by India and would encourage imports, including import of bulk drug material, optimal utilisation of domes-tic fill and finish capacity, etc., which will in turn provide a fillip to vaccine manufactur-ing capacity and total vaccine availability for domestic (use),” the ministry said.

The decision came follow-ing the recommendations of the National Expert Group on

Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC).

Currently, two vaccines — Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and Covishield by Serum Institute of India (SII) — are being used for inoculation in India.

India’s drug regulator has granted permission for restricted emergency use of the Russian COVID-19 vac-cine Sputnik V with certain conditions, the Union Health ministry announced on Tues-day while stating that Dr Red-dy’s Laboratories will import the vaccine for use in the coun-try. The approval by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) paves the way for a third vaccine to be available in the country.

Govt fast-tracks approvals for foreign-produced Covid vaccines

cleared in other countries The first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines

shall be assessed for 7 days for safety outcomes

A beneficiary receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, at a government dispensary, in Patna, on Tuesday PTI

5millenniumpost Nation mpKOLKATA | WEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021

Covid-19 presented opportunity to reshape world order: Modi

700km from Siliguri to Kolkata in 3 hrs: Shah vows spl highway

IRCTC ‘HUNAR SE ROZGAR TAK’ (HSRT) PROGRAMME UNDER ‘CBSP’NEW DELHI: IRCTC has conducted skill development programme for approx 2500 Nos. of trainees & also restarted short term skill development programme namely “Hunar Se Rozgar tak” under ‘CBSP’ Capac-ity Building for Service Providers scheme sponsored by Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India. The programme is aimed at targeting persons in need to acquire skills facilitative to employment in the field of Hospitality, Catering & Tourism. The program is being conducted at IRCTC Base Kitchen Complex, New Delhi Railway Station, Ajmeri Gate Side, and New Delhi for the year 2020-21.

NCC COMMEMORATES JALLIANWALA AS PART OF AMRIT MAHOTSAV

NEW DELHI: As part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, National Cadet Corps paid homage to the Martyrs of the Nation’s Freedom Struggle who lost their lives on April 13, 1919 at the Jallianwala Bagh. National Ca-det Corps under NCC Amrit Mahotsav also launched the Pan India Campaign to educate people against use of ‘Single use Plastics’.

INDIA ‘WALKED THE TALK’ DURING PANDEMIC

Nation Briefs

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Stressing on making India tuberculo-sis (TB) free country, Union Health Minister Harsh Vard-han said that the success of the Tuberculosis Jan Andolan solely depends on activities reaching grassroots population and action has to pivot around states and most importantly in hard-to-reach areas.

Stressing on the need to customise activities as per geography to accomplish a multiplier effect and bring in perceptible and measurable change, the Health Minister said that no two states are the same.

While addressing the Tuberculosis Technical Con-sultants Network Teams comprising WHO-National Professional Officers for TB and consultants from across the country through video-confer-ence, Vardhan congratulated the World Health Organisation (WHO) for their continued support to India in its journey to eliminate TB by 2025.

“We have now declared one Union Territory, Lakshad-weep and one district Badgam in Jammu and Kashmir as TB free,” Vardhan said, adding that right from technical sup-

port, research, policy, moni-toring and evaluation, capacity building to public health com-munication and knowledge dissemination, the WHO has always been there to support us.

Vardhan also recalled the collaboration he had with the WHO while being the Delhi Health Minister and the role played by the organisation in wiping out polio myelitis from India, which used to have 60 per cent of the global case bur-den before 2009. India is polio free since 2011.

The Union Health Minister also highlighted the significant role the Consultant Network played under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Pro-gramme (NTEP), which has helped in reducing the gap of missing cases, and in achieving successful treatment outcomes.

‘TB campaign’s success depends on activities reaching grassroots’

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP San-jay Raut on Tuesday alleged that the Election Com-mission’s decision to bar West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from cam-paigning for 24 hours was taken at the behest of the BJP.

This was a “direct attack on democracy” and sovereignty of independent institutions of the country, Raut claimed, and asked why only Banerjee was punished when other par-ties also violated some or the other rules during the ongoing

West Bengal election. Term-ing Banerjee as the “Ben-gal Tigress”, the Sena’s chief spokesperson expressed soli-darity with her and claimed she will win the election in her state.

The Shiv Sena, which is not contesting the West Bengal polls, has extended its support to Banerjee, who heads the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The Election Commis-sion (EC) on Monday barred Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours over her remarks

against central forces and a statement which had alleged religious overtones.

Reacting to it, Raut in a tweet said, “ECI has imposed a ban on Mamta didi for 24 hours. This is clearly done at the behest of BJP, ruling party in India.” “It is a direct attack on democracy and sovereignty of independent institutions of India. solidarity with Bengal Tigress, @MamataOfficial @derekobrienmp,” the Rajya Sabha member added.

Banerjee sat on a dharna

in Kolkata on Tuesday to pro-test against the poll panel’s “unconstitutional decision”.

“Why Mamata didi is being punished alone by the EC when every political party is violating some or the other rules of the model code of con-duct?” Raut later asked while talking to reporters. Leaders of a party from other states are going to West Bengal and making controversial state-ments, but there is no action against them, he said, without naming anyone. AGENCIES

EC imposed campaign ban on Mamata at BJP’s behest: Raut

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Pitching for global efforts to defeat COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the pan-demic has presented an oppor-tunity to reshape the world order and create systems to address the problems of today and challenges of tomorrow, and highlighted India’s efforts in protecting its people as also supporting pandemic response efforts of others in its own “humble way”.

Asserting that mankind will not be able to defeat the pan-demic unless “all of us, every-where, regardless of the colour of our passports, come out of it”, Modi said hope matters as much to the citizens of the rich-est countries as it does to the less fortunate.

“During this pandemic, in our own humble way, within our own limited resources, we in India have tried to walk the talk. We have tried to pro-

tect our own 1.3 billion citi-zens from the pandemic. At the same time, we have also tried to support pandemic response efforts of others,” the Prime Minister said in his inaugural address at Raisina Dialogue, held virtually.

Noting that this year, despite “many constraints”, India supplied vaccines to over 80 countries, he said,”...we will continue to share our experi-ences, our expertise and also our resources with the entire Humanity in the fight against the pandemic.”

Modi’s comments come amidst criticism by several opposition leaders that the government was exporting COVID-19 vaccines to many countries despite a huge surge in India.

During an interactive ses-sion at the conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also talked about India’s ‘vac-cine maitri’ approach to ensure equitable access to COVID-19

vaccines, asserting that equi-table access (to vaccines) was “critically important” to defeat the virus. The Prime Minister also underlined the need to think of the entire humanity and not merely of those who are on “our side of the borders”, and said humanity as a whole must be at the center of the thinking and action.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us an oppor-

tunity to reshape the world order, to reorient our think-ing. We must create systems that addresses the problems of today and challenges of tomor-row,” he said.

Talking about protecting the globe, Modi said,”we may be used to having Plan A and plan B, there is no Planet B, only Planet Earth. And so we must remember that we hold this planet merely as trustees

for our future generations.”President of Rwanda Paul

Kagame and Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen also spoke at the event.

Noting that this edition of Raisina Dialogue was taking place at a “watershed moment in human history”, Modi said the global pandemic has been “ravaging” the world for over a year and that the last such global pandemic was a cen-tury ago.

“Although humanity has faced many infectious diseases since then, the world today is under-prepared to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. Our scientists, researchers and industry have answered some questions,” he said.

Modi said though many solutions have emerged to many questions relating to the pandemic and many more are yet to come. But as global thinkers and leaders we must ask ourselves some more ques-tions, he added.

PM Narendra Modi speaks at Raisina Dialogue, in New Delhi PTI

AMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday stated that if voted to power, the BJP-led government will build a special highway con-necting Kolkata to Siliguri that will take only three hours. He also assured Gorkhas that they would in no way be affected by NRC.

“The distance from Siliguri to Kolkata is a distance of 700 km. The road is so bad that it will rattle all your bones. As soon as BJP comes to power, we will build the 675 km long Sub-hash Chandra Bose National Highway and you can reach Kolkata from Siliguri in 3 hours,” stated Shah, address-ing an election campaign meet-ing in Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri.

The announcement sparked immediate reactions from neti-zens with social media abuzz with questions like whether bullet trains would be plying on this road.

Before Nagrakata, the Union Home Minister was in Darjeeling. “If you give us the

mandate we will get Gorkhas in the national mainstream. Per-manent political solution of the Gorkhas will be facilitated by the BJP run West Bengal gov-ernment and Central govern-ment,” stated Shah addressing a rally at the Gorkha Stadium in Lebong on the outskirts of the town.

From drinking water, tea garden, cinchona plantation problems and land right doc-uments, Shah promised to resolve everything after com-ing to power in Bengal.

“No Gorkhas are infiltra-tors. This is your land. There is no talk of NRC now. But if it happens in future Gorkhas don’t have to be afraid or need to worry. The BJP and Gorkha unbreakable bond has been forged by God,” declared Shah.

Social media abuzz with questions like if bullet trains would be plying on this road OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: For the first time in the national capital, the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan on Tuesday, the Telugu New Year day – Ugadi, has got Ambu-lance service with advanced life support system under 108 Dr. YSR Aarogyasri scheme.

The 108 ambulance services were launched at AP Bhavan by Principal Resident Commis-sioner (PRC) Abhay Tripati. No other State Bhavan in the capi-tal has such Ambulance service at their exclusive service so far. The 24x7 Ambulance service in Andhra Bhavan will cater the needs of guests, staff mem-bers and will become part of CM’s convoy whenever CM is in Delhi. The Ambulance ser-vice will also serve the needs of Telangana Bhavan guests and staff members.

Would like to ensure ongoing polls in Bengal are held in peaceful, fair manner: CEC

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Sushil Chan-dra, who assumed charge as the 24th Chief Election Com-missioner on Tuesday, said he would like to ensure that the ongoing assembly elections in West Bengal are held in a very peaceful and fair manner so that voters in even the vulner-able areas can cast their votes without any fear.

Chandra was appointed as the CEC on Monday, the day Sunil Arora demitted office.

"I would like to ensure that the elections (in the remaining phases in West Bengal) should be held in a very peaceful and very, very free and fair man-ner so that voters even in the vulnerable areas can cast their votes without any fear," Chan-dra said after assuming charge as CEC.

The high-octane assem-bly election campaign in West Bengal, where the BJP and

the Trinamool Congress have unleashed a no-holds-barred attack against each other, has seen the EC clamping down on leaders of both parties for their objectionable utterances.

The first four phases of polls in the state have been marred by violence.

While the three-phased assembly polls in Assam and the single-phase elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry have concluded, West Bengal is going through eight phases of polls. The fifth phase is on April 17.

Chandra said that an

"atmosphere has to be created" to ensure free and fair polls.

Asked how the poll panel will go about it, the CEC said the EC is monitoring and talk-ing to all the officers on the ground as well as the observ-ers and detailed meetings are taking place.

Chandra was appointed as an election commissioner on February 14, 2019, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He would demit office on May 14, 2022.

Under him, the Elec-tion Commission will hold assembly polls in Goa, Mani-pur, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The term of the assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Punjab ends on various dates in March next year.

The term of the Uttar Pradesh assembly ends on May 14 next year.

Chandra belongs to the 1980 batch of the Indian Rev-enue Service.

New Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra arrives to take charge of office, in New Delhi, on Tuesday PTI

NEW DELHI: India and France on Tuesday explored ways to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, including under a trilateral mechanism with Australia to address emerging challenges in the maritime and space domains.

In the talks between Exter-nal Affairs Minister S Jaishan-kar and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French side also decided to be part of India's Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).

The two sides also recog-nised the importance of fast tracking the discussions on an India-EU trade and invest-ment agreement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The two foreign ministers held extensive talks covering all aspects of the bilateral stra-tegic ties as well as regional and global challenges. "They explored ways to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, including the India-France-Australia trilateral mechanism, addressing emerg-ing challenges in the maritime and space domains and work-ing together in the area of cli-mate action and biodiversity protection," the MEA said.

"In this regard, India wel-comes France's decision to take up the 'Maritime Resources' pillar of India's Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI)," it said in a statement.

At the East Asia summit in Bangkok in 2019, Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi proposed setting up of the IPOI to con-serve and sustainably use the maritime domain and to make meaningful efforts to create a safe and secure maritime domain.

Meanwhile, a scheduled meeting between Le Drian and Modi did not take place on Tuesday. There was no official reason cited for it. However, it is learnt that it was done so as part of precautionary measures in view of the pandemic.

About the meeting between the two foreign ministers, the MEA said the they held dis-cussions on a number of regional and global issues of mutual interest and reiterated their shared commitment to a multipolar world and faith in multilateralism.

The French minister arrived here on Monday evening on a three-day visit to explore ways to further boost cooperation between the two countries including in the Indo-Pacific region.

After the talks, Jaishan-kar said India and France will advance their shared post-COVID agenda through "close collaboration".

"A comfortable, substan-tive and productive discussion with FM @JY_LeDrian. India and France will advance their shared post-COVID agenda through close collaboration," he tweeted. MPOST

India, France explore ways to boost coop in Indo-Pacific

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: As Maharashtra reels under a severe COVID-19 wave, the MVA government on Tuesday announced over a 15-day-long statewide curfew from April 14, entailing stricter curbs on public activities, to stem the infection spread and flagged a "shortage" of medical oxygen and beds.

Stopping short of announc-ing a full-scale lockdown, as was being speculated, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in his address to the state via social media, said the curfew, which excludes essential ser-vices, will come into effect at 8 pm on April 14 and remain in force till 7 am on May 1.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), deal-ing with gatherings and assem-bly of people, will be in force till the "lockdown-like" restrictions are in place, he said.

The fresh curbs build on the existing weekend and night curfews in the state.

He refrained from term-ing the new curbs, announced on a day when Maharashtra recorded 60,212 fresh corona-virus cases and 281 fatalities, as a lockdown.

There is a shortage of med-ical oxygen and beds and the demand for Remdesivir, a key COVID-19 drug, has increased in Maharashtra, he said, adding

the Centre should help supply oxygen for coronavirus patients in the state by using Air Force planes. "The war against coro-navirus has begun once again," he said. There is a severe strain on Maharashtra's health infra-structure due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, he added.

Seeking to minimise the adverse impact of the curbs on a large population, the CM announced a sort of relief pack-age. The state government will provide three kg wheat and two kg rice free for the next one month to every poor and needy person, Thackeray said.

The CM announced a com-plete ban on movement of peo-ple for non-essential works during the restriction period.

All essential services, including medical stores hos-pitals, supply of medicines,

among others will remain oper-ational. The local transport will also function for those involved in essential services, he said.

The CM made an emotional appeal, seeking people's sup-port for successful implemen-tation of the curbs.

I appeal to people to help the state. I want to know whether people are on the side of coronavirus or the state that wants to break the chain of its spread, he said.

A range of other essential services will also remain out of the purview of the curfew.

Services such as vaccina-tion, oxygen production, home delivery of food, operation of e-commerce firms, work at construction sites with resi-dential facility and industrial activities, where accommoda-tion or transportation of per-

sonnel is available, will remain unaffected, he said.

All banking and financial services, the RBI and its affili-ated offices, insurance offices and pre-monsoon works will remained operational, he said.

However, there will be a complete ban on religious, social, cultural and political functions in the state till May 1, the CM said.

For political rallies ahead of elections, not more than 200 people can attend an event or 50 per cent of the seating capac-ity of the hall, Thackeray said. Number of participants at mar-riage and funeral was capped at 25 and 20, respectively.

Saloons, spas, schools, col-leges, private coaching classes, beaches, clubs, swimming pools, gyms, drama theatres and cinema halls will remain close during the curfew period, the chief minister said.

Though roadside eateries are allowed to operate, buyers can not consume food on the street and only take away will be available, said Thackeray.

He announced a pack-age of Rs 5,476 crore for the poor whose earnings will be impacted.

He said, The Shiv Bhojan service of offering a meal at Rs 5 will be offered for free during the period. The state daily feeds around two lakh people. They will now get the food for free."

No lockdown but stricter curbs in Maharashtra from April 14

Ambulance services

launched at AP Bhavan

A health worker collects swab sample for Covid-19 test near Andheri Bus Depot, in Mumbai, on Tuesday PTIUnion Home Minister Amit Shah

addresses an election campaign rally at Bidhan Nagar in Kolkata

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian during a meeting, in New Delhi PTI

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

SHIP-BOAT COLLISION

TRIAL OF TERROR CASE

GUJARAT RIOTS

6 millenniumpostNationmpWEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021 | KOLKATA

EC bans...The Commission has taken

a stern stand against Sinha and his 48 hours ban will be effective from 12 pm on Tuesday till noon on April 15. Sinha is the BJP nom-inee from the Habra seat in North 24-Parganas, which is bound for elections during the sixth phase on April 22. The ECI stated that Sinha made “highly provocative statements mocking the human life, inciting the forces that could have serious law and order impli-cations, thereby adversely affect-ing the election process.”

An authenticated transcript of the statement made by Sinha can be read as “the Central forces have given them a befitting answer. If they do it again, they will be dealt again in a befitting manner. The Central forces should have killed eight persons instead of four in Sitalkuchi. The Central forces should be issued a show-cause notice as to why they have killed only four of them,” Sinha had said.

The Election Commission on Tuesday also issued a show-cause notice to Trinamool Congress Birbhum district president Anu-brata Mondal for his statement ‘Bhayankar Khela Hobe’ (dan-gerous game will be played) in a number of political meetings for

the last few days. The Commis-sion has asked Mondal to reply to the notice by 11 pm on Tues-day clearly explaining his stand in making such a statement.

The BJP district leadership had complained to the District Elec-tion Officer (DEO) that Mondal is intimidating voters by making such comments. The matter was reported to the Commission and it issued the show-cause notice.

Mondal when asked to elabo-rate on his remark during a recent interview had said TMC will be a tough contender to be beaten in this game. “The main issue is imparting training so that the player can judge balls and hit 4, 6 or even take 2 runs. The play-ers will learn how to remain not out so there will be no problem. The Election Commission will act as the umpire and those who will sustain injuries will be admitted to the hospital,” he had said.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay termed the move of the EC as a mere eyewash.

“Banning Rahul Sinha is polit-ically insignificant as he had lost 11 times contesting in elections. Who is Dilip Ghosh? Everything in BJP is done by Delhi. Does the EC consider what their Delhi leaders are saying?” he added.

Sans words...However, when the ECI

imposed a ban on Banerjee’s cam-

paign for 24 hours, it let BJP’s Nandigram candidate Suvendu Adhikari go just by giving a warn-ing over his speech in which he had stated that voting for his opponent implies voting for “mini Pakistan” and also referring to one “Begam”, without naming Baner-jee. Trinamool claimed that ECI censoring Suvendu was nothing but one sightedness of the poll panel. TMC workers extended their full support to Banerjee by standing outside the barricaded area for three long hours as a mark of solidarity with their chief. “If Bengal has one face, it is hers. If Bengal has one voice it is hers. Here’s saluting @MamataOffi-cial’s indomitable spirit. Fighting for your rights, yesterday, today & tomorrow! #BlackDayForDemoc-racy,” tweeted Trinamool Con-gress MP Derek O’Brien.

Interestingly, none of the workers was carrying the party’s flag or banner. Even, they had not put on caps and batches carrying the party’s logo. No party leaders were even allowed at her protest site as she sat alone. Several party leaders, including Partha Chatter-jee, Firhad Hakim, Gautam Deb and Nusrat Jahan took to Twit-ter to recollect Banerjee’s 26-day dharna in 2006 for farmers’ rights. TMC had also informed the East-ern Command of the Indian Army about Banerjee’s sit-in-demonstration at Gandhi Statue.

Santosh Ghosh, a youth TMC worker, said: “We are with Didi. We will never leave her alone in her fight. All these undemocratic

moves to stop us would get a befit-ting democratic reply on May 2.”

Echoing Banerjee’s claim that the ECI’s move is “undemocratic” and extending solidarity with the “Bengal Tigress”, both Shiv Sena and Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders who are also supporting TMC in the ensuing Assembly election — trained guns at BJP.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut tweeted: “ECI has imposed a ban on Mamta didi for 24 hours. This is clearly done at the behest of BJP, the ruling party in India. It is a direct attack on the democ-racy and sovereignty of inde-pendent institutions of India. Solidarity with Bengal Tigress, @MamataOfficial.”

“Ban on MB reflects hopeless-ness of BJP in Bengal election. It symbolises that BJP is losing. SP extends support to Banerjee’s sit-in demonstration. We are hope-ful that the ECI will also impose a ban on those who attempt to divide people on the basis of reli-gion by giving statements on cre-matorium and burial grounds,” tweeted SP chief, Akhilesh Yadav, along with a photograph of Baner-jee’s protest.

Intellectuals including Kabir Suman, Suvaprasanna, Jogen Chowdhury, Haranath Chakraborty, Saikat Mitra and Soumitra Roy turned up at the protest venue to extend their sup-port. “The way ECI has imposed a ban on the Chief Minister of a state from campaigning for elec-tions is uncalled for. The way the Central forces are firing on inno-

cent people, I feel it is essential to build a protest. So, I have come here,” said Kabir Suman.

The ban on Banerjee’s cam-paign was imposed from 8 pm on Monday to 8 pm on Tuesday. After it was lifted, Banerjee held two back-to-back rallies at Barasat and Bidhannagar. On Wednes-day, Banerjee is scheduled to hold five public meetings in Jalpaiguri and Matigara-Naxalbari Assem-bly constituency in the plains of Darjeeling district after visiting Mathabhanga Hospital in Cooch Behar where she will be speak-ing to family members of those injured in the Sitalkuchi incident, she will also be holding a public meeting at Haringhata in Nadia in the evening.

SC directs...“The unprecedented lock-

down, the ensuing migrant crisis and the subsequent effect of the same on migrant children and their fundamental and human rights is conspicuous and an ongoing crises,” the plea said.

It contended that the lock-down has resulted in tremendous hardship for migrant children and till date there has been no assessment of the exact numbers of migrant children, infants, and pregnant or lactating migrant women and their needs.

“Children of migrants and migrating children remain invis-

ible and are the most vulnerable and are denied access to health and proper nutrition, quality education and skills and knowl-edge they need to thrive and spend their lives in makeshift, unfriendly, unhygienic and testing conditions.

“The pandemic is having a dis-criminatory impact on migrant children and has aggravated their vulnerabilities. Migrant children will be denied their fundamen-tal rights to education, health and nutrition if the matter is not heard and appropriate orders passed by this Court,” the plea said.

It has sought directions to map, enumerate and register the number of infants and children of migrant families at various work-sites and centres of concentration of migrant families with the help of local authorities at the Pan-chayat and ward offices through frontline workers.

India records..According to the ICMR,

25,92,07,108 samples have been tested up to April 12, of which 14,00,122 were done on Monday.

A total of 1,71,058 deaths have been reported in the country so far.

Covid graph continued to go up in Bengal as single-day infec-tion reached 4,817 while the fig-ure on Monday stood at 4,511. The number of active Covid cases, however, stands at 29,050. On

Monday, active cases remained at 26,531.

Ten states — Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Raj-asthan and Kerala have shown a rise in the COVID-19 daily cases accounting for 80.80 per cent of the new infections reported in a day, the ministry said on Tuesday.

India’s daily new cases con-tinue to rise. A total of 1,61,736 new cases were registered in a span of 24 hours.

In a landmark achievement, the country’s vaccination coverage crossed 11 crore doses on Tuesday till 8 pm. As per the Health minis-try’s provisional report, in a single day, 25,00,883 vaccine doses were given till 8 pm on the 88th day of the nationwide drive.

Meanwhile, the Maharash-tra government on Tuesday announced a 15-day long state-wide curfew from April 14 amid the spike in Covid cases in the state. The curfew, which excludes essential services, will come into effect from 8 pm on Wednesday. Section 144 (prohibitory orders) of the Criminal Procedure Code will be in force till the “lockdown-like” restrictions are in place, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said.

There is a shortage of medical oxygen and beds and the demand for Remdesivir has increased in Maharashtra, he said, adding the Centre should help supply oxygen for Coronavirus patients in the state by using Air Force planes.

From Page 1

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: If the claims of the private weather forecaster are to be believed, this year’s Monsoon is likely to be normal or above normal for the third consecutive year. However, the country would have to wait for the official announcement in this regard by the national forecaster India Meteorologi-cal Department (IMD).

According to its prelim-inary forecast for 2021, pri-vate forecaster Skymet said that the rainfall from June to September is likely to 103 per cent of the long period average (LPA) of 88cm based on aver-age monsoon rain from 1961 to 2010. In 2020 and 2019, the monsoon was above normal at 110 per cent and 109 per cent of LPA respectively.

The Monsoon season, which begins on June 1, is crucial for summer crops and brings about 70 per cent

of India’s annual rainfall. It is crucial to the country’s agri-culture, which is one of the

mainstays of its economy.Monsoon rains are a life-

line for about 60 per cent of

the country’s net cultivated area, which has no irrigation as it impacts inflation, jobs,

and industrial demand and good farm output keep a lid on food inflation.

In its forecast, the pri-vate forecaster said that the northern plains, along with a few parts of the northeast region, are likely to be at risk of being rain deficient through the season. Also, interior parts of Karnataka could face scanty rains in the core monsoon months of July and August.

“The onset month of June and the withdrawal phase of September is assuring good countrywide rainfall distribu-tion,” the forecaster said in its statement.

El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a peri-odic fluctuation in sea surface temperature and the air pres-sure of the overlying atmo-sphere across the equatorial Pacific Ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration.

ALLAHABAD: The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board on Tuesday moved an urgent petition before the Alla-habad High Court in the Kashi Vishwanath Mandi-Gyanvapi Masjid case in which the trial court at Varanasi allowed an ASI study of the mosque on April 8.

Sunni Central Waqf Board's standing counsel Puneet Kumar Gupta argued that the trial court passed the order ille-gally and without its jurisdic-tion as the matter is in the high court and Justice Prakash Pan-dia reserved its order on March 15 this year.

"We moved the Allahabad High Court today against the

judgment of the lower court and filed a petition," Gupta, a permanent advocate of the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, told PTI.

"Since Justice Prakash Padiya of the Allahabad High Court reserved the judg-ment on March 15, 2021, how can the lower court hear the matter and pass the order?" he asked.

Earlier on Monday, the AnjumanIntezamia Masjid Committee, management com-mittee of the Gyanvapi mosque moved an application before the Allahabad High Court in the case against the April 8 order of the trial court at Vara-nasi. AGENCIES

SRINAGAR: Police arrested two militants and three mili-tant associates of terror outfit Al-Badr and seized arms and ammunition from their posses-sion in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, officials said on Tuesday.

"Police in Handwara busted a terror module of pro-scribed terror outfit Al-Badr and arrested two active terror-ists and three terrorist associ-ates. Incriminating material, including arms and ammu-nition, have been recov-ered," a police spokesperson said. He said acting on a spe-cific information regarding the movement of militants on Baramulla-Handwara highway in the north Kashmir district, a special checkpoint was estab-lished near Kachloo Crossing

by security forces.During checking of vehi-

cles, three people riding a motorcycle tried to escape from the spot but were apprehended by the alert forces, he said.

They were identified as Mohammad Yaseen Rather, Showkat Ahmad Ganie and Ghulam Nabi Rather, all resi-dents of KachlooQaziabad vil-lage, the spokesman said.

During a search, incrimi-nating materials of proscribed outfit Al-Badr and arms and ammunition were seized from their possession, he added.

Preliminary investigation revealed that those arrested were working for Al-Badr and were involved in provid-ing logistic support, food and shelter to active militants, the spokesman said. MPOST

MANGALURU: At least three fishermen are feared dead and nine others are missing after their fishing boat collided with a foreign vessel off the coast of Mangaluru early on Tuesday, sources said.

The boat, IFB Rabah, with 14 fishermen on board, had set off from Beypore in Kozhikode district of Kerala Sunday eve-ning. The boats owner Jaffer said in Kozhikode that he had received information that three of them died in the mishap.

Seven of the fishermen are from Tamil Nadu and the remaining from West Bengal and Odisha.

Two fishermen have been saved from the sea, the Indian Coast Guard said. AGENCIES

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought NIA's reply on a plea by Indian Muja-hideen's suspected key opera-tive Abdul Wahid Sidibappa, arrested in 2016 in a case of alleged conspiracy to carry out terror acts in the country, seek-ing bail on the ground of an inordinate delay in the trial.

A bench of Justices Sid-dharthMridul and AnupJai-ramBhambhani issued notice to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the accused's petition and listed the matter for further hearing on May 6.

Advocate M S Khan, rep-resenting Sidibappa, said the accused has been lodged in Tihar Jail for nearly five years and there has been no progress

in the case which was registered eight years ago.

He said he is seeking bail as there has been no progress in the case and trial has not com-menced as charges are yet to be framed. The petition, filed through advocates Qausar Khan, Prashant Prakash and Ankit Karna, also sought direc-tion to the special courts con-stituted under the NIA Act and operating in Delhi to strictly adhere to the mandate for con-ducting day to day trial of sched-uled offences pertaining to the Unlawful Activities (Preven-tion) Act.

Sidibappa, a resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka and a cousin of Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder YasinBhatkal,

was arrested from Indira Gan-dhi International Airport here on his deportation from Dubai on May 20, 2016.

Enlarge the appellant (Sidibappa) on bail while invok-ing the powers vested in this court under Article 226 of the Constitution as the inordinate delay in trial is violative of Arti-cle 21 of the Constitution and the same amounts to denial of free and fair justice, the plea said. It said the accused has been suffering prolonged incarcera-tion and there is no likelihood of the trial being completed any-time in near future as charges are yet to be framed and the total number of witnesses to be examined in the case are 363. MPOST

MUMBAI: Mumbai Police have initiated theprocess of dismiss-ing from service suspended cop Sachin Waze, arrested by the NIA in the case of an explo-sives-laden SUV found near industrialist MukeshAmbani’s residence and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran, sources said on Tuesday.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested assistant police inspector (API) Waze on March 13. The city police’s spe-cial branch recently wrote to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and sought doc-uments pertaining to the case.

It had also a copy of the FIR registered in connection with Hiran’s murder and the state-ment of the businessman’s wife

in which she raised suspicion over Waze’s role in his death, a police official said.

The ATS has provided the documents to the Mum-bai Police, he said. The special branch had also sought similar information from the NIA, the official said.

After receiving the doc-uments, the special branch recently initiated the process to dismissing Waze from service under Article 311 of the Con-stitution, sources said.

Based on the documents received from the ATS and the NIA, the special branch will send a proposal to the govern-ment to dismiss Waze from ser-vice and a decision will be taken accordingly, they said. AGENCIES

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned by two weeks the hearing on a plea of Zakia Jafri, the wife of slain MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the Special Investigation Team (SIT) clean chit to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots.

A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said the matter would be listed after two weeks as the petitioner has circulated a letter seeking adjournment in the case. The apex court had on March 16 posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday and said that it would not entertain any more request for adjournment.

The bench had last month taken note of the request of senior advocate KapilSibal,

appearing for Jafri, that the mat-ter be heard sometime in April as several advocates were busy in the Maratha reservation case which was then being heard by a five-judge Constitution bench. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat gov-ernment, had then opposed the plea for adjournment.

The top court had in Febru-ary last year fixed the case for hearing on April 14, 2020 saying the matter had been adjourned many times and will have to be heard someday.

Prior to this, Jafri's counsel had told the apex court that a notice needs to be issued in the plea as it relates to an alleged "larger conspiracy" from Feb-ruary 27, 2002 to May 2002.

Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, a day after the S-6 Coach of the Sabarmati Express was burnt at Godhra killing 59 people and trigger-ing riots in Gujarat.

On February 8, 2012, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had filed a closure report giving a clean chit to Modi, now the prime minister, and 63 others, including senior gov-ernment officials, saying there was "no prosecutable evidence" against them. Zakia Jafri had filed a petition in the apex court in 2018 challenging the Gujarat High Court's October 5, 2017 order rejecting her plea against the decision of the SIT. AGENCIES

‘FIR can’t disclose all facts, details’

Respond to Sidibappa's plea for bail on ground of delay: HC to NIA

Sunni Waqf Board moves HC against

Varanasi court order

2 Al-Badr militants among 5 arrested3 fishermen

feared killed

Mumbai Police start process of dismissing

Waze from serviceSC adjourns hearing on Jafri's

plea against SIT clean chit to PM

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A first infor-mation report (FIR) is not an encyclopedia which must disclose all the facts and details relating to the offence reported and courts should not go into the merits of the allegations when investiga-tion by the police is in prog-ress, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.

While observing that police must be permitted to complete the probe, the apex court said that high courts must appre-ciate that speedy investiga-tion is the requirement in the criminal administration of justice and they should be slow in interfering with the criminal proceedings at the initial stage.

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud noted that it has come across several orders passed by high courts directing not to arrest the accused dur-ing the investigation or till the charge sheet is filed.

The first information report is not an encyclopedia which must disclose all facts and details relating to the offence reported. Therefore, when the investigation by the police is in progress, the court should not go into the merits of the alle-gations in the FIR. Police must be permitted to complete the investigation, said the bench, also comprising Justices M R Shah and Sanjiv Khanna.

It would be premature to pronounce the conclu-sion based on hazy facts that the complaint/FIR does not

deserve to be investigated or that it amounts to abuse of pro-cess of law, the bench said in its 64-page verdict.

The top court delivered the judgement by which it quashed the September last year interim order of the Bombay High Court which had directed that no coercive measures shall be adopted against the accused in respect of an FIR lodged in 2019 on allegations of cheating, forgery and others.

The bench noted that in a given case, there may be allega-tions of abuse of process of law by converting a civil dispute into a criminal dispute, only with a view to pressurise the accused. It said similarly, in a given case the complaint itself on the face of it can be said to be barred by law.

The allegations in the FIR/complaint may not at all dis-close the commission of a cog-nizable offence, it said, adding, In such cases and in excep-tional cases with circumspec-tion, the high court may stay the further investigation.

It said at the same time,

there may be genuine com-plaints or FIRs and the police or the investigating agency has a statutory obligation and duty to enquire into the cognizable offences.

Therefore, a balance has to be struck between the rights of the genuine complain-ants and the FIRs disclosing commission of a cognizable offence and the statutory obli-gation/duty of the investigating agency to investigate into the cognizable offences on the one hand and those innocent per-sons against whom the crimi-nal proceedings are initiated which may be in a given case abuse of process of law and the process, it said.

In such cases, and only in exceptional cases and where it is found that non-interference would result into miscarriage of justice, the high court, in exercise of its inherent powers under section 482 CrPC and/or Article 226 of the Constitu-tion of India, may quash the FIR/complaint/criminal pro-ceedings and even may stay the further investigation, it said.

‘When police probes, court should not go into the merits of the allegations in the FIR’

Last two years have recorded above normal rainfall PICPTI

Pvt forecaster predicts normal monsoon for 3rd yr in row

7millenniumpost Editorial mpKOLKATA | WEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021

Leader of the marginalised

Substantially deep

As a democrat who detested anarchy; a nationalist who held national integrity supreme and a socialist — Ambedkar continues to inspire political evolution

India’s ‘strategic water partnership’ with the Netherlands covers a wide geographical spread and extensive engagement

Today is the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar whose relentless fight for

equality and justice led to an awakening towards social change in India. The nation pays rich tributes to him for his phenomenal contributions in building modern India. His mission was not only to lib-erate the depressed classes but also to shape India into a progressive nation devoid of all forms of discrimina-tion based on birth, gender or faith. Though Ambedkar’s dream of emancipating vic-tims of social exclusion was not fulfilled in his lifetime despite his embracing Buddhism, his vision and ideology have pro-foundly inspired the politi-cal evolution in the country. While on one hand, the move-ment of marginalised classes who constitute more than half of the Indian population has become more pronounced for social and political empower-ment in the national political scenario. On the other hand, inclusion and empowerment of weaker sections have become part of the agenda for all politi-cal parties. Granted that the words and deeds in politics suffer from disharmony, yet adherence to ‘Ambedkarism’, at least in letter, in itself is a remarkable break from a tradi-tional conformist mindset. The transition from a tyrannical caste-based society, basically a political economy consecrated by religion, to an egalitarian social order has been accepted officially by all.

As a visionary, he pro-pounded that ‘fraternity is only another name for democracy’. His political philosophy rests on deductive logic based on social realities far different from the utopian ideologies of ‘social contract’ propounded by Hobbes, Lock and Rousseau or Karl Marx’s communism. As a committed democrat, he chose a secular approach to politics and detested commu-nalism, anarchism and vio-lence. For him, democracy is not merely a form of govern-ment, rather “it is primarily a

mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated expe-rience. It is essentially an atti-tude of respect and reverence towards fellowmen”. He envi-sioned the future of India as a nation with equal social and economic opportunities for all citizens, with unity and integ-rity as guiding principles.

As an architect of Indian Constitution, he enshrined the fundamental rights and directive principles to ensure democratic socialism; the for-mer guarantee human rights and the latter bind the State to address the larger inter-ests of fraternity and unity. He believed social democracy to be the essence of a nation and society and envisaged that it could be realised only through the trinity of prin-ciples namely: liberty, equal-ity and fraternity. According to him, a democratic polity becomes preposterous in the absence of a democratic soci-ety. He cautioned that the three principles are inseparable and without any of the three, the supremacy of a few over many will prevail. Ambedkar, how-ever, believed that ‘without fraternity, liberty and equal-ity could not become a natu-ral course of thing. It would require a constable to enforce them’ — obviously the State.

By ‘constable’ he was basi-

cally advocating in favour of a strong Union as opposed to a loose association of states called federation. ‘I like a strong united India, much stronger than the Centre we had cre-ated under the Government of India Act of 1935,’ said Ambed-kar in the constituent assembly on Dec 17, 1946. For him, ‘dual polity’ only means divided authority which could lead to a diversity of laws and chaos as it happens in many federal states in the world. He believed that equality and fraternity can be better ensured among citi-zens through a stronger Union with a single judiciary, uni-formity in fundamental laws (civil and criminal), and com-mon All India Civil Services. However, he called such an arrangement as ‘Indian fed-eralism’ with residual powers vested in states, which con-tinues to work even today, no matter whether characterised as ‘competitive’ or ‘cooperative’ federalism. Ambedkar believed that in a country with diverse social practices, different iden-tities and a divisive institution of caste, federalism in its orig-inal form will only endanger the unity of the nation. He was quite discerning as he said ‘they cannot make history who for-get history’.

Notwithstanding his scath-ing attack on Indian social

order and religion against the evil of caste discrimina-tion, Ambedkar was a staunch nationalist. His actions spoke louder; so much so that he was in favour of geographi-cal considerations as the cri-teria rather than linguistic, for the reorganisation of states. He even strongly opposed the idea of special status to Jammu and Kashmir as he saw it as contrary to the principle of equality. He was also in favour of recognition of Hindi as an official language as it had a wider communication base and provided mobility for the working class. Most impor-tantly, he opposed the idea of unqualified ‘reservations’ as such “exception will eat up the rule” (equality of oppor-tunity), endangering the feel-ing of nationhood. He agreed eventually on ‘backwardness’ as the criteria for reservations and on limiting the affirmative action to a ‘minority of seats’. He, however, felt that it would be a delusion to call ourselves a ‘nation’ unless we achieve the social and psychological mean-ing of the term. He saw caste as anti-national for it brings about separation in social life and generates jealousy and antipathy among castes.

Ambedkar visualised a strong Union as a vehicle for nation-building. In hindsight, we may well appreciate his farsightedness. The last two decades witnessed the rise of separatist overtones in poli-tics, caste-based agitations and local patriotism manifesting in aggressive forms all over the country. Regional parties tend to put primacy on local con-cerns over those of the nation. Centre-state relations are often affected by ‘extraneous’ reasons jeopardising constitutional val-ues and national goals. Blame game too has become com-monplace. Equality and fra-ternity still elude our society as atrocities on weaker sections, women and minorities con-tinue. Caste still prevails as a primary social identity unit-ing people on sectarian lines but ironically disintegrat-ing the social fabric of India.

Unfortunately, it has become an idiom of politics with con-sequent fallout on governance and delivery, as an undoing of democracy. If the issues that threaten the unity of the nation were not addressed with firm and united resolve, the inde-pendence of India could be at risk again, Ambedkar had warned.

Though religion gave birth to the caste; poverty and back-wardness sustain it perpetually. Increased economic mobility, inter alia, can create social mobility in the long run. Akin to the vicious cycle of poverty, the syndrome of caste too has a connection with the cycle of backwardness i.e., endogamy, social exclusion, restricted socio-economic mobility and backwardness. Both the cycles are interrelated and comple-ment each other. The good news is that economic mobil-ity in this century is fast making inroads into the rigid caste hier-archy with urbanisation and growth of non-traditional sec-tors like hospitality, IT, health, skill-based services, travel etc., supplanting ‘ascription’ with ‘achievement’. Someday the clouds will be cleared and there will be sunshine. But we must keep working. A strong Centre should be accepted in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution but neither on party lines nor political convenience, which unfortu-nately has been the practice for quite some time. Similarly, the Union shall perform its role as the custodian of the Constitu-tion and as the ‘constable’ to enforce the trinity of principles without fear or favour. Ambed-kar’s final message is prophetic as he said that “with indepen-dence, we lost the excuse to blame the British, and if here-after things go wrong, we will have nobody to blame except ourselves…we must resolve to remove the evils which induce people to prefer government for the people over government by the people”.

The writer is a former Additional Chief Secretary

of Chhattisgarh. Views expressed are personal

KDP RAO

KV PRASAD

DearEditor

The justification for the killing of four men outside a poll booth in Cooch Behar by a senior BJP satrap is breathtaking. The four 'bad boys' killed in CISF firing drew no regrets from Rahul Sinha, a second rung BJP hothead, who went on to say that the loss of four lives was not enough. "Not four, eight people should have been shot dead in Sitalkuchi. The Central forces should be issued a show-cause notice asking why they killed only four and not eight... Goons are trying to deprive people of their democratic rights. Central forces responded appropriately." Blaming the TMC for a fifth death in a separate incident, Sinha said an 18-year-old boy was shot dead in public for supporting BJP and "their leader is Mamata Banerjee." What sort of language are we using? All five victims are our own people, thankfully, not four more, albeit with different political leanings. Rather than taming the trigger-happy police, we are adding fuel to the fire. Rather than training police in people-friendly ways to deal with crowd control, we should equip them with less-lethal alternatives. Rather than equipping them with deadly live ammunition, we should arm them with stun guns and train them to shoot below the knees. After all, they are all our people on both sides of the political divide.

As summer approaches, water becomes an impor-tant topic of debate

and discussion in the coun-try. Rising temperatures add to the problem of supply of water both for drinking and require-ment for daily chores.

Keeping in view the impor-tance of the subject, this month India elevated its rather unique understanding with the Neth-erlands through the “Strate-gic Water Partnership”. The European country is famous for its dykes to prevent floods affecting daily life and is one of the frontline countries and a leader possessing technology for water management.

With a fourth of the coun-try under sea level, over the past few decades, the King-dom of Netherlands overcame challenges posed by water by harnessing technology in the management of delta, flood control, desalination of soil, ports and inland waterways, water recycling, converting wastewater and conserving energy.

Policies of the Modi Gov-ernment focus on water secu-rity and among its major flagship missions include the Jal Shakti Abhiyan and Jal Jee-van Mission, Nal se Jal (Tap water at homes). The last-named ambitious programme aims to supply piped drinking water to 19 crore households in the country by 2024.

Other programmes include promoting water efficiency, water to every farm, per drop

more crop and Namami Gange Mission. India-The Nether-lands partnership on water management has an interest-ing acronym ‘DIWALI” which stands for ‘Dutch India Water Alliance for Leadership Ini-tiative’ in which Dutch water management experts interact with officials including those working in Department of Sci-ence and Technology research programmes, and/or through specialised organisations like Indian Institute of Hydrology, the Water Resources Minis-try at the Centre and simi-lar organisations in the State governments.

One of the upticks of the recent virtual summit PM Narendra Modi had with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte on April 9 agreed to elevate the

Joint Working Group on Water to the Ministry-level so that different programmes by the Ministry can come up with a coherence strategy.

Another programme with The Netherlands goes by an equally interesting acronym LOTUS HR (Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse). The joint col-laborative project between universities and companies funded by the Department of Bio-Technology and the Dutch NWW-TTW, which began in 2017 is to study technologies for anaerobic sewage.

Launched in October 2019, the programme aims to clean Delhi’s Barapulla drain — considered one of the dirti-est drains flowing into River Yamuna. It is a holistic pro-

gramme to recover water, energy and nutrients from urban wastewater, which could be replicated to other drains. Besides addressing water issues, it does help in tackle the problem of sewerage.

Another area of work by the Dutch is involvement in the Clean Ganga campaign. This area witnessed work in leather tanneries in Kan-pur and Unnao encourag-ing industries there to adopt eco-friendly technologies and check the flow of polluted water into the sacred river.

In Uttar Pradesh, another project underway is work on the conservation of water. It is through adopting efficient agriculture practices. Sugar-cane is widely grown across the Western part of the state and sugar mills dot the region.

A Dutch group is also working with manufacturers of textiles and leather in Guja-rat. The primary concern is to tackle issues of solid waste and wastewater and in Punjab, sim-ilar activities are taken in the textile-finishing cluster in Lud-hiana, known for its hosiery and woollen industries.

Now consider the geo-graphical spread of this bilat-eral engagement in just one sector. In West Bengal, the Dutch are undertaking a pilot project in the Sundarbans region to begin re-using some of the old creeks. The task involves replacing the salty water occupying the creeks with fresh water.

Down south, Chennai

city faces an acute shortage of water year after year. It is taking part in a programme called ‘’Water as a leverage for Resilient Cities Asia”. Here the Dutch Government is funding a design programme. It entails a design development in which infrastructural propos-als would be developed into implementable projects. The Asian Infrastructure Invest-ment Bank and The Nether-lands Development Finance Company is backing it.

Cooperation between the two countries in this sector is just about intensifying and the roadmap looks impres-sive. Besides announcing the Strategic Partnership, after the Summit both Prime Ministers discussed how to widen the bilateral cooperation in new areas.

A glimpse of the breadth of engagement can be anal-ysed from what came up for discussion. Water budgeting, cost-effective decentralised treatment technologies, con-verting wastewater to energy, application of Artificial Intel-ligence in decision making, non-point pollution source assessment and abatement, mapping of ecosystem services, reclaiming river space basin protection against disasters and river hazard management.

Water is the spring of life and countries are working on an agenda to ensure water security amid concerns of pos-sible global war over ‘White Gold.”

Views expressed are personal

Ambedkar’s dream of emancipating victims of social exclusion finds reflection in today’s evolved political scenario

— SUBHASH CHOPRA, DELHI via email

PM Modi with his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte (2017)

EDITORIALFor a new era

The fact that Joe Biden’s proposed budget has detractors from both sides of the political aisle should not be surprising to anyone. Biden is a self-proclaimed centrist and sometimes that means

that your proposed solution does not make either side happy. This is what Biden is facing in regard to military spending. Now, military spending in America has always been a contentious issue of sorts. America’s defence budget, by and large, has seen steady increases in recent years. Biden has continued this trend by increasing the military budget 1.7 per cent to $ 753 billion.

The increase has antagonised many of Biden’s progres-sive supporters who are disappointed that the defence department, which has never been audited, continues to get more funds at a time when other vital projects could receive the funding. Many Democratic lawmakers have been vocal in recent years regarding rampant problems of ‘waste and fraud’ that plague the Pentagon and the US military-indus-trial complex at large. The pandemic as seen by many was a time for America to reverse many of its budgetary priorities of previous years including its massive military budget.

On the flipside, you have the entire Republican-con-servative side that is up in arms about what they see as not enough military spending. The idea that it isn’t enough is guided by projections for the military budget in 2022 that was given by the previous administration. Republicans are highlighting that the ‘reduced’ budget sends a terrible mes-sage to US allies at a time when a rising China and resur-gent Russia is among the many threats that the US and its allies abroad face. Even conservative economic experts who are otherwise concerned that the bill and its spending will spike the US budget deficit, are expressing great con-cern that the government is not spending enough on the military.

In some ways, this provides an accurate enough pic-ture of the complicated politics around the US military-industrial complex. Budgetary deficits are okay so long as the spending relates to the American military. But more to the point, this is just one battle of the many that Biden is going to be fighting in the coming months as he tries to affect one of the largest spending shifts in US history. True to his word, Biden’s proposed budget provides a fair glimpse at his priorities as a president. Fundings to various departments that were neglected during the Trump days is being increased. This includes the department of educa-tion, health and human services, environmental protection and the commerce department. The budget’s broad focus on many of the areas that are critical to US recovery has been deeply appreciated by many, even if it is ruffling quite a few feathers as well. It reverses decades of austerity in health-care, immigration reform and climate change. The proposal also doubles down on some of Biden’s big-ticket ideas like the additional $ 600 million it proposes to buy electric vehi-cles for government agencies and setup charging stations. The US Postal Service will be one of the agencies that will come under this change.

Significantly, this proposal does not include the massive $ 2 trillion-plus infrastructure bill that Biden had previ-ously proposed. That particular bill has received a similar amount of heckling and panic from Republicans who are nervous due to the broad sweep of the proposed spend-ing that is part of the plan. As a whole Republicans have raised the concern that Biden is piling on a liberal wishlist of spending proposals at a time when the US economy can ill afford adventures. Of course, this is a matter of perspec-tive and depending on who you ask, this is precisely the correct time for the US government to be spending big to kick start the economy and create new jobs. This confu-sion revolves around the long-running debate over whether increased debt is bad. There have been fears for decades that the US will become a failed state if its national debt crossed its GDP. That already happened and it happened during the Trump era. Nevertheless, the US is yet to crash and there is very little clear idea on whether there even exists a thresh-old which the US debt cannot safely cross. Economists now agree that so long as the debt is increased for the purpose of boosting or fortifying the economy in some regard, the situ-ation will remain entirely manageable. Regardless, Biden is likely to be hard-pressed to convince the Republican side of this reality.

Tweet of the day

MAHUA MOITRA@MahuaMoitra

At Kumbh, Covid guard slips: No thermal screening, few masks, 102 test positive Good job ModiShah, good job YogiCM for keeping India safe And yes good job too, @ECISVEEP for WB’s 8 phase elec-tion in middle of pandemic

Ambedkar believed that in a country with diverse social practices, different identities and a divisive institution of caste, federalism in its original form will only endanger the unity of the nation

One of the upticks of the recent virtual summit PM Narendra Modi had with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte on April 9 agreed to elevate the Joint Working Group on Water to the Ministry-level

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GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL NOTICE

West Bengal Pollution Control Board

In compliance with Notifica-tion No. S.0.1533(E) dated 14.09.2006 of Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Govt. of India, it is hereby notified that the Pub-lic Hearing for the proposed Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) at Plot No. 9571, Mouza - Saha-rjora, JL No. 26, PS -Barjora, Dist - Bankura, PIN - 722 202, West Bengal by M/s. SNG Envi-rosolutions Pvt. Ltd. is hereby scheduled on 19.05.2021 at 12:00 Noon at the Barjora Pan-chayat Samity Meeting Hall, PS - Barjora, Dist - Bankura, West Bengal. Any person or association of persons who feel that he / it might be affected or the local authority involved, may con-sult the copies of Executive Summary of the project (Eng-lish and Bengali) and draft EIA / EMP report would be available at the (1) Office of the District Magistrate, Dist - Bankura, Govt. of West Ben-gal (2) Office of the Additional District Magistrate (LR), Dist - Bankura, Govt. of West Bengal (3) Office of the Sub-Divisional Officer, (Sadar) Bankura, Dist - Bankura (4) Office of the Block Development Officer, Barjora, Dist - Bankura, (5) Office of the Sabhadhipati, Bankura Zilla Parishad, Dist - Bankura (6) Office of the General Manager, D.I.C., Dist - Bankura (7) Office of the Sabhapati, Barjora Pan-chayat Samity, Dist - Bankura (8) Office of the Saharjora Gram Panchayat, Dist - Bankura (9) Office of the Environmental Engineer, Durgapur Regional Office, WBPCB, Sahid Khudi-ram Sarani, City Centre, Dist - Paschim Bardhaman, Durga-pur - 713 216 (10) Depart-ment of Environment, Govt. of West Bengal, Pranisampad Bhavan, 5th Floor, Block `LB-2’, Sector - III, Bidhannagar, Kol-kata 700 106 (11) Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Eastern Zonal Office, A/3, Chandrasekharpur, Bhu-baneswar - 751 023, Odisha (12) Head office of West Ben-gal Pollution Control Board, Paribesh Bhawan, 10A, Block - LA, Sector - III, Bidhannagar, Kolkata -700 106. Executive Summary and the application form of the project would also be available in the website of the Board: www.wbpcb.gov.in Any person or groups who might be locally affected from the pro-posed project or activity may participate in the public hear-ing to be held on 19.05.2021 at 12:00 Noon at the Barjora Pan-chayat Samity Meeting Hall, PS - Barjora, Dist - Bankura, West Bengal. They may make verbal or written suggestions / objec-tions in the matter in the public hearing meeting. Any other con-cerned persons having a plau-sible stake in the environmental aspects of the project or activity may make suggestions/objec-tions in writing to the Senior Envi-ronmental Engineer (EIM Cell), Paribesh Bhawan, 10A, Block - LA, Sector - III, Bidhannagar, Kolkata - 700 106 before the date of public hearing.

Member Secretary West Bengal Pollution

Control Board

8 millenniumpostWorldmpWEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021 | KOLKATA

US recommends ‘pause’ for J&J vaccine over clot reports

WASHINGTON DC: The US is recommending a pause in administration of the sin-gle-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investi-gate reports of potentially dan-gerous blood clots.

In a joint statement Tues-day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Admin-istration said they were inves-tigating clots in six women that occurred in the days after vaccination.

The clots were observed along with reduced platelet counts making the usual treat-ment for blood clots, the blood thinner heparin, potentially dangerous.

More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., the vast majority with no or mild side effects.

U.S. federal distribution channels, including mass vaccination sites, will pause the use of the J&J shot, and states and other providers are expected to follow. The other two authorised vaccines, from Moderna and Pfizer, are not

affected by the pause.CDC's Advisory Commit-

tee on Immunization Practices will meet Wednesday to dis-cuss the cases and the FDA has also launched an investigation into the cause of the clots and low platelet counts.

Until that process is com-plete, we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,

Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director of the CDC and Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Bio-logics Evaluation and Research said in a joint statement.

They are recommending that people who were given the J&J vaccine who are experienc-ing severe headache, abdomi-nal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks

after receiving the shot con-tact their health care provider.

Officials say they also want to educate vaccine providers and health professionals about the unique treatment required for this type of clot.

The J&J vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDA in late Febru-ary with great fanfare, with hopes that its single-dose

and relatively simple storage requirements would speed vac-cinations across the country.

Yet the shot only makes up a small fraction of the doses administered in the U.S. as J&J has been plagued by produc-tion delays and manufacturing errors at the Baltimore plant of a contractor.

Last week the drugmaker took over the facility to scale up production in hopes of meeting its commitment to the U.S. government of providing about 100 million doses by the end of May.

Until now concern about the unusual blood clots has centered on the vaccine from AstraZeneca, which has not yet received authorisation in the U.S. Last week, European regu-lators said they found a possi-ble link between the shots and a very rare type of blood clot that occurs together with low blood platelets, one that seems to occur more in younger people. The European Medi-cines Agency stressed that the benefits of receiving the vac-cine outweigh the risks for most people. AGENCIES

More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the US, the vast majority with no or mild side effects

Australia rules out

adding J&J vaccine

CANBERRA: The Australian government said Tuesday it had decided against buying the single-dose Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus vaccine and iden-tified a second case of a rare blood clot likely linked to the AstraZeneca shot.

The government had been in talks with the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant, which had asked the Australian regulator, Therapeutic Goods Administration, for provisional registration.

But Health Minister Greg Hunt ruled out a J&J contract because its vaccine was similar to the AstraZeneca product, which Australia had already contracted for 53.8 million doses.

Hunt said the government was following the advice of Australia's scientific and tech-nical advisory group. AGENCIES

COVID-19 pandemic ‘a long way from over’: WHO chief

UNITED NATIONS: Even though more than 780 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have now been administered globally, the pandemic is "a long way from over" but it can be brought under control in months with proven public health measures, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreye-sus has said.

The Coronavirus, which emerged first in central Chi-na's Wuhan city in December 2019, has infected more than 136,500,400 people and killed over 2,944,500 people across the world.

In January and February, the world saw six consecutive weeks of declining cases. We have now seen seven consecutive weeks of increasing cases, and four weeks of increasing deaths.

Last week was the fourth-highest number of cases in a single week so far. Several coun-tries in Asia and the Middle East have seen large increases in cases, WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus said.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, he said while more than 780 million doses of vaccine have now been administered globally, vaccines are a power-ful tool but not the only tool.

Physical distancing works. Masks work. Hand hygiene works. Ventilation works. Surveillance, testing, contact

tracing, isolation, supportive quarantine and compassionate care they all work to stop infec-tions and save lives, he added.

He voiced concern that confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public health measures and their application are driving transmission and costing lives. Cautioning that the disease is not flu, he said young, healthy people have died from the Coronavirus.

And we still don't fully understand the long-term consequences of infection for those who survive. Some peo-ple appear to be taking the approach that if they are rela-tively young, it doesn't matter if they get COVID-19.

Warning that the pandemic is a long way from over, Ghebr-eyesus said the world has many reasons for optimism.

The decline in cases and deaths during the first two months of the year shows that this virus and its variants can be stopped.

With a concerted effort to apply public health measures alongside equitable vaccina-tion, we could bring this pan-demic under control in a matter of months, he said adding that whether we do or not comes down to the decisions and the actions that governments and individuals make every day. The choice is ours. AGENCIES

Muslims mark Ramadan amid virus surge & renewed curbs

MECCA: Muslims in many parts of the world marked the start of Ramadan on Tues-day, but a spike in Coronavi-rus cases in several countries has once again put curbs on the holy month's signature feasts and lengthy prayers in mosques.

Still, there are glimmers that Ramadan 2021 could feel less restricted than last year, when Islam's holiest period coincided with the start of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mosques have since reopened and limits on move-ment have eased as vaccine rollouts continue in Muslim-majority nations. Clerics in

such places as Indonesia have issued assurances the vaccine does not break one's daytime fast.

Ramadan is marked by longer prayers, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts with family and friends, though crowded shoulder-to-shoul-der gatherings in mosques and large gatherings for meals remain prohibited due to the continued spread of Corona-virus globally.

Throughout Ramadan, Muslims abstain from any food or drink - including water - from morning to night. The month-long practice is aimed at heightening remembrance of

God, curbing unhealthy habits and deepening gratitude.

In Mecca, home to the Kaaba - Islam's most sacred site

- Muslims performed socially distanced taraweeh prayers, marking the start of Ramadan. Observant Muslims around the world pray toward the Kaaba five times a day.

Only limited numbers of worshippers are being allowed inside the Grand Mosque that houses the Kaaba in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus. Saudi authorities are only allowing individuals who've been vaccinated or recently recovered from the virus to perform taraweeh prayers at the Kaaba.

In Lebanon, most Muslims began Ramadan on Tuesday amid soaring inflation. The

small country is in the grips of the worst economic and finan-cial crisis in its modern history, with the Lebanese currency losing some 80 per cent of its value against the U.S. dollar in past months.

The crisis - a result of decades of endemic corrup-tion and mismanagement - has been compounded by the Coronavirus pandemic. Many people are having to scale back their Ramadan preparations.

We cannot buy anything. We ask how much the let-tuce is, the cucumber and the tomato, said Samiyeh al-Turk at a busy open air market in Beirut Monday. AGENCIES

Mosques have reopened & limits on movement have eased as vaccine rollouts continue in Muslim-majority nations

UK expands Covid vaccine programme to over-45s

UK PM URGES CAUTION

LONDON: The National Health Service (NHS) in Eng-land on Tuesday expanded the COVID-19 vaccination pro-gramme to the next cohort on its age-based priority list to all above 45 years of age, after it announced that the target to cover over-50s had been met ahead of the April 15 deadline.

The government had set a target to offer a COVID-19 jab to all over-50s, the clinically vul-nerable and health and social care workers about 32 million people by this Thursday. The NHS confirmed that nearly 40 million vaccine doses have now been administered across the UK. Prime Minister Boris John-son welcomed "another hugely significant milestone", adding that the focus would now be on completing essential second doses as well as to meet the tar-get of offering all adults a vac-cine by the end of July.

"More than 32 million peo-ple have been given the precious protection vaccines provide against COVID-19. I want to thank everyone involved in the vaccine rollout which has already saved many thousands

of lives," he said. Speaking at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, he reiterated his plea for cau-tion as he flagged that the fall in COVID-related hospitalisa-tions and deaths was largely the result of lockdown. "The num-bers are down of infections and hospitalisations and deaths. But it is very, very important for everybody to understand that the reduction in these num-bers in hospitalisations and in deaths and infections has not been achieved by the vaccina-tion programme," said Johnson.

"People don't, I think, appre-ciate that it's the lockdown that has been overwhelmingly important in delivering this improvement in the pandemic and in the figures that we're seeing.” AGENCIES

South African Covid variant cluster found

in LondonLONDON: The UK's National Health Service (NHS) has said it is using a surge testing sys-tem in two areas of south Lon-don this week after it was found to have a "significant" cluster of the faster-spreading South African variant of COVID-19.

The NHS Test and Trace said it is providing additional testing and genomic sequenc-ing across parts of Wandsworth and Lambeth, where 44 con-firmed and 30 probable cases of the variant first identified in South Africa have been found.

All identified cases are iso-lating or have completed their isolation, and their contacts have been traced and asked to isolate. The first case of the variant in the area was said to have been identified in early March. AGENCIES

Japan to start releasing Fukushima water into sea in 2 yrs

TOKYO: Japan's govern-ment decided Tuesday to start releasing massive amounts of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean in two years an option fiercely opposed by local fish-ermen and residents.

The decision, long spec-ulated but delayed for years due to safety concerns and protests, came at a meeting of Cabinet ministers who endorsed the ocean release as the best option.

The accumulating water has been stored in tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant since 2011, when a massive earth-quake and tsunami damaged its reactors and their cooling water became contaminated and began leaking.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., says its storage capacity will be full late next year.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the ocean release was the "most realistic" option and that disposing the water is

"unavoidable" for the decom-missioning of the Fukushima plant, which is expected to take decades.

China on Tuesday objected to Japan’s move to release treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the sea, warning Tokyo that “it reserves the right to make further reactions”.

While the US-backed Japan’s move, it drew sharp reactions from neighbouring China and South Korea.

“As a close neighbour and stakeholder, the Chi-nese side expresses grave con-cern over this,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. AGENCIES

China objects to Japan's move

Japan, Germany hold 1st

security talkTOKYO: Japan and Ger-many agreed in security talks Tuesday to expand their mil-itary cooperation as the two nations shared concern about China's increasing asser-tiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

At the so-called two-plus-two talks held online, the Japanese and German for-eign ministers and defense ministers agreed to step up their cooperation in defense and military equipment and technology transfers based on their intelligence sharing pact signed in March.

The four ministers exchanged views on China's territorial claims in the East and South China seas and shared grave concern over the situation in Hong Kong and the human rights con-ditions in China's Xinjiang region, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Germany has been increasing engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and will be dispatching a frigate to the region. AGENCIES

Merkel stays out of battle over who runs for German leader

BERLIN: German Chancel-lor Angela Merkel said Tues-day she will stay out of a battle in her center-right bloc over who should be its candidate to succeed her, while the two rival contenders prepared to take their case to lawmakers.

Armin Laschet, leader of Merkel's Christian Dem-ocratic Union, and Markus Soeder, the leader of its

smaller Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, officially threw their hats in the ring on Sunday after months of shadow-boxing.

Germany's parliamentary election on Sept. 26 will deter-mine who succeeds Merkel, who isn't seeking a fifth term after nearly 16 years in power.

Laschet and Soeder are

the governors of Germany's two most populous states, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria respectively.

Soeder has much better poll ratings, but Laschet is the recently elected leader of by far the bigger party.

On Monday, Laschet ral-lied the CDU leadership behind his bid and called for a quick decision. AGENCIES

Muslim pilgrims circumambulate around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the minor pilgrimage, known as Umrah, marking the holy month of Ramadan, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday PTI

Austria's health minister resigns, says he's overworked

BERLIN: Austria's health min-ister announced his resigna-tion on Tuesday, saying that he couldn't continue in the gru-elling job of helping lead the country's Coronavirus response because of persistent personal health problems caused by overwork.

Rudolf Anschober, 60, had been health minister since Jan-uary last year, when his Green

party became the junior partner in a governing coalition under conservative Chancellor Sebas-tian Kurz. The soft-spoken min-ister has been one of the main faces of Austria's Coronavirus response, which has gathered mixed reviews.

Anschober, who suffered a burnout nine years ago, said he had suffered two episodes of sudden fatigue in the past

month, as well as high blood pressure and tinnitus.

He said he had clearly over-worked and hadn't felt com-pletely fit for several weeks. This wasn't a burnout, he added, but doctors advised him to take a break. In the most serious health crisis for decades, the republic needs a health minis-ter who is 100% fit, Anschober said. AGENCIES

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Oval Office of the White House in Washington PTI

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (left) PTI

9millenniumpost

RECOGNITION

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) has bagged the third place for Innovative Training Practices (Public Sector category) 2018-19 at the 29th National Award ceremony held recently at New Delhi by Indian Society for Training &Development (ISTD). The award was received by Anil Saberwal, Executive Director (HRD, RB & CC) at SCOPE Complex, in New Delhi

Business mpKOLKATA | WEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment has initiated the pro-cess for inviting financial bids for the sale of national carrier Air India and the deal is likely to conclude by September, sources said.

Salt-to-software conglom-erate Tata Group was among the "multiple" entities that had put in preliminary bids for buy-ing loss-making Air India in December last year.

The sources said that after analysing the preliminary bids, eligible bidders were given access to the Virtual Data Room (VDR) of Air India, fol-lowing which investors' queries were answered.

The transaction has now moved to the financial bids stage, the sources said, adding that the deal is expected to con-clude by September.

The government is selling its entire 100 per cent stake in Air India that has been in losses ever since its merger with domestic operator Indian Air-lines in 2007.

The stake sale process got delayed due to the COVID pandemic and the govern-ment had extended five times the deadline to submit pre-liminary bids for the national carrier.

The airline, which started as a mail carrier in 1932, will give a successful bidder con-trol of 4,400 domestic and

1,800 international landing and parking slots at domestic airports, as well as 900 slots at

airports overseas. Besides, the bidder would get 100 per cent of the low-cost arm Air India Express and 50 per cent of AISATS, which provides cargo and ground handling services at major Indian airports.

With previous attempts since 2017 failing to get any sig-nificant interest, the govern-ment had this time sweetened the deal by giving freedom to potential suitors to decide how much of the airline's debt they want to take on as part of the transaction. Previously, the bidders were required to take over the entire Rs 60,074 crore debt.

Last month, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the government will keep

Air India running till it gets divested and there is no choice but to either "privatise or close" the debt-laden airline.

"We are looking at another timeline now, what is called data room for prospective bid-ders to look at... that is opened up, 64 days for the financial bids to come in. After that it is the question of taking a deci-sion and handing over the air-line," Puri had said.

"...There is no choice, we either privatise or we close the airline. We run a loss of Rs 20 crore every day despite Air India making money now. Because the mismanagement has resulted in a cumulative debt of Rs 60,000 crore," he had said.

‘Govt begins process for inviting financial bids for Air India sale’

The government is selling its entire 100% stake in Air India that has been in losses ever since its merger with domestic operator Indian Airlines in 2007

Tata Group was among the "multiple" entities that had put in preliminary bids for buying Air India

NEW DELHI: KVIC Chair-man Vinai Kumar Saxena is all set to take on “anti-devel-opment” activist Medha Pat-kar in West Bengal where she is addressing “Kisan Panchayats” to instigate farmers against the Central Government. Seeking to expose the ill-motives and anti-development face of Patkar, Saxena will be holding parallel dialogues with the locals and caution them against her hid-den agenda which is guided and supported by foreign forces. Saxena and Patkar are locked in legal battle for over 20 years.

Saxena alleged that it was because of Patkar’s agitations in Singur in 2007, that industrial development in West Bengal stopped and caused huge loss of employment and livelihood in the state. And again, by spread-ing falsehood and instigating farmers, Patkar was attempting to deprive them of the benefits of the farm bills enacted by the

Central Government, he said.Citing the FIR registered

against Patkar and her aides by Delhi Police in connection with the 26th January violence in Delhi, Saxena said Patkar has a history of provoking violence in the guise of protests.

“Patkar was the main con-spirator of the massive vio-lence in Singur. Similarly, in the Narmada valley, she insti-gated farmers and tribals to attack police and government officials on a number of occa-sions. It was Patkar, who gave a false testimony against India in the USA, which led to the withdrawal of the World Bank support to the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Her anti-dam protests in Madhya Pradesh led to the suf-ferings of lakhs of farmers due to non-availability of Narmada water for over 20 years in Guja-rat and Rajasthan. Industrial growth in Madhya Pradesh was severely hampered due to power

shortage arising out of delay in commissioning of hydro-power projects on River Narmada,” Saxena said.

Saxena, who has previously dragged Patkar to courts in sev-eral criminal cases, said all agi-tations staged by Patkar were guided by her foreign masters with the sole objective of stall-ing the pace of development in India.

“Be it her anti-dam protests in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan or her agitation in West Bengal against the TATA Nano project in Singur, the motive has been clear – stalling the development proj-ects by misleading the local tribals and villagers. Patkar’s foreign connections are already in public domain and her pres-ence in West Bengal is an indi-cation of further unrest and support to the anti-India forces that do not want any develop-ment in the state,” he said. MPOST

NEW DELHI: India’s home-grown Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) on Tuesday announced that it has become the top enabler of digital pay-ments in the country by regis-tering over 970 million digital transactions in the month of March 2021. This achievement has been led by the growth in transactions on Paytm Wallet, Paytm FASTag, Paytm UPI, and internet banking over the last several quarters. PPBL which is rapidly gaining the trust of mil-lions of Indians is now opening on an average 1 million savings and current accounts a month. With over 64 million accounts, the bank's total deposits have crossed over Rs 3200 crores.

Top beneficiary bank for UPI payments with the indus-try's best success rate

PPBL continues to be the largest beneficiary bank for UPI transactions and registers the highest success rate in the industry. It is also rapidly gain-ing traction as a remitter bank for UPI payments. The NPCI data also reveals that it has the lowest technical decline rate at

0.11% among all UPI remitter banks and 0.04% among all UPI beneficiary banks.

Paytm Wallet continues to grow with merchant payments accounting for 85% of its over-all transactions

PPBL has democratized online transactions in the coun-try with the Paytm Wallet and continues to remain the stron-gest digital payments service provider, witnessing consis-tent growth of 15% month-on-month. Paytm Wallet has consolidated its position as the leading digital payments ser-vice with 325 million wallet accounts. Over 78% of Wallet account holders use it for pay-ments on a daily basis. The mas-sive adoption of Paytm Wallet by the masses can be also be gauged from the fact that *85% of wallet transactions are merchant trans-actions across online platforms and Kirana stores.

Largest enabler of digital toll payments with 9 million FASTags

With over 9 million FAST-ags sold and 42 million monthly issuer transactions, Paytm Pay-

ment Bank’s FASTag has become India's most preferred instru-ment for digital toll payments as it allows users to directly pay from their Paytm Wallet. It has gained immense popu-larity amongst vehicle owners including commercial transport due to its seamless onboarding and integration process which requires minimum documen-tation, instant activation, and unmatched customer care support. Also, PPBL has now enabled cashless toll payments across 270 plazas and regis-ters over 57 million monthly acquirer transactions.

Satish Kumar Gupta, CEO & Managing Director, Paytm Payments Bank Ltd said, “Our leadership in digital banking and payments is a testimony to the trust that the whole country has shown in our services. We will continue to empower more merchants across the country to join the digital payment ecosys-tem and benefit from our inno-vative & personalized offerings. We are committed to playing a key role in building Atmanirb-har Bharat." MPOST

KVIC Chairman VK Saxena to face Medha Patkar in Bengal

Both are locked in legal battle for over 20 years

Paytm Payments Bank largest enabler of digital transactions

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment on Tuesday said it is fully prepared to implement manda-tory hallmarking of gold jew-ellery and artefacts from June 1, 2021.

Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the pre-cious metal and is voluntary in nature at present.

The Centre, in Novem-ber 2019, had announced that hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts would be made mandatory across the coun-try from January 15, 2021. The government had given jewel-lers more than a year to shift to hallmarking and register themselves with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

But the deadline was extended for four months till June 1 after the jewellers sought more time to implement in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"No extension has been

sought. BIS is already fully energised and involved in giving approvals to jewellers for hallmarking, "Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nan-dan said in a virtual press con-ference here.

Elaborating more, BIG Director-General Pramod Kumar Tiwari said, "From June, we are fully prepared to imple-ment (mandatory hallmark-ing). And at present, we have received no proposal to extend the date."

So far, 34,647 jewellers have

registered with the BIS."In the next one-two

months, we expect registra-tion of about 1 lakh jewellers," he said, adding that the regis-tration process has been made online and automatic.

From June 1, jewellers will be allowed to sell only 14, 18 and 22 carats of gold jewellery.

The BIS is already running a hallmarking scheme for gold jewellery since April 2000, and around 40 per cent of gold jewellery is being hallmarked currently.

According to the BIS, the mandatory hallmarking will protect the public against lower caratage and ensure consum-ers do not get cheated while buying gold ornaments and get the purity as marked on the ornaments.

India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of the jewellery industry. In volume terms, the country imports 700-800 tonne of gold annually.

Govt to implement mandatory gold hallmarking from June 1

LONDON: The UK economy grew 0.4 per cent in February, rebounding from a sharp drop the previous month, as the rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccines boosted confidence in a recov-ery from the pandemic.

The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that the expansion was led by a 1.3 per cent increase in manufacturing output and a 1.6 per cent boost in construction as most nones-sential shops remained closed due to a nationwide lockdown.

England marked the end of its third national lockdown on Monday with the reopening of gyms, hairdressers and nones-sential shops. Pubs and restau-rants also opened their doors, but only for outdoor service.

Following the modest improvement in February, the economy seems to have taken significant steps forward dur-ing March as increasingly con-fident businesses prepared for the significant opening up of the economy on 12 April and con-sumers looked to start releasing pent-up demand, said Howard Archer, chief economist for the EY Item Club. The government's road map out of lockdown does seem to have lifted both busi-ness and consumer confidence.

The economy remains 7.8 per cent smaller than it was last February as the U.K. recovers from its worst recession in 300 years. AGENCIES

February: UK economy grows 0.4%

NEW DELHI: Amid surg-ing coronavirus cases in India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday made it clear that the government would not go for lockdowns in a big way and only resort to local containment.

In a virtual meeting with World Bank Group President David Malpass, Sitharaman appreciated the initiatives of the international financial insti-tution to increase the lending space for India to enhance availability of finance for development.

"Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman shared the mea-sures being taken by India to

contain the spread of second wave of pandemic including the five pillared strategy of test-track-treat-vaccination and #COVID19 appropriate behaviour," the finance minis-try said in a tweet.

"Even with the second wave, we are very clear that we are not going in for lockdowns in a big way. We don't want to totally arrest the economy. The local level isolation of patients, or households which have people in quarantines are the methods through which the crisis will be handled, the second wave will be handled. There shall not be lockdown," Sitharaman said. MPOST

‘Govt not going for lockdowns in big way’

GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL Office of the District

Magistrate and District Election officer, Birbhum.

Expenditure Monitoring Cell CORRIGENDUM

Annexure to Memo No - 36/EMC/AE2021,

Dated :- 13/04/2021 For 291 AC-Rampurhat date for 1st date of checking may be read as 15/04/2021, 2nd

date of checking may be read as 20/04/2021 instead of 16/04/2021 and 21/04/2021 respectively. Time and venue to remain same. For other ACs there are no changes.

Sd/-Officer In- Charge Expenditure Monitoring Cell,

Birbhum.

ADANI PORTS’ ACQUISITION OF 89.6% STAKE IN GANGAVARAM GETS CCI NOD NEW DELHI: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday approved the acquisition of 89.6 per cent stake in Gangavaram Port Ltd by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) in March had announced it would acquire controlling interest in Gangavaram Port Ltd (GPL) from DVS Raju and fam-ily for Rs 3,604 crore, taking its stake in GPL to 89.6 per cent. APSEZ had announced acquisition of 58.1 per cent stake held by DVS Raju and family and 31.5 per cent stake of Warburg Pincus.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER Q4 FY21 RETAIL SALES RISE OVER 12 PC TO 1,23,483 UNITS NEW DELHI: Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Tuesday reported a 12.4 per cent increase in retail sales at 1,23,483 units in the fourth quarter of 2020-21. Stating that there is continuing recovery from the impact of COVID-19, JLR said its sales in China in Q4 were up 127 per cent compared to a year ago, when that market was heavily affected by the pandemic. For the full 2020-21 fiscal year, JLR's global retail sales stood at 4,39,588 units, down 13.6 per cent on the previous year largely due to the adverse impact of the pandemic, it added. By model, the new Land Rover Defender contributed 45,244 sales in the year, while other models were down year-on-year, reflecting the impact of COVID, particularly earlier in the year, the company said.

PINE LABS BUYS FAVE FOR OVER $45 MN NEW DELHI: Payment solutions provider Pine Labs on Tuesday said it has acquired consumer fintech platform Fave in a deal valued over USD 45 mil-lion (about Rs 339 crore). Fave's founders will have their roles expanded to lead the overall consumer platform for the group across Asia. Fave will also be hiring over 100 new employees in South East Asia and India, a statement said. Its investors will receive an all-cash payout, while founders and key Fave em-ployees will receive both cash and Pine Labs shares, it added. Fave has enabled six million consumers in South East Asia to save over USD 400 million across 40,000 retailers since 2016. It operates in 35 cities across Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Business Briefs

10 millenniumpostBusinessmpWEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021 | KOLKATA

NEW DELHI: With night curfews and weekend lock-downs driving bigger orders for e-commerce companies, these online platforms are stepping up efforts to protect their associ-ates, including delivery staff, and ensure safe delivery of orders to customers.

According to senior execu-tives in the industry, demand in categories like grocery, essential items like sanitisers and masks, books, consumer electronics and appliances has gone up in the past few weeks across vari-ous parts of the country.

"There has been a 60 per cent spike in demand in the markets that are adversely affected by the second wave. The significant surge in demand is in catego-ries such as — packaged foods i.e. ready to eat and ready to cook — up to 80 per cent, fro-

zen foods - up to 500 per cent, and packaged milk, and milk products - 150 per cent.

"There has also been an 11 per cent increase in the order value in these cities," a spokes-person for online grocery plat-form Grofers said.

The spokesperson added that with some state govern-ments announcing stricter lock-down norms, the company is ramping up its capacities to serve consumers in a safe and secure manner. Grofers has also partnered with UNICEF to encourage people across the country to get vaccinated.

A total of 1,61,736 new coronavirus infections have been reported in a day, push-ing India's tally of cases to 1,36,89,453, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate dropped further to 89.51 per

cent, according to Union Health Ministry data.

In Maharashtra, which is logging one of the highest num-bers of COVID cases over the last few days, the state govern-ment had mandated that deliv-ery partners will have to carry a negative RT-PCR report as it imposed restrictions in move-ment around night time and weekends. It has now allowed the non-vaccinated staff from various sectors in the state to take rapid antigen test instead of RT-PCR test.

"Safety of our teams and cus-tomers continues to be our top priority. We are providing easy access for testing for all associ-ates in our network in Maha-rashtra, and covering the cost of all RT-PCR tests to enable deliveries during curfew hours and on weekends in the state,"

an Amazon spokesperson said.The spokesperson said the

company continues to practice stringent preventive measures for the safety of its associates, such as adherence to social-distancing norms, mandatory use of face covering and daily temperature screenings.

A Snapdeal spokesperson noted that with movement restrictions being introduced in additional parts of the country, buyers are choosing the safety of shopping from home.

While traffic and orders have increased pan-India, this is more pronounced in Maha-rashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi NCR and West Bengal.

"Over the weekend, we have seen elevated demand for sum-mer casuals like T-Shirts, shorts, kids apparel and sandals. Higher

demand is also seen for house-hold goods like fridge water bottles, storage containers for food products, rechargeable and portable table-top fans etc.

"With schools being shut, users are also ordering study/hobby-related items like print-ing paper, colours and art and craft items," the spokesperson said.

Walmart-owned Flipkart pointed out that it continues to strengthen its measures in the fight against the pandemic.

"We continue to follow the highest safety standards and SOPs that we've developed over the past several months. Our learnings have been immense, and we are ensuring that appro-priate safety equipment is avail-able to employees, as they follow the right protocols," a spokes-person for Flipkart said. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The net indi-rect tax collection in 2020-21 grew 12.3 per cent annually to Rs 10.71 lakh crore, thereby exceeding the target set in revised estimates, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

The mop-up through indi-rect taxes, which include GST, Customs and excise duties, was Rs 9.54 lakh crore in 2019-20. In the Revised Estimates (RE) for 2020-21, the target was set at Rs 9.89 lakh crore.

Net collections from Goods and Services Tax (GST) stood at Rs 5.48 lakh crore during 2020-21, an eight per cent drop com-pared to Rs 5.99 lakh crore in the previous fiscal year. This include revenues from Central GST, Integrated GST and com-pensation cess.

Customs revenue during 2020-21 came in at Rs 1.32 lakh crore, a 21 per cent growth over Rs 1.09 lakh crore collected in 2019-20.

Net collections from central excise and service tax (arrears) stood at Rs 3.91 lakh crore, up 59.2 per cent over Rs 2.45 lakh crore mopped up in 2019-20.

"The provisional figures for indirect tax collections (GST and non-GST) for Financial Year 2020-21 show that net rev-enue collections are at Rs 10.71 lakh crore as compared to Rs 9.54 lakh crore for Financial Year 2019-20, thereby register-

ing a growth of 12.3 per cent," a finance ministry statement said.

It said during the last fis-cal year, GST collections were severely affected in the first half on account of COVID-19. However, in the second half, GST collections registered a

good growth and the mop-up exceeded Rs 1 lakh crore in each of the last six months. March saw an all-time high of GST collection at Rs 1.24 lakh crore.

"Several measures taken by the central government helped in improving compliance in GST," the ministry added.

Asked about the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on revenue collections in April, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman M Ajit Kumar said "I am very sure we will see a very strong revenue bounce back even in the month of April. We should do very well, we may do even better than what we have done last month. We hope to do so."

In the Budget for 2021-22 fiscal year, which began on April 1, the government has pegged gross Customs collection at Rs 1.36 lakh crore and excise duties of Rs 3.35 lakh crore. Gross GST collection by Centre is budgeted at Rs 6.30 lakh crore.

Asked whether the targets for this fiscal year would be met, Kumar said "I think the target has been fixed very moderately. I think they are achievable. For the past six months we have

crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore (GST collection) target every month and I don't expect any change in that to happen this month."

He said imports, mainly of raw material and goods required by industry for manufactur-ing, have been showing very good trend.

On the next meeting of the GST Council, Kumar said a call will be taken by the GST Coun-cil secretariat. "Elections are going on now, I am sure early decision (on meeting date) will be taken."

Deloitte India Senior Direc-tor M S Mani said "the 12 per cent increase in the indirect tax collections comes on the back of a strong recovery in GST collections in the second half of FY21 together with the sig-nificant increase in the excise duty collections on petroleum products".

Nexdigm Executive Direc-tor (Indirect Tax) Saket Pata-wari said considering the economic and financial impact of the pandemic in the first half of the last financial year, a 12 per cent growth in the net indirect tax collections is a remarkable feat.

Indirect tax mop-up grows 12% in FY21 to `10.71 lakh crIn Revised Estimates for 2020-21, the target was set at `9.89 lakh crore

Net Indirect Tax RevenueNet Indirect Tax collection (GST & Non-GST) for 2020-21

shows that 108.2% of the Revised Estimates of 9.89 lakh

crore has been achieved

`

In lakh crore`

Source: Ministry of Finance KBK graphicsInfoFigures are provisional

2019-20 2020-21

10.711.32

3.91

9.54

1.09

2.45

2019-20 2020-21

2019-20 2020-21

21.1%

59.6%

Net Indirect Tax Collections Custom Duty Collections

Net Tax Collections onAccount of Central Exciseand Service Tax (Arrears)

12.3%

(GST & Non-GST)

MPOST BUREAU

MUMBAI: Stock markets regained footing on Tues-day after the previous ses-sion's massive selloff, tracking renewed buying interest in financial, bank and auto coun-ters amid firm global cues.

Participants also cheered the government's decision to fast-track approval for foreign-produced COVID-19 vaccines. Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has received emergency use authorisation in India, paving the way for the third corona-virus vaccine in the country.

However, the COVID-19 situation remains worrisome and will determine market tra-jectory in the near term, trad-ers said.

Building on a positive start, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained momentum in late-afternoon trade to close 660.68 points or 1.38 per cent higher at 48,544.06.

On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty surged 194 points or 1.36 per cent to finish at 14,504.80.

M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 8.02 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, ONGC and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, TCS was the biggest laggard, slump-

ing 4.21 per cent, a day after reporting its March quarter results.

The country's largest tech exporter on Monday reported a 14.9 per cent jump in consoli-dated net profit for the March quarter to Rs 9,246 crore, but posted a marginal increase in reported post-tax profit at Rs 32,430 crore for FY21.

Dr Reddy's, Tech Mahin-dra, HCL Tech, Infosys and Nestle India were among the other losers, shedding up to 4.18 per cent.

BSE auto, metal, finance, bankex, realty and telecom indices rallied as much as 4.30 per cent, while IT, teck and healthcare indices closed with losses.

Broader BSE midcap and

smallcap indices spurted up to 1.46 per cent.

World stocks perched near all-time highs ahead of US inflation data, which would offer cues on the economic recovery taking hold.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended on a positive note, while Shanghai was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were largely trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.90 per cent higher at USD 63.85 per barrel.

The forex market was closed on account of 'Gudi Padwa'.

Bourses will be shut on Wednesday for 'Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti'.

Sensex rallies over 660 points as bulls return

KBK graphicsInfo

Intra-day on April 13, 2021

9am 10 11 12 1pm 2 3 4 9am 10 11 12 1pm 2 3 4

Previous close:

14,310.80

Previous close:

47,883.38Low: 14,274.90

NSE NIFTYIntra-day on April 13, 2021

BSE SENSEX

High:

14,528.90

Close:

14,504.80

Open

14,364.90

: Open

47,991.53

:

Close:

48,544.06

194.00

(1.36%)

660.68

(1.38%)

Low: 47,775.32

High

48,627.43

:

NEW DELHI: Finance Min-ister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said resumption of formal negotiations on India-EU trade deal during the lead-ership summit next month would help further strengthen ties with the European Union.

The negotiations between India and the European Union on a free trade agreement have been stalled since May 2013, when both sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security status for the IT sec-tor. The negotiations with the 27-nation grouping were launched in June 2007.

During the bilateral meet-ing with Portugal Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto San-tos Silva, Sitharaman said that resumption of formal nego-

tiations on both Trade and Investment agreements at the leaders' meeting of India and EU on May 8 in Porto, Portu-gal would be a notable success for the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of EU.

"FM @nsitharaman also underscored on the need to build on historic bilateral ties based on stronger economic and financial links befitting a 21st century partnership built

on mutual trust and equal com-mitment," the finance ministry said in a tweet.

During the meeting, the finance minister highlighted the significance of the high-level visits between both coun-tries during recent years which resulted in addition of several agreements and outcomes, thereby transforming the his-torical relationship into a mod-ern 21st century partnership.

"FM @nsitharaman lauded the excellent bilateral relations between India & Portugal with shared history, culture and people-to-people ties. The two democracies focused on boost-ing economic growth, invest-ment, industry and innovation is also a testament to these shared values," another tweet said. MPOST

Negotiations on India-EU trade deal to resume next month: FM NEW DELHI: Fund raising

through issuance of deben-tures dropped 29 per cent to Rs 10,587 crore in 2020-21 due to decline in credit ratings and escalated risk of default on COVID-19 induced disruptions in capital intensive businesses.

Going forward, experts say, the ongoing financial year (2021-22) will see some attrac-tive numbers in non-convertible debenture (NCD) fund raising.

" We should see money mobilization through NCD route to the tune of 2018-19 levels in FY22 as many com-panies are entering capex cycle, GDP is projected to grow in double digits and bond yields have started to go up making more case for NCD issuances," Divam Sharma, co-founder at Green Portfolio, said.

In addition, success of recent Muthoot Finance NCD offering

has further opened the doors for many companies includ-ing NBFCs and real estate sec-tor to launch NCD offerings, he added.

He further said companies like DLF, Piramal, Edelweiss, IIFL are already considering NCD issuances.

"With the government bor-rowing programme at an over-drive, this fiscal year might throw some unpleasant sur-prises to NCDs. They will face stiff competition from their higher rated and sovereign rated peers to corner investor money," Deepak Singh, Chief Business Officer at Reliance Securities, said.

NCDs are loan-linked bonds that cannot be converted into stocks and usually offer higher interest rates than convertible debentures.

As per Securities and

Exchange Board of India (Sebi) data, companies raised total Rs 10,587 crore through issuance of NCDs to retail investors in the recently concluded fiscal year as compared to Rs 14,984 crore in 2019-20.

In 2018-19, firms had gar-nered Rs 36,679 crore through issuance of NCDs as such instru-ments offered lucrative invest-ment option to retail investors, while just Rs 4,953 crore was mopped up in 2017-18.

"NCD issuances fell in FY21 due to the fall in credit ratings and escalated risk of default considering COVID-19 disrup-tions in many capital-intensive businesses. Also, many com-panies withheld their plans to expand considering the uncer-tainties," Sharma said.

Kaushlendra Singh Sengar, founder and CEO at INVEST19 said fund raising via NCDs lost

its gleam in 2020-21 as the retail investors were shifted towards the equity asset-class.

Most of the funds were mobilised to support lend-ing activities, working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes.

Overall, in terms of volume, there were 18 NCD issues in the recently-concluded fiscal year as against 34 in 2019-20.

The entities that mopped up funds through the route in 2020-21 are IIFL Finance, Mut-hoot Finance, Sakthi Finance, Kosamattam Finance, KLM Axiva Finvest, Muthoot Fin-corp, Muthoottu Mini Finan-ciers, Edelweiss Financial Services and Power Finance Corporation, among others.

Interestingly, some of the companies opted the route on more than one occasion to gar-ner funds. AGENCIES

Fund raising via NCDs drops 29% in FY21

COVID 2nd wave: E-commerce firms step up efforts to protect associates, ensure deliveries

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment on Tuesday slashed the annual marking fee to get a new BIS license and certifica-tion by 50 per cent for micro-industry, startups and women entrepreneurs.

It also said the services of BIS are now made available free of cost to everyone and can be downloaded from the stan-dardisation port of e-BIS.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), a government quality standards-setting body, issues licenses with a standard mark

to help identify the unit, which has manufactured the product at a specific location.

"The government has given 50 per cent rebate on (new) BIS certification of products for start-up, micro-industry and women entrepreneurs," Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.

An additional 10 per cent rebate has been given to the existing licence holders, which will give a boost to the govern-ment 'Vocal for Local' cam-paign, he added.

According to BIS Direc-tor-General Pramod Kumar Tiwari, the rebate offered for the new licence is expected to bring more companies under the ambit of licensing and cer-tification regime.

For existing license holders, a 20 per cent rebate was already given and now an additional 10 per cent will be given to them, he said in a virtual press conference.

The minimum annual mark-ing fee for a new licence differs from product to product. For

instance, on water, the fee is about Rs 1,60,000, he added.

Listing out the new ini-tiatives taken by BIS to bring in efficiency and transpar-ency, Tiwari said several steps have been taken to ease the compliance burden on the stakeholders.

The entire process of certi-fication — including granting and renewal of license — has been automated through Manak Online Portal of e-BIS, he added.

BIS has set strict timelines

for the disposal of applications and real-time basis monitoring of compliance, he noted.

Tiwari said that more than 80 per cent of products being brought under 'simplified pro-cedure'. This means a license for the manufacturing of these products will be granted within a period of one month.

He informed that as a result of these initiatives, it has been possible to dispose of more than 90 per cent of applica-tions within the prescribed time frame. AGENCIES

New BIS license: Govt announces 50% rebate for start-ups, micro industry, women entrepreneurs

Demand in categories like grocery, essential items like sanitisers and masks, books, consumer electronics and appliances has gone up in the past few weeks

NEW DELHI: The second wave of COVID-19 infections pres-ents a risk to India's growth forecast as the reimposition of measures to curb the spread of the virus will hit economic activity, but a double-digit GDP growth is likely in 2021 given the low level of activity last year, Moody's said on Tuesday.

Moody's expects that given the focus on 'micro-contain-ment zones' to deal with the current wave of infections, as opposed to a nationwide lock-down, the impact on economic activity would be less severe than that seen in 2020.

"India's very low corona-virus death count (only about 1,70,179 deaths have been recorded as of April 12) and relatively very young popula-tion also help mitigate risks. GDP is still likely to grow in double digits in 2021 given the low level of activity in 2020," Moody's Investors Service said.

In its commentary on India, Moody's said the countermea-sures to combat the second wave some of which are due to remain in place at least until the end of April risk weakening the eco-nomic recovery. However, the targeted nature of containment measures and rapid progress on vaccinating the population will mitigate the credit-nega-tive impact.

In February, Moody's had bettered India's growth projec-tion for the current fiscal year, which began on April 1, to 13.7 per cent as economic activity gathered pace. AGENCIES

‘Double-digit growth for

India in 2021’

BEIJING: China's exports rose 30.6% over a year ago in March as global consumer demand strengthened and trad-ers watched for signs of what President Joe Biden might do about reviving tariff war talks with Beijing. Exports rose to 241.1 billion, decelerating from the dramatic 60.6% rebound in the first two months of 2021, customs data showed Tuesday. Imports rose 38.1% over a year ago to 227.3 billion in a sign of reviving Chinese activity.

That is a positive signal that global economic and trade activ-ities are recovering and market confidence increasing, a spokes-man for the customs bureau, Li Kuiwen, said at a news confer-ence. Li warned, however, that the world economic situation still is complicated and severe. China's exporters have ben-efited from the relatively early reopening of its economy while some other governments are re-imposing anti-virus curbs that limit business and trade. AGENCIES

China’s Mar exports rise

30.6%

11millenniumpost Sport mpKOLKATA | WEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021

RCB look to consolidate position as SRH eye 1st winCHENNAI: Seeking to con-solidate their position after a winning start, Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore will have their task cut out as they take on a determined Surnrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday.

While RCB began their campaign with a morale-boosting win over five-time defending champions Mumbai Indians at the same venue, the David Warner-led SRH lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in their tournament opener.

Having put up a decent performance in the first game, RCB will be strengthened fur-ther when the immensely-tal-ented Devdutt Padikkal makes the team after his recovery from COVID-19.

Padikkal has said he is now completely ready to play his part in the IPL and confident of replicating his stupendous domestic form in the ongoing league.

He contracted the deadly virus on March 22 and was in isolation, but has since completely recovered and resumed practice with his RCB teammates.

In the event Padikkal is unable to return for Wednes-day's game, RCB will stick to the opening pair of Kohli and Washington Sundar.

RCB might try out the likes of Mohammed Azharuddeen and Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa in the coming matches.

Kohli and the incomparable AB de Villiers will be the key men again for RCB in batting,

with Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell hoping to make invaluable contributions with the willow.

He looked good in the first game in RCB jersey, and has the backing of the team manage-ment, including skipper Kohli.

Barring the trio of Kohli, de Villiers and Maxwell, RCB look thin on batting and that's why Padikkal's presence at the top is important for them.

The 20-year-old Karnataka left-hander was RCB's highest run-getter in IPL 2020 with 473 runs from 15 matches, includ-ing five half-centuries in what was his debut season.

Padikkal continued rich form in the last Syed Mush-taq Ali Trophy (218 runs at an average of 43.60 in six matches) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (737 runs in seven matches).

After their failure in the opener, Rajat Patidat and Washington would look to make amends against SRH.

Almost all of RCB's bowl-ers were economical against MI's formidable batting with

medium pacer Harshal Patel returning excellent figures of 5/27. They will certainly look for an encore.

As far as SRH are con-cerned, both their openers Wriddhiman Saha and War-ner failed to get going against KKR in the first game and will look to make up for that against RCB.

The swashbuckling Warner has close to 600 runs against RCB and he will aim to add to that impressive tally.

In opening, SRH have the option of reuniting Warner with Jonny Bairstow, who made a fifty while batting in the mid-dle-order against KKR along-side Manish Pandey, who made a 44-ball 61.

Kane Williamson is unlikely to return on Wednesday as coach Trevor Bayliss had said the Kiwi would require some more time to regain full match fitness. Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for runs against KKR but the experienced seamer is expected to get his rhythm back sooner than later. AGENCIES

Marin, Momota among big stars as India Open set to be held behind closed doors

NEW DELHI: Olympic cham-pion Carolina Marin and World No. 1 Kento Momota will headline a star-studded field of international shuttlers when the India Open Super 500 event is held here from May 11 to 16, albeit behind closed doors due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

The USD 400,000 tourna-ment, one of the last few qual-ification events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, has attracted 228 (114 men and 114 women) entries from 33 different national associations, including China.

However, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) said "due to the rapidly rising COVID-19 cases in the coun-

try, the tournament will be con-tested in a bio-secure bubble without spectators and media while implementing strict COVID-19 safety protocols."

"All the players and officials coming from South Africa,

Brazil, Middle East and Euro-pean countries including UK will be serving a 7-day quaran-tine period and have to report in the capital city on May 3," BAI said in a release.

"... Players and officials from

rest of the world can arrive on May 6 and undergo a 4-day quarantine period."

On the court, three-time world champion Marin will lead the women's singles cat-egory along with other Top-10 shuttlers such as Akane Yama-guchi, 2019 world champion PV Sindhu, Korea's An Se-Young and Thailand's Porn-pawee Chochuwong.

India boasts of the largest contingent with 48 players (27 women and 21 men), while Malaysia has fielded the sec-ond biggest squad with 26 shut-tlers, which includes 10 women and 16 men.

A total of 10 shuttlers (4 women and 6 men) from China are also part of the par-

ticipants list.Among the men, two-time

world champion Momota, defending champion Vik-tor Axelson, Anders Anton-sen and reigning All England Open champion Zii Jia Lee will be in the fray.

Former World No. 1 Sri-kanth Kidambi will lead the Indian charge along with B Sai Praneeth, HS Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap.

India's men's doubles chal-lenge will be spearheaded by World No. 10 pairing of Chi-rag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, while Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy will aim for some valuable Olympic qualification points in the women's doubles. AGENCIES

India boasts of the largest contingent with 48 players (27 women and 21 men), while Malaysia has fielded the second biggest squad with 26 shuttlers, which includes 10 women and 16 men

Indian women to play one-off Test, 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is in England in June-JulyLONDON: The Indian women's cricket team will play a historic one-off Test against England in Bristol as part of a multi-format series that will also feature three ODIs and as many T20 Interna-tionals across June-July.

The Test will be played at the Bristol County Ground from June 16-19, kicking off the England team's summer. The match was first confirmed by BCCI Secretary Jay Shah ear-lier this year but the exact date and venue were unveiled by the

host board on Tuesday.While the Indian women's

team will take part in a Test for the first time since 2014, Eng-land last played a red-ball game during the 2019 Ashes.

The one-off Test will be fol-lowed by three ODIs and T20Is each with the tour concluding on July 15 in Chelmsford.

After announcing its home fixtures, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief exec-utive officer Tom Harrison, said: "We're really looking forward to

a busy summer in what is a huge year for our England Women's team, and we're very excited about hosting India and New Zealand.

"The two international series will sit either side of The Hun-dred, and with the Rachael Hey-hoe Flint Trophy and the new Regional T20 competition run-ning throughout the summer, it's a fixture list that offers a lot for both our players and our fans.

"With the 2022 ICC Wom-

en's World Cup around the corner it is of paramount impor-tance that our England team is able to prepare accordingly, and with the team also due to travel to Pakistan in October we can look forward to an excit-ing 12 months of international women's cricket." Following the engagements against India, The Hundred will take place, after which the England women's side will face New Zealand in three T20Is and five ODIs respec-tively, in September. AGENCIES

India A's tour of

England postponed

LONDON: India A's tour of England this summer has been postponed and the senior team will now have an integrated jumbo squad for the five-match Test series in England later this year, the ECB and the BCCI agreed on Tuesday. The senior team, which is to play five Tests against England in August-September, will now have only two intra-squad practice games instead of the first-class fixture between India senior and India A teams planned earlier.

It is believed that the deci-sion has been taken to ensure the safest possible environment for a high quality international series in times of COVID-19.

"The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have agreed to postpone this summer's men's India A tour," ECB said in a statement on Tuesday. "The India Men's team will instead tour with a larger squad to prepare for, and use during, the five-match LV= Insurance Test Series." "India's warm-up schedule will now comprise two intra-squad four-day matches, which will replace the two previously planned four-day fixtures between India Men and India A in July. Venues for those two intra-squad matches are to be confirmed." AGENCIES

OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY RUNS THROUGH EMPTY PARK IN OSAKA

Former Olympian Aya Terakawa, participating as an Olympic torch relay runner, waves as she starts carrying the torch during the first day of the Osaka round at a former Expo site in Suita, north of Osaka, western Japan, Tuesday PTI

Hockey player Balbir Singh Junior dead

CHANDIGARH: Balbir Singh Junior, who was a member of the silver medal-winning 1958 Asian Games Indian hockey team, died here at the age of 88, his daughter Mandeep Samra said on Tuesday.

He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.

"My father passed away in sleep on Sunday morning due to heart failure," his daughter said.

His son is settled in Canada and could not attend the last rites of his father because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Born on May 2, 1932, at

Sansarpur in Jalandhar, also known as the nursery of Indian hockey, Balbir Singh Junior had played alongside legends like Balbir Singh Senior, Les-lie Claudius, Prithipal Singh, Balkishan and Charles Stephen among others.

Singh took to hockey when he was six years old. He studied at Lyallpur Khalsa College in Jalandhar and was first selected to play for the Indian hockey team in 1951 during the tour of Afghanistan. He was part of the Punjab state hockey team and also captained Panjab Univer-sity team. AGENCIES

Olympic-bound Priyanka, Asiad champion Johnson test Covid +ve NEW DELHI: Five track-and-field athletes, including Tokyo Olympics-bound 20km race walker Priyanka Goswami, and a member of the sup-port staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Sports Authority of India's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Asian Games 1500m gold-medallist Jinson Johnson and steeplechaser Chinta Yadav are among the five athletes who

have been infected along with race walk coach Alexander Atsybashev.

Another Tokyo Games-bound race walker K T Irfan has returned negative after he was tested as a primary contact of Johnson.

"My test result which came on Monday was positive and I am currently in quarantine in my room. I have fever, not very high, and headache also," John-

son told PTI from Bengaluru."Otherwise, I have no major

problems. I will have another test in three days and I hope to have a negative result. K T Irfan was also tested as he was my primary contact but his result was negative."

A source in the SAI Cen-tre said that Goswami, Yadav and two more athletes were also COVID-19 positive, apart from Johnson. AGENCIES

Bhuvneshwar wins ICC Player of the Month award for exploits against EnglandDUBAI: Experienced India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Tuesday won the ICC Player of the Month award for his superlative show in the limited overs series against England in March.

The 31-year-old Indian took six wickets at an economy rate of 4.65 in the three ODIs, while capturing four wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.38 in the five T20Is to emerge as the standout bowler on either side in the white ball series.

"After what seemed like a really long and painful gap, I was delighted to be playing for India again. I used the time

away to work on my fitness and skill and I am happy to be back taking wickets for my country," Bhuvneshwar said in an ICC release. Bhuvneshwar became the third successive Indian recipient of the award since its inception early this year.

The January honours were claimed by dashing wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant for his exploits in Australia, while veteran off-spinner Ravi-chandran Ashwin won it for the month of February following a stupendous all-round show in the home Test series against England.

"I would like to thank each

and every person who helped me in this journey starting from my family and friends and my teammates. Also, a special thank you to the ICC voting academy and all the fans who voted for me and made me the ICC Men's Player of the Month for March," Bhuvneshwar said.

Besides Bhuvneshwar, ace leg-spinner Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and Zimbabwe's Sean Williams were also nom-inated in the men's category.

Former India batsman VVS Laxman, representing the ICC Voting Academy, said: "Bhuvi missed nearly a year and a half of international cricket through

multiple unrelated injuries, but you'd never have guessed.

"He was outstanding in both the PowerPlay overs and at the death in the white-ball formats against a powerful, aggressive England batting line-up. Economical and pen-etrative, he was instrumental in shaping Indian triumphs in both series." South Afri-can Lizelle Lee, who played four ODIs against India where she scored a century and two half-centuries to move to the top of Women's ODI batting rankings, was named the ICC Women's Player of the Month for March. AGENCIES

‘Fearlessness in modern cricketers

comes with great exposure’

KOLKATA: Former India cap-tain Sourav Ganguly feels that the exposure to various fac-ets of life makes this current generation of cricketers like Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pan-dya, extremely fearless.

The BCCI president said that even before some of them have stepped out on inter-national arena, they look so "ready" to take on the world which comes with exposure.

"I think for the modern day generation exposure has been enormous. It helps them to become fearless, because they realise that things are avail-able at their doorsteps. And if they make an effort and are desperate to succeed, they will be successful. So they're fear-less," India captain said during a conversation with Hero Vired Founder and CEO Akshay Munjal in a YouTube live show titled 'You The Future'.

Ganguly then specifically gave example of Pant and Pandya.

"You look at this current Indian cricket team. The likes of Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pan-dya and some of the young fast bowlers who have come at this level, you just see that when they walk out into the International arena, they're ready.

"They're not just ready skill wise, but they're ready mentally also which is very very impor-tant," Ganguly said.

One of the most success-ful Indian captains, Ganguly, who retired from international cricket in 2008, further said he missed the "7'o clock nervous-ness" moments while getting up for a Test match. AGENCIES

Royal Challengers Bangalore players celebrate during Indian Premier League 2021 match PTI

KKR does harakiri as MI record stunning 10-run win

CHENNAI: Kolkata Knight Riders managed to lose its bearings in an astonishing manner as Mumbai Indians spinners Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya fashioned an improbable 10-run victory in an IPL encounter here on Tuesday.

Chasing a target of 153, KKR were on course reach-ing 122 for 4 in the 15th over before the last five fetched only 20 runs as they stunningly fell short giving defending cham-pions their first win.

Krunal (1/13 in 4 overs) and Chahar (4/27 in 4 overs) were brilliant in checking the run-flow after a 72 run open-ing stand between Nitish Rana (57 off 47 balls) and Shubman Gill (33 off 24 balls).

But it was Jasprit Bum-rah (0/28) and Trent Boult (2/27), who were magnificent at the death keeping Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik under checks in a game that will be talked about for years to come. especially how KKR capitulated.

Required to show some sensible approach, it was hara-kiri of sorts by KKR batting unit as they were restricted to 142/7 to continue their miser-able record with MI. They now have 22 losses against six wins over MI.

Just when KKR needed to play it sensibly with require run-rate under seven, they seemed to commit harakir and lost another in Shakib, this time Krunal Pandya joining in the party for MI.

Krunal bowled an excep-

tional 18th over giving away just three runs, as the duo of Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell struggled to get going before Bumrah applied more pressure in the penultimate over.

Needing 15 from the last

over, it was a tough ask for KKR and Trent Boult dismissed Rus-sell and Pat Cummins in suc-cessive balls to seal the issue.

Earlier, Andre Russell did a star turn coming to bowl in the 18th over as his career-best 5 for 15 helped Kolkata Knight

Riders blow out Mumbai Indi-ans for 152.

Opting to bowl, Eoin Mor-gan's astute captaincy was on full display as he used his resources to perfection to choke MI in the middle-overs after Suryakumar Yadav threat-ened to seize control with his 36-ball 56.

The World Cup-winning England skipper used Pat Cum-mins cleverly in the middle-overs as the Aussie returned with 2/24, but the masterstroke was certainly keeping Russell for the fag end as MI lost last seven wickets for 37 runs.

Russell was brought in only after Cummins finished his spell in the 16th over as the Jamaican used the platform to perfection by dismissing Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bum-rah and Rahul Chahar in the final four balls en route to his milestone.

But it was Shakib-Al-Hasan who deserves equal credit for stopping the run-flow as the Bangladesh left-arm spinner dismissed Suryakumar in the 11th over and changed the complexion of the innings. Suryakumar was in the midst of a belter of an innings, smash-ing two sixes and seven fours to lift them from a sluggish start as MI looked in balance with 81/1 at midway stage. AGENCIES

Chasing a target of 153, KKR were on course reaching 122 for 4 in 15th over before the last 5 fetched only 20 runs as they stunningly fell short

Rahul Chahar of Mumbai Indians celebrates the wicket of Nitesh Rana of Kolkata Knight Riders during Indian Premier League 2021 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, Tuesday PTI

The teaser of Zee5’s upcoming series ‘Sunflower’ came out recently. The Vikas Bahl-created show is touted to

be the story of a middle-class housing soci-ety in Mumbai called ‘Sunflower’.

The show features an ensemble consist-ing of Sunil Grover, Ranvir Shorey, Mukul Chadha, Girish Kulkarni, Shonali Nagrani, Sonal Jha, Radha Bhatt, Ashish Vidyarthi, Saloni Khanna and Ashwin Kaushal.

Vikas has also written the show. Besides him, Rahul Sengupta serves as the show’s director. ‘Zee5’ unveiled the teaser on its ‘Instagram’ page. The video shows a sun-flower blooming as names of all the pri-mary cast members appear on the screen.

“A bittersweet story about to bloom, ‘Sunflower’ is coming soon,” read the cap-tion. Sharing the reason behind the mak-ers’ decision to not divulge anything in the teaser, Sunil Grover said that the team wanted to communicate the mystery in the show.

“It was a conscious decision on the part of the makers to make a teaser, which will not reveal much about

the show but create the right amount of intrigue. Of course, ‘Sunflower’ is full of mystery and we want to com-municate that to the audience and you will know the mystery when you watch the show. The trailer will set the premise for it very soon,” said the ‘Tandav’ star.

He added, “I am grateful and excited to be part of such a fresh genre and script created by Vikas Bahl. This genre has been attempted before. So, I am excited and can say for sure that ‘Sunflower’ will surely blow your minds.” AGENCIES

Veteran actor Kabir Bedi, who was in a relationship with late actor Parveen Babi, wrote

about their love affair and her tragic death in his book. According to him, she was suffering from mental health issues and was not ready to accept

his help.Talking about her tragic demise, he

revealed, “Parveen’s body was found in her apartment four days after she died. Parveen’s death was a lonely and tragic end of a star who had once been the fan-

tasy of millions.”“Three men who had known and

loved her - Mahesh, Danny and me - came to her funeral at the Muslim cem-etery in the city. They carried her body with relatives to a dimly lit grave,” he added.

According to him, each of them had known her in ways not many knew. Each of them had loved her as only each

one knew.Kabir Bedi, who was in an open rela-

tionship with his wife Protima Gupta, parted ways with her after he fell in love with Parveen Babi.

Parveen died in 2005 after suffer-ing multiple organ failures. She had films like ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Shaan’, ‘Deewar’ and many others to her credit. AGENCIES

‘Parveen’s death was a tragic end of a star’

‘Sunflower’ will surely blow your minds: SunilThe comedian-actor is extremely excited for Vikas Bahl’s upcoming web show

The show features an ensemble consisting of Sunil Grover, Ranvir Shorey, Mukul Chadha, Girish Kulkarni among many others Kabir Bedi revealed that

3 men who had known and loved her came to her funeral at the cemetery

12 millenniumpostEntertainmentmpWEDNESDAY, 14 APRIL, 2021 | KOLKATA

LOS ANGELES: ‘Powers’ star Sharlto Copley came on board for the upcom-ing second season of Netflix’s hit series ‘Russian Doll’.

According to ‘Deadline’, the Hol-lywood actor is the latest addition to the star-studded cast of season two that also features Annie Murphy and Carolyn Michelle Smith.

The series stars Natasha Lyonne as a New York woman (Nadia) who gets caught in an endless loop of attending her birthday party only to die and repeat the night over and over again.

Details about the sophomore

season’s storyline and character descrip-tions are still being kept under wraps.

Russian Doll’s season one was cre-ated and execu-tive produced by Lyonne alongside Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland. It had dropped on the

streaming platform in 2019 and was soon renewed for a season two. The show was also nomi-nated for 13 ‘Emmy Awards’ for its first season and won three.

‘Russian Doll’ is produced by ‘Universal Television’, Poehler’s ‘Paper Kite Productions’ ban-ner, ‘JAX Media’ and ‘3 Arts Entertain-ment’. PTI

Sharlto joins the cast of ‘Russian Doll’ S2

Chopra and Nick Jonas dressed up for BAFTAs are giving netizens major style goals

Priyanka

MUMBAI: Bollywood actors Akshaye Khanna and Raveena Tandon will play the role of rivals in Vijay Gutte’s upcoming drama series ‘Legacy’.

Both were previously a part of the ensemble in JP Dutta’s 2003 war drama ‘LOC: Kargil’.

The ‘Ittefaq’ star said that he was thrilled to come on board the series as it aims to pro-vide quality entertain-ment to the audience.

“It is refreshing to work on the content that challenges our bound-aries as an industry as a whole. Given the mas-sive scale of the show, we are cognizant of the immense responsibility to deliver our best to create a content piece the audience looks forward to. I’m glad ‘Legacy’ is going to be my first web series,” Khanna said.

According to the makers, the show will be mounted on a big scale with the team intending to shoot it across multiple foreign

locations.Tandon said

that the series presents an ‘inter-esting tale of power strug-gle’ with an engaging drama at the backdrop.

“It is a fine work of content artic-ulated interest-ingly to resonate with a global audi-ence. I am excited to be associated with the show and looking forward to the begin-ning of this journey,” she shared.

The director called ‘Legacy’ an inspira-tional project which would reflect the ‘dark realities of the professional world’.

“I am thrilled to be reuniting with Akshaye for this and exhilarated to have Raveena Tandon on board with us. This talent powerhouse is set for an epic rivalry,” he added. PTI

Both were previously a part of the ensemble in JP Dutta’s 2003 war drama ‘LOC: Kargil’

Akshaye, Raveena to share screen space in ‘Legacy’

Hank Azaria said that his character of Apu Nahasapeemapeti-

lon on the popular sitcom ‘The Simpsons’ is ‘practi-cally a slur’ and he feels apologetic for endorsing racial stereotypes through

the role.The long-running ani-

mated sitcom had Azaria lend-ing voice to the Indian character,

which has drawn criticism over the last few years owing to its racially ste-reotypical behaviour, combined with the fact that it was voiced by a Cau-casian actor, according to ‘The Hol-lywood Reporter’.

The American actor, who quit the show in 2020 saying he did not feel right playing the part, talked about it on a recent podcast with actor Dax Shepard the lessons he learned from starring on the show.

Hank stated that he took several seminars and even spoke to Indi-ans to understand why the charac-ter was problematic, before deciding to quit ‘The Simpsons’. During one such interaction with a 17-year-old Indian, Azaria said that though the teenager had not ever watched the

show, he understood what Apu stood for.

The actor revealed that the boy, ‘with tears in his eyes’ asked him to tell Hol-lywood writers that what they do has consequences on people’s lives. Azaria told him he would deliver the mes-sage. He further said that it was important for him to apologise to Indians for reinforcing prob-lematic tropes through his art.

“I do apologise. It is important. I apologise for my part in creating and participating in that. Part of me feels like I need to go to every single Indian person in this country and personally apologise. And sometimes I do,” he confessed. Azaria also said that he was a big champion of people voicing characters of colour in writ-ers’ rooms. AGENCIES

Voicing Apu makes Hank feel sorryHank’s role in ‘The Simpsons’ endorsed racial stereotypes