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MONEY 8FPIS INVEST RS 54K CR

IN INDIAN EQUITIES IN DEC

ANALYSIS 7GROWING

A BETTER FUTURE

SPORTS 12GILL, KL, PANT GET

READY FOR BOXING DAY

VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY DECEMBER 21, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

*Late City Vol. 3 Issue 41*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

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OBTUSE ANGLE

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Polavaram Project Authority(PPA) CEO Dr JChandrasekhar Ayyar onSunday visited the project siteand exuded confidence that theprestigious multipurpose pro-ject will be completed as perschedule.

He inspected the ongoingworks ahead of the crucialphase of installing first radialgate of the irrigation project.

His visit assumes signifi-cance as Union Jal ShaktiMinister Gajendra SinghShekhawat is expected to visit

Polavaram anytime during thismonth or January.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy too visitedthe Polavaram site a few daysago to inspect the ongoing

works. Speaking to reporters, DrAyyar said that the works havebeen going on in full swing andexpressed satisfaction.

Stating that the officials con-cerned were working round-

the-clock, he was confidentthat the works would be com-pleted as per schedule.

Dr Ayyar had also visited thecofferdam and fish ladder sites.The irrigation chief engineer BSudhakar and the representa-tive of the contracting firm,Megha Engineering &Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL), hadexplained the ongoing works tothe PPA CEO. They said thatthey have already started fixingarm girders before fixing theradial gates. The first radialgate will be fixed on Monday.

PPA CEO confident ofPolavaram completion

PNS n HYDERABAD

Going beyond state lines,Telangana State ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao on Sunday called UppalaPrasada Rao, a farmer fromGhantasala Mandal in AP’sKrishna District, for insight-ful tips on ‘Veda’ farming,which gives primacy toorganic methods.

KCR phoned the progres-sive farmer to know moreabout his unique cultivationmethods and techniques withfocus on organic farming.

Prasada Rao is into agri-culture and, over the lastfour decades, has branchedinto dairy and allied sectorsas well. KCR invited him toTelangana to share his expe-riences in agriculture overlunch.

Prasada Rao has been cul-tivating (sannalu) fine qual-ity paddy in 35 acres throughorganic methods. He toldKCR that the yield was 40 to45 bags per acre. KCR want-ed Prasada Rao to look intoagricultural practices inTelangana State. Prasada Raotold the media that KCRspoke to him for about 10minutes, enquiring about theyield, costs and other detailsof organic paddy cultivation.

KCR calls AP farmer fortips on ‘Veda' farming

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSRCP Ongole MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy hasbeen tested positive for theCoronavirus. As the MPdeveloped symptoms ofCovid-19, he underwentmedical test and was test-ed positive. He was rushedto Chennai Apollo hospitalfor treatment and his con-dition was said to be stable,according to informationdisclosed by the MP'soffice. Till now, severalMPs, MLAs and otherswere tested positive for thedeadly virus. However, theyhave recovered after under-going treatment.

Ongole MP testspositive for Covid

PNS n TIRUPATI

Seer of Sarada Peetham SwamiSwaroopananda has expressedhis opinion that TirumalaTirupati Devasthanam's pro-posal to celebrate VaikuntaEkadasi for 10 days fromDecember 25 "is against theVaikhanasa Agama traditions".He has advised TTD to cele-brate the event just for one day-- on December 25 as per tra-ditions.

Responding to a letteraddressed to Seers by JEO ofTTD Dharma Reddy, SwamiSwaroopananda, who is con-sidered 'pro-Jagan govern-ment', said that proposed 10-day "Vaikunta Pradakshina"

would go against VaikhanasaAgama Traditions. SwamiSwaroopananda, the firstamong the Seers to respond,wondered how TTD couldcontemplate such move, whichis unprecedented in Tirupati.

Swaroopananda says noto TTD 10 day VaikunthaEkadasi proposal

Pensionerscan submit lifecertificates till Feb 28PNS n NEW DELHI

In a major relief to centralgovernment pensioners amidthe COVID-19 pandemic,the date for submission of lifecertificate has been extendedup to February 28 next year,Union Minister JitendraSingh said on Sunday.

"This decision has beentaken considering all the sen-sitivities to avoid pandemicrisk emanating from gather-ing of crowds at the pensiondisbursing banks," said Singh,the Minister of State forPersonnel.

In addition to this, he said,the pensioners above the ageof 80 years were given anexclusive window fromOctober 1 onward to submittheir life certificate so as toavoid rush likely to happenfrom the opening date ofNovember 1. Singh said thatwhile the annual life certifi-cate is mandatory for the con-tinuation of pension, theDepartment of Pension andPensioners' Welfare(DoPPW) recently took aninnovative decision to rope inIndian Post Payments Bank(IPPB) to facilitate digitallife certificate (DLC).

Relief for AP, TS as Centreallows extra borrowingPNS n NEW DELHI

The Finance Ministry onSunday said five states,including Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Telangana,have been permitted to bor-row an additional Rs 16,728crore following completion ofstipulated reforms for 'Ease ofDoing Business'.

Karnataka and MadhyaPradesh are the other stateswhich have been permitted toborrow the extra amount.

The government had in

May decided to link grant ofadditional borrowing per-mission to states with reformsundertaken by them to facil-itate ease of doing business.

Covid negativecertificatemandatory forSabarimalaPNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Devotees visiting the hillshrine of Lord Ayyappa atSabarimala must carry aCOVID- 19 negative certifi-cate after undergoing an RT-PCR test, the TravancoreDevaswom Board (TDB)which manages the templesaid on Sunday.

PPA CEO Dr J Chandrasekhar Ayyar inspecting Polavaram works on Sunday

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02MONDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2020

Monday MirchiAdvice to a headless

department

A headless department is bound to drift. Still,one fails to understand how the TS RevenueDepartment, rescued from the choppingblock, with employees' associations pledgingbefore CM to work hard to rid it of its nega-tive image, continues to falter in implement-ing decision after decision. Presently, given thechaotic turn in the process officially called'reforms' in land registrations, everyone in theTS government is looking at the ChiefSecretary as the architect of the messy situa-tion. Launch of Dharani portal, suspension ofland registrations, categorization of registra-tions into agriculture and non-agricultureassets, and the ban on some categories of reg-istrations, among other changes, have led toan upheaval in the Revenue Department,resulting in huge losses to real estate sector.Now everyone is asking one question: Whohas given the advice to the Chief Minister tostop the registrations? The state governmentis on the back foot because of this single moveand the worst part is that the authorities,weighed down by High Court orders, are nowclueless about ways to move forward. The HCpassed some serious comments, forcing thegovernment to go back to old CARD modeof registrations. The Revenue Department inTelangana has never had a full-fledged bossdue to various reasons and is deemed to beunder personal supervision of the ChiefMinister. After Somesh Kumar became theChief Secretary, the department has beenlargely under his control. The changes con-templated in the department, ostensiblyaimed at increasing transparency and revenuecollection, could not materialize. What hurtswell-meaning circles is that the halt in regis-trations has dented the image of the KCR gov-ernment, with cash-rich real estate business-men joining hands with BJP party. The topguns in the government are now trying to findout who is the 'culprit' behind the abortivereform.

All eyes on StephenRavindra

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy has had the lost laugh inbringing senior IAS officer Y Srilakshmi toAndhra Pradesh. Despite hurdles placed bythe PMO and the Union Department ofPersonnel and Training, Jagan's relentlessefforts and follow-up steps taken by the DelhiResident Commissioner's office have provedfruitful. Now all eyes are on senior IPS offi-cer Stephen Ravindra who is awaiting permis-sion to move to Andhra from Telangana State.A little bird told us that the Telangana gov-ernment has agreed in principle to relieveStephen and all that is now needed is concur-rence of the Union Ministry of Home Affairson the transfer. If that happens, Jagan will befirst CM in the country to get three favourabledecisions endorsed by PMO: Six-monthextension to Neelan Sawhney, cadre changeof IAS officer Srilakshmi, and now transfer ofIPS officer Stephen Ravindra. All of this is aslap on the face of people spreading canardsover the 'deteriorating' Centre-State relations,with Jagan having its way with both PM Modi

and HM Minister Amit Shah.

Happy ending after startlingstart

Occupying a high seat from which theincumbent has been thrown out requires ahigh level of courage and delivering the goodsagainst odds supreme confidence. Thisexplains why more than Chief Secretary NilamSawhney, who is set to retire this month-end,several senior officials are happy. Sawhneyis of course happy because, as the top boss ofthe administration and the first woman CS ofthe reorganised state, she has ensured a 'happyending'. In the undivided Andhra Pradesh too,only two women IAS officials, Sathi Nair andMinnie Mathew, made it to the top post. Theunceremonious exit of then Chief SecretaryL V Subramanyam from the CMO had left aquestion mark on Jagan's behaviour towardssenior bureaucrats. Media went hammerand tongs at Jagan's 'imperial' ways. NilamSawhney successfully completed her stint ofmore than a year without any differences withthe Chief Minister. She had also got six-monthextensions twice. This is now grist to the millof those working overtime to spread the wordthat Jagan, contrary to the image created bymedia and his detractors, is amiable, acces-sible and supportive of bureaucrats who arewilling to work with commitment and sin-cerity, but without the 'I-know-it-all' attitude.Jagan's decision to reward Nilam Sawhney byappointing her as an advisor of the govern-ment, with a cabinet rank, has enthused dis-believing babus.

Smita brand ambassador of Mission Bhagiratha!

Mission Bhagiratha, which seeks to providepiped purified water to every household inTelangana, may be the brainchild of ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao, but it is CMOsecretary Smita Sabharwal who is virtuallystealing his thunder by creating a 'brand'image for Mission Bhagiratha water across thestate. Smita handles MB in the CMO. Such hasbeen her commitment to MB that she rarelymisses an opportunity to create awarenessamong people about the need to drink onlyMB water and rates it on par with any of thebranded mineral water available in the mar-ket. Her tweets on the quality of MB waterhave earned her the sobriquet of being its'brand ambassador'. To lay it on thick, Smitahas of late been promoting consumption ofonly MB water in official meetings. The waterbottles supplied at these meetings, be it inHyderabad or elsewhere, have 'MissionBhagiratha' stickers on them. Left with nochoice, officials too vouch for its quality. Thephotos and videos of these meetings are goingviral on social media platforms. Now some ofthe officials have started pulling her leg, say-ing: "It is time to introduce 'MissionBhagiratha mineral water bottles' in themarket". Poor Smita Sabharwal, in all humil-ity, made it clear that there are no plans tocommercialise MB water. Uncorking herbottled emotions, she says: "My idea is onlyto create awareness among all to consume onlyMission Bhagiratha water".

HC UPADHYAY nHYDERABAD

Following in the footsteps ofAIMIM leader AsaduddinOwaisi who had torn off a

copy of the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) inParliament last year, the ChiefMinister of Delhi, ArvindKejriwal too, enacted the samedrama on December 17 whiletearing off copies of three enact-ments passed by Parliament forthe welfare of farmers.

After the abhorrent act ofOwaisi, large-scale prolongeddemonstrations, followed bycommunal violence, had erupt-ed in Delhi. However, it stillremains to be seen what will bethe fall-out of Kejriwal's act.Clearly such tantrums of peopleoccupying Constitutional posi-tions send out a definite messageto their followers. And conse-quently if the protest turns vio-lent, prima facie these politicalleaders must be held responsibleand tried as the main accused inthe courts.

The central governmentseems to have been caughtbetween the devil and the deepsea. On the one hand, it has a

Constitutional duty to maintainlaw and order and protectlife and property of peoplein general; and on theother, it has to take careof the ruling party'spolitical interests.Happily, in theongoing protestsostensibly by thefarmers, theApex Court hastaken the leadto resolve the mat-ter impartially andamicably, unlikein the case of theShaheen Baghdemonstrations when it hadobviously taken a long time tointervene.

Undoubtedly, as the SupremeCourt has said, in the scheme ofour Constitution every citizenhas a right to protest and expressdissent, but all this should bedone in a peaceful manner. TheApex Court has also rightlyreminded the agitators that while

staging the protest, they shouldalso keep in mind that otherpeople too, have a right tolive peacefully without any

hindrance. Unfortunately, the

organisers of agita-tions hardlyshow any con-

cern about other non-agitating people which

eventually leads to frus-tration in the minds of the

vast majority of non-agitatingpeople. Such a volatile situationoften ends up in violent clash-es and loss of property and pre-cious human life. The soft-ped-

aling of the explosive situation bythe administration, obviously atthe behest of political bosses,results in chaos and ultimatelybreakdown of the constitution-al machinery.

The makers of ourConstitution had already antic-ipated such situations. Therefore,in Article 355 they incorporat-ed a duty of the Union govern-

ment "to protect every Stateagainst external aggression andinternal disturbance" and in thenext Article 356 provided thesolution to deal with such situ-ations. Again, the VII Scheduleto the Constitution has given acomplete list of the subjectswhich shall be exclusively in theUnion's domain. The subjects,inter alia, include preventivedetention to ensure the securityof India (Sl.No. 9), citizenship,naturalization and aliens(Sl.No.17), extradition (Sl.No.18)and admission into, and immi-gration and expulsion from India(Sl.No.19). Further, Sl.No.93specifically empowers the Union(meaning, the central govern-ment) to deal with all theoffences against laws with respectto any of the matters in theUnion List besides residual pow-ers under Sl.No. 97.

In short, while tearing off thecopies of statutes enacted by thelegislature is undoubtedly anact of insulting the democratic

institutions and thereby the peo-ple of the country, abdication ofits Constitutional duty is equal-ly the offence of dereliction ofduty by the central governmentcast upon it by the Constitutionof India. And the people willnever pardon either of them.

Let the Apex Court and thePresident of India take seriousnote of the fact that people arefed up with frequently stagedtamashas resulting in large-scaleviolence and loss of property andauthorities playing fiddle likeNero when Rome was burning.Therefore, it is high time theguilty were dealt with iron handand due alacrity.

SC: Don't spare violatorsof Covid-19 safety norms

The Supreme Court onDecember 18 came down heav-ily on violators of safety norms,called the Standard OperatingProcedures (SOP) and insistedon their strict implementation.

A slew of guidelines has been

issued by a bench comprisingJustice Ashok Bhushan, JusticeSubhash Reddy and Justice M.RShah, which, if followed in let-ter and spirit, could save manylives. The court observed thatsafety and health of the citizenswas more important than any-thing else and directed theauthorities to ensure strict adher-ence to the SOP by all people,irrespective of their status.

Allahabad HC dishes out agood verdict for cooks

At last, some sweet news forthe cooks appointed under mid-day meal scheme in governmentand semi- government schools.

Terming the payment of mea-gre Rs.1,000/- pm for a period of14 years as forced labour, JusticePankaj Bhatia of the AllahabadHigh Court held that it attractsArticle 23 of the Constitution.

In a landmark judgment, inChandrawati vs. State of UttarPradesh and 6 others, the HighCourt on December 15 directed

the respondents to enforce theMinimum Wages Act for thecooks employed in the govern-ment and semi-governmentschools under the mid-day mealscheme. The court also directedpayment of arrears for full 14years within four months.

Hopefully, the judgment willalso apply to the similarity placedother categories of workers cov-ered by the Minimum WagesAct.

Delhi HC on false promiseof marriage

In a verdict of far-reachingconsequences, Justice VibhuBakhru of the Delhi High Courthas held that repeated sexualcontact for a long period of timeeven after realising that the manhad made a false promise of mar-riage, does not amount to rape.

Dismissing an appeal filed byX against the State (Govt.ofDelhi) & Others, the Courtobserved that such a relationshipcould be termed as consensual

sex and does not fit in the defi-nition of rape. Further, in thisparticular case, there was aninordinate delay of 640 days.Considering these two factors,the court dismissed the appeal.

The judgment indeed comesto the rescue of several men whohave been hauled up in false lit-igations by their female partnersdue to a variety of factors. Thehistoric 'Me Too' had witnessedsome flimsy allegations of rapemade after 30-40 years of thealleged incident. More oftenthe allegations of rape and cheat-ing through false promise ofmarriage are made to leveragesome other matters or just toextort money from the malepartner.

Now that the present govern-ment has taken up massive over-haul of civil and criminal laws,it can be expected that stringentpunishment shall be provided formaking baseless and defamato-ry allegations so that tendency tofile false cases is curtailed.

LEGAL ROUNDUP

TEARING OFF COPIES OF LAWS, AN INSULT TO THE NATION!

Despite growing tensionbetween pro- and anti-jihadi countries, the

mood in the markets has cer-tainly turned festive asChristmas is round the corner.The introduction of Covid-19vaccine in the USA, Russia,Britain and other countries hasbeen welcomed by people gen-erally though some govern-ments have adopted the go-slow policy in this matter.

Consequently, New Yorkgold closed at US $ 1,881. 00(per ounce) while silver closedat $ 25.74 (per ounce).Platinum and palladium appre-ciated and closed at $ 1032.00(per ounce) and $ 2,244.00 (perounce) respectively.

Other economic parame-ters remained moderate. Brentclosed at US$ 52.26 (per bar-

rel) while Crude MCX oil wasquoted at Rs 3, 619 (per bar-rel). While Gold MCX stood atRs.50,297 (per 10 gms), MCXSilver closed at Rs.67,916 (perkg). Copper MCX closed atRs.616. 90 (per kg). Sensex andNifty 50 closed at the higherlevels of 46,960.69 and 13,760.50 points respectively.Leading foreign currencies'exchange rates were, US $:Rs.73.61, British Pound:Rs.99.54, Euro: Rs.90.22,Singapore $: Rs.55.39, SwissFranc: Rs.83.33, Australian $:Rs.56.11, Saudi Riyal: Rs.19.62,New Zealand Dollar: Rs.52.54,Kuwaiti Dinar: Rs.242.02,Omani Rial: Rs.191.19 andUAE Dirham: Rs.20.04,Japanese Yen: Rs.0.71 andHong Kong Dollar: Rs.9.49.

In local markets, standard

gold (24 carats) appreciated byRs.880 and closed atRs.51,060 (per 10 gms).Ornamental gold too,followed suit andwas quoted in therange ofRs.46,720 -46,810 on theclosing day.S i l v e r( 0 . 9 9 9 )remaineds t e a d ya n dclosed at Rs.71,000(per kg).COMMODITIES

The sentiment in principalwholesale commodity mar-kets in the twin cities remainedmoderate. Rythu Bazars andthe various commodity mar-kets located in Begum Bazar,Kishangunj, Mukthyargunj,

Risala Abdullah, Mir AlamMandi, Dilsukhnagar,Kukatpally, Bowenpally andGeneral Bazar recorded mod-

erate trading.During the week,

common pulses such astuar dal, masoor dal,

moong dal and uraddal and commodi-ties like chillies and

garlic remainedunchanged attheir respectivelast week's clos-

ing levels. Staple food-grainsand common edible recordeda marginal appreciation follow-ing fears of disruption in thesupply chains of rice and wheatfrom Punjab and Haryana dueto the ongoing farmers' agita-tion. However, there is nolikelihood of a spurt in prices

as traders have ample stocks tomeet regular demand for wheatand rice. Besides, these foodgrains could be easily sourcedfrom Madhya Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Rajasthan, Gujarat andMaharashtra, where the impactof farmers' agitation is negligi-ble.

Common vegetables such ascabbage, cauliflower, ribbedgourd, snake gourd, lady's fin-ger, cucumber, potatoes,onions, tomatoes, Frenchbeans as well as leafy vegetablesremained unchanged.

The NECC wholesale egg-price in Hyderabad appreciat-ed by Rs.27 and closed atRs.478 (per 100). The highestprice of Rs.550 was recorded atVaranasi while, Raipur record-ed the lowest of Rs.470.

Gold appreciates amid festive mood in markets

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 19, 2020 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Margashirsha & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Saptami: 04:16 pm

Nakshatram: Purva Bhadrapada: 11:03 pm

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 08:07 am – 09:29 am

Yamagandam: 10:52 am – 12:14 pm

Varjyam: NIL

Gulika: 01:36 pm - 02:58 pm

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 02:22 pm – 04:06 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:52 am – 12:36 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 31/16Humidity: 57%Sunrise: 06:41 amSunset: 05:47 pm

Continued from Page 1

IPPB, he informed, is nowhelping collect the digital lifecertificate from houses ofpensioners through 1.89 lakhpostmen and gramin daksewaks.

"This has come as a greatcomfort to pensioners, espe-cially those residing in ruralareas," the minister said.

The Department ofPension and Pensioners'Welfare has also started acampaign to extend supportto the aged or infirmed pen-sioners in submission of lifecertificate digitally fromhome, he said.

"Other modes of submit-ting the life certificate fromhome such as by attachingbiometric device to a person-al computer or mobile arealso in operation, Singh said.

He said the department alsonoted certain inconveniencesbeing experienced by seniorcitizens on account of chang-ing biometrics due to age.

Pensionerscan submit lifecertificates till Feb 28

Continued from Page 1

Dr Ayyar visited up and downstreams of the cofferdam andinspected the dewatering spillchannel and right bank of thespill channel. He discussedwith the officials about theprogress of ECRF dam gap-Iand excavation of rock muckat the power plant. Dr Ayyarsaid that he would go throughall key components of theproject, including the imple-mentation of R&R package onMonday. The CEO is expect-

ed to visit the project-affectedvillages in East and WestGodavari districts in the nextfew days. He will interact withthe villagers and the projectoustees on the implementationof the R & R package.

PPA members D DaneshKumar and K Lalitha Kumariaccompanied Dr Ayyar. Hewill conduct a high-levelreview meeting with the pro-ject officials before he windsup his four-day visit toPolavaram.

PPA CEO confident ofPolavaram completion

Continued from Page 1

TDB President N Vasu saidthe RT-PCR test certificate,taken not more than 48 hoursprior to their visit to the tem-ple, is must for pilgrims fromDecember 26.

"COVID-19-negative cer-tificate after a RT-PCR test,taken not more than 48 hoursprior to their visit to the tem-ple, is a must for the pilgrimsto visit the shrine. Else theywill not be permitted to under-take the pilgrimage," Vasusaid in a release.

The decisionwas taken inthe backdrop of a recent direc-tive by the Kerala High Court,which also raised the number

of pilgrims permissible daily to5,000.

The temple will remainclosed after the Mandala Pujaon December 26 and reopenfor the Makaravilakku poojaon December 31.

Except the Regional PublicHealth Laboratory atKozhencherry, all other RT-PCR testing units in the dis-trict are in the private sector.

The TDB authorities havelimited to 100 the number ofpeople taking part in thethree-day procession carryingthe Thiruvabharanam to beadorned on the idol of LordAyyappa during theMakaravilakku ceremony.s

Continued from Page 1

The reforms stipulated in thecategory include completion offirst assessment of 'District LevelBusiness Reform Action Plan'.

Besides, elimination ofrequirements of renewal ofregistration certificates/approvals/licences obtained bybusinesses for various activi-ties, at least under certain Actsspecified by the Centre, wasalso part of the reforms.

"5 states have so far complet-

ed the stipulated reforms in theEase of Doing Business. Thesestates have been granted per-mission to mobilise addition-al financial resources to thetune of Rs 16,728 crorethrough open market borrow-ings," the Ministry said in astatement.

To meet the extra fundrequirements of states onaccount of Covid-19 pandemic,the Centre had in May decidedto raise the borrowing limit ofthe states by 2 per cent of their

Gross State Domestic Product(GSDP), over and above the 3per cent limit set under theFiscal Responsibility and BudgetManagement (FRBM) Act.

However, states wererequired to complete four spe-cific reforms — implementa-tion of 'One Nation, OneRation Card' system, ease ofdoing business reforms, urbanlocal body/utility reforms andpower sector reforms — byFebruary 15, 2020 to get thebenefits. Such states would get

the facility of additional bor-rowing equivalent to 0.25 percent of their GSDP for com-pleting each reform. Under thisfacility, additional borrowing ofup to Rs 2.14 lakh crore isavailable to the states on com-pletion of all the four reforms.

"So far 10 states have imple-mented the One Nation OneRation Card system, 5 stateshave done Ease of DoingBusiness reforms, and 2 stateshave done local body reforms,"the Ministry added.

Relief for AP, TS as Centre allows extra borrowing

Continued from Page 1

In Srirangam, which fol-lows Pancharatra Agama tra-ditions, the festival is celebrat-ed for 10 days, he observed.In Tirumala, there is nonorthern doorway. Was therea northern doorway inTirumala and how TTDwould arrange darshan andpradhakshina for 10 daysthrough its doorway, SwamiSwaroopananda sought toknow.

Swaroopanandasays no...

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Institute of RuralManagement Anand, one ofthe country’s premier institu-tions in management educa-tion, is setting up its secondcampus at Pulivendula inKadapa district of AndhraPradesh.

The objective of IRMA-APis to take up capacity buildingof rural youth, with specialfocus on rural women empow-erment, as the state govern-ment decided to revive and

strengthen the cooperativedairy sector by creating anenabling environment, a seniorofficial involved with the pro-ject said.

IRMA-AP will offer certifi-cate courses in the first year ofits establishment and diplomacourses from the next yearonwards.

The first year certificatecourses will be launched inMay-June 2021.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy will lay thefoundation stone for the

IRMA-AP campus in hishometown on December 24.

IRMA-AP will come up onthe premises of AP Centre forAdvanced Research onLivestock (APCARL) inPulivendula.

The state government willspend Rs 83.59 crore toimprove the facilities atAPCARL and raise the build-ings required to accommo-date IRMA-AP, a senior officialsaid.

He told PTI that IRMAoffered mentoring support to

IRMA- AP and assistance incurriculum development,besides providing support infaculty recruitment and train-ing.

"Importantly, IRMA will col-laborate with us in researchprojects in addition to teach-ing and training," he added.

Varghese Kurien, consid-ered the Father of the WhiteRevolution, founded IRMA atAnand in Gujarat and hadaspired to have three more ofits campuses in different cor-ners of the country.

IRMA to set up its secondcampus at Pulivendula

Covid negative certificatemandatory for Sabarimala

Ongole MPtests positivefor CovidContinued from Page 1

According to the healthbulletin released by the gov-ernment of Andhra Pradesh,438 new positive cases werereported in the State in thelast 24 hours, while the testswere conducted for 64,236samples.

As many as 589 personsrecovered completely fromthe illness , while two personssuccumbed to the deadlyCoronavirus, one each fromChittoor and Nellore dis-tricts.

VIJAYAWADA: AP reported438 fresh coronavirus cases,589 recoveries and twodeaths in 24 hours ending 9AM on Sunday. The state'sCovid-19 chart nowshowed 8,78,723 total posi-tives, 8,67,445 recoveriesand 7,076 deaths.

The latest bulletin said thenumber of active cases nowcame down to 4,202. So far,1.12 crore sample tests werecompleted at the rate of 2.10lakh per million populationthat turned out an overallinfection positivity rate of7.80 per cent.

AP logs 438new cases,two deaths

03MONDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2020

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a significant development,the Bureau of Energy Efficiencyof Government of India hascome forward to offer worldclass 'Indo-Swiss energy effi-cient building technology'under Building EnergyEfficiency Project (BEEP) forthe AP's massive welfare pro-gramme 'Navaratnalu-Pedalandariki Illu'.

The BEE has also givenassurance to impart training onthe Indo-Swiss energy effi-ciency building technology tothe engineers and other staffwho will work in the massivehousing programme.

Under this programme,innovative Indo-Swiss energyefficient and thermally com-

fortable (EETC) technologybuilding designs would beincorporated in the houses.

The EETC technology isaffordable and helps to reducetemperature by not less than 2to 4 degrees inside the houseswhen compared to the outsidetemperature. It also ensuresminimum 20 per cent electric-ity savings, safe and healthierenvironment in the houses.This will be a great boon forcost-effective housing for lowincome groups.

Addressing a webinar withenergy and housing depart-ments of AP, organised by BEEin coordination with APSECMon the occasion of nationalenergy conservation week, BEEdirector Saurab Diddi hasoffered technical support for

implementing energy efficien-cy in the housing programmeunder Indo-Swiss BEEP.

Secretary for Housing AjayJain said that the State govern-ment would launch housingprogramme on December 25for constructing 28.30 lakhhouses in two phases to eligi-ble beneficiaries. The govern-ment has issued orders sanc-tioning Rs 1.80 lakh per unit

(each house). Under first phase,more than 15 lakh houseswould be taken up- 9.80 lakhhouses in UDAs and 5.30 lakhhouses in urban local bodies.

The government hasapproved a unique dwellingplan that is consisting onebedroom, living room, kitchen,bath-cum-toilet and verandah.Chief Minister Y SJaganmohan Reddy wants to

ensure adequate decent accom-modation providing basicamenities creating best livingenvironment and providingsocio-economic improvementin quality of life, said Ajay Jain.

In view of this, the govern-ment has decided to incorpo-rate energy efficient thermallycomfortable designs in thehouses. With the support ofBEE, the Indo-Swiss agencyhad already approached APgovernment to discuss aboutthe project.

Ajay Jain said that the Stategovernment had agreed toimplement building energyefficiency project in AP withthe support of BEE and SwissConfederation and the assis-tance of APSECM in econom-ically housing programme.

"Chief Minister Y SJaganmohan Reddy is verykeen on incorporating bestenergy efficiency technologiesin housing project that will pro-vide the best residential facili-ty and improve living standardsof poor. The houses would beincorporated energy efficientdesign strategies and thus com-plying with the Eco-NiwasSamhita 2018 (ECBC-Residential) code under BEEP,"Ajay Jain said.

The ECBE-R will ensure ade-quate natural ventilation,reduced electricity consumptionby minimum 20 per cent ofelectricity bills without compris-ing comfort, improve thermalcomfort (cooling), daylightingand provide safe and healthierenvironment in buildings.

Govt to incorporate EETC technology in housing scheme

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh state govern-ment recovered huge tracts ofland, near Ruhikonda inVisakhapatnam, which werereportedly encroached bysenior TDP leadersVisakhapatnam North MLAVelagapudi RamakrishnaPrasad and former MLA PeelaGovinda Satyanarayana.

As per reports, on Sundaymorning, revenue officialsdescended on the land, whichwas occupied by RamakrishnaPrasad, and installed boardsdeclaring that the landbelonged to the government ofAndhra Pradesh.

The revenue authorities alsoreclaimed 60 acres of barrenland in the morning hours,which was allegedly occupiedby former Anakapalli MLAPeela Govind. The lands fallingunder Survey No 156 of BD-Palem village inAnandapuram mandal nearVisakhapatnam are said to beworth around Rs 300 crore.

In October, Visakhapatnamrevenue officials, in the pres-ence of police personnel,demolished a compound wallfacing the beach road and themain gate of the campus of theGITAM to free 40 acres ofencroached land by theUniversity.

Earlier, revenue divisionalofficer P Kishore and his teamconducted an inquiry andreportedly found that theGITAM campus hadencroached 40.51 acres landunder various survey numbersat Rushikonda and Yendada inVisakhapatnam city followingwhich demolition of the com-pound wall was taken up.

Similarly, the special investi-gation team (SIT) formed in2019 to probe the alleged landscam involving 400 acres of landin Madhurawada and Kommadiareas in Visakhapatnam duringthe TDP regime has completedits investigation.

Govt recovers lands allegedlyencroached by TDP leaders

Swiss technology will helpreduce temperature andsave energy consumptionin the houses to be builtunder NavaratnaluNavaratnalu- Pedalandariki Illu scheme

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP AP state president KAtchannaidu on Sundayaccused the YSRCP governmentof levelling baseless allegationsagainst the TDP leaders with anulterior motive to cover up theland grabbing cases of rulingparty leaders in Visakhapatnamand its surrounding areas in thepast 18 months. Atchannaidusaid that the YSRCP leaderswere indulging in mudslingingon TDP MLA VelagapudiRamakrishna and former MLAPeela Govind out of politicalvengeance. The TDP leaderasked the government to giveproof of the lands grabbed bythe Opposition leaders. "TheRushikonda land was bought by

a person 50 years ago and itchanged hands twice later.Velagapudi Ramakrishna boughtthe land over 20 years ago andwhen a dispute arouse, thematter was taken to the court.There was a court decreestipulating that nobody shouldinterference in that land.Despite the court decree, theYSRCP government was

interfering in the issue," he said.Atchannaidu said that theYSRCP launched a viciouspropaganda against PeelaGovind as well with regard tothe alleged encroachment of thegovernment lands at BD Palemin Anandapuram mandal. TheYSRCP should submit theproofs to prove the charges, hedemanded.

Atchannaidu trashes land grabbingcharges against TDP leaders

Government levellingallegations againstTDP leaders to coverland grabbing casesof YSRC leaders,says TD leader

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP chief and the Oppositionleader N Chandrababu Naiduhas expressed deep shock overthe ghastly incident in Ongolein which a differently-abledgirl named Bhubaneswari wasburnt to death under suspi-cious circumstances.

Naidu demanded that ahigh-level probe be institutedinto the incident. Suspicionswere raised on the death of thegirl as post-mortem was notconducted till Saturdayevening, though she was burntalive at 8.30 pm on Friday.

The TDP chief sought anexplanation from the govern-ment as to why post-mortemwas not conducted even after20 hours. The parents of thegirl had to wait for 20 hours atthe hospital to receive herbody, he added.

A detailed probe should beconducted and stringent pun-ishment should be given tothose responsible for the bru-tal death. Till now, there wasno safety for Dalits, Tribals,BCs and Muslim Minorities,but now even the differently-abled girls and women werebeing victimised.

"The whole state is witness-ing suspicious deaths, rapesand murders and atrocities.The atrocities against weaker

sections and women have beenrising for the past 19 monthsafter Jagan Reddy took overreins," he said.

The TDP chief said that OmPratap died under suspiciousconditions but the govern-ment did not disclose his calldata list. The call list of Dalityouth Domathoti Vikram, whowas brutally murdered inGurazala in Guntur district,has

also not been revealed to peo-ple, he said.

Now, Bhubaneswari wasburnt alive in Ongole inPrakasam district. The inves-tigating officials should dis-close her call data list at leastin order to bring out the facts.

Naidu lamented that it waspainful to see that women werenot able to move out in publicwith safety and security.

Naidu demands probe into torching of differently-abled girl

Woman goesmissing afterlanding atGannavaram PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A woman went missing soonafter landing at GannavaramAirport from Kuwait sinceDecember 16.

The missing woman hasbeen identified as S Durgafrom West Godavari district.She has been working as ahousemaid in Kuwait for thepast two years. TheGannavaram police havelaunched a search operationto trace the missing womanon the complaint lodged byher husband S Satyanarayana.

Sub-Inspector RPurshotam said that SSatyanarayana lodged a miss-ing complaint of his wifewho returned from Kuwaiton December 16.

Satyanarayana told thepolice that his wife's friendcalled him to inquire if Durgahad reached home safely. Asshe did not return home, heapproached the police.

Satyanarayana, along withthe police, checked theCCTV camera footage at theGannavaram Airport to con-firm if Durga has reachedGannavaram Airport fromKuwait. CCTV footagerevealed that Durga had land-ed at Gannavaram Airport onDecember 16, but was miss-ing since then. The S-I saidthat family disputes could bethe reason behind Durga'smissing. He said that twoteams were formed by theGannavaram police to tracethe missing woman. They areconducting searches atHyderabad and Kadapa asper the information given bySatyanarayana.

He said that Satyanarayanawas not disclosing the factsopenly with them to trace themissing Durga.

SNV SUDHIR

n VIJAYAWADA

The political ride was not asmooth sail for YSJaganmohan Reddy, who cel-ebrates his 48th birthday onMonday. He had to weathermany a storm, handle difficultand complex situations, the lit-tle David had to take on manyGoliaths, hold the tempest ofadversaries and torrent of badpropaganda at bay and walkedstraight into the hearts of peo-ple by being with them, amongthem all the time through hismass contact programmes.

YS Jaganmohan Reddy mustbe among the very few founderleaders of a political party tobecome the Chief Minister ata young age and created arecord of sorts winning 151 of175 seats in the Assembly and22 of the 25 Parliament seats.

CM YS Jaganmohan Reddyhas emerged as a welfare sig-nature to the State and becamethe new idiom of AndhraPradesh polity with his sharp-ness in decision making, pre-cision in work style, eye fordetail, and commitment tousher in a welfare State, whichearned him a place of pride ofbeing among the best heads ofthe State in the country.

Pitch-forked into active pol-itics by a quirk of fate with thetragedy that Andhra Pradeshcould not digest and still feelsthat the helicopter carrying DrYS Rajasekhara Reddy shouldnot have crashed, YSJaganmohan Reddy at thattime, being one of the 42 MPswas hardly noticed by Delhi,which never expected that hewould ride like a colossus todwarf the stalwarts and oneday will change the grammarof governance. When the goinggot tough, the tough youngturk got going and his deter-mination became more res-olute.

The political spark of YSJaganmohan Reddy has ignit-ed new vibes in the State andtrouble started to haunt him.But the determined young

man went ahead to fulfil hismission even as the vulturesand falcons flapped their wingsand sharpened their beaks atthe fledgling YSRCP but to noavail. The family and loyalistsstood by him in tough times totide over the crisis.

His mother YS Vijayammatook the young YSRCP in herarms as honorary President,while his better half YSBharathi deftly handled busi-ness houses. As a close-knitfamily, they could overcomethe crisis with YS Sharmilacompleting the unfinishedmass contact programme.Though YS JaganmohanReddy fought the battle of2014 on his own, certain forcesand equations got the better ofhim by a wafer-thin vote per-centage.

Undeterred by the onslaughtof opposition TDP leadershipand his coterie, YSJaganmohan Reddy contin-ued to highlight the failures ofthe State and was constantlywith the people fighting for

their cause.Taking the first steps from

YSR Ghat at Idupulapaya, PrajaSankalpa Yatra took off and itwas history in the making.Every step that Jagan tookamplified the political atmos-phere with farmers, cheatedwomen groups, students,weavers, fishermen, youth,elderly people, patients, doc-tors, and all sections of peoplejoining strides with him topour out their woes.

Unmoved by the engineereddefections, his march wentahead and crossed iconicKrishna and Godavari bridgeswith end-to-end supporterssending a chill down the spineof adversaries.

By the time Ichchapuramhas seen his footfall, YSJaganmohan Reddy hasclocked 3,648 km and thewriting was on the wall that hewould be the next ChiefMinister.

The 2019 battle was woneven before it was fought withthe confident Jagan moving toTadepalli well in advance andcarrying out the campaign withhis, by now familiar, style andshown to the people a simpletwo-page manifesto that coverswelfare of all sections. He couldeffectively articulate the failuresand rampant corruption andnepotism in the TDP and rede-fined qualities of leadership.After the campaign crescendocooled down, he chilled whilethe paper tigers started bayingwith no roar and fell flat whenthe results came out.

Much earlier, he evenbrushed aside an attack on himat Vizag airport.

Jagan Reddy’s political rise not a smooth ride

C PRADEEP KUMAR

n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy will launchcomprehensive land surveyprogramme, titled 'YSRJagananna Saswatha BhoomiHakku-Bhoomi Rakshana', atTakkellapadu village inJaggaiahpet mandal of Krishnadistrict on December 21.

As part of the programme,land registration services willbe provided at the village sec-retariat once the survey iscompleted and maps are pre-pared. Mobile tribunals will beset up to solve the land dis-putes. The required vehiclesand other facilities for mobiletribunals will also be arranged.Accurate information will beprovided to people to removeany doubts regarding theirlands after completion of com-prehensive land survey.

The officials concerned saidthat best training and orienta-tion was given to the staff con-ducting the land survey. Theofficials would secure therecords after the completion ofthe survey in such a way thatno one can tamper with themand added that the security

features would be tough. Thehard copy should be with thelandowners.

During the 'YSR JaganannaSaswatha Bhoomi Hakku-Bhoomi Rakshana' pro-gramme, the survey will beconducted in 1.26 lakh sq kmacross the state in villages,hamlets, towns and cities,except forest lands. The surveywill be held in more than17,000 villages in three phases.About 5,000 villages will becovered in the first phase,6,500 villages in the secondphase and 5,500 villages in thethird phase. The survey will beheld in 3,345.93 sq km intowns and cities covering 10lakh open plots and 40 lakhassessment lands and 2.26 croreacre of land belonging to 90lakh pattadar passbook holders.

A land titling card whichconsists of a unique identifica-tion number, measurements ofthe property, name of theowner along with the photo,and total area would be givenafter the survey. DigitizedCadastral Maps would be pre-pared after the completion ofthe survey. All details of thelands in the village would bein the maps.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The international poets echoedenvironmental concerns dur-ing the concluding session ofthe Amaravati Poetic Prism(APP)-2020 here on Sunday.

Padma Shri KolakaluriEnoch, recipient of the presti-gious Murthy Devi Puraskarand former V-C of Sri KrishnaDevaraya University, said thatthe sweet presence of the treesmake the earth a beautifulpoem and stressed the need forenvironmental protection.

APP-2020: the 6thInternational MultilingualVirtual Poets' Meet was organ-ised by CCVA in collaborationwith the Centre of Excellence

for Studies in Classical Telugu(CIIL), Department ofLanguage and Culture,Government of AndhraPradesh and Telangana.

Dr D Vizaibhaskar,Convenor of the meeting, pre-sented a report saying thatmore than 85 poets from dif-ferent parts of the world recit-ed their poems in their ownlanguages and in English onthe theme 'Environment andEcology' in eight sessions.

The second-day proceed-ings of the meet were initiat-ed by Padma Shri VishnuPandya, Chairman, GujaratiSahitya Akademi. Speakingon the occasion, Pandya saidthat poets were instrumental in

creating a healthy atmospherein the societies Worldwide.

The poets exchanged theirviews during the breakout slotsin all the sessions. PoetsKopparthi Venkata RamanaMurthy, Bandla Madhava Rao,Elizabeth Kurian Mona, DrMadhurantakam Narendra,Satish Chandar, Delo Isufi andEdward Roberts chaired thesessions and conducted theproceedings. The poets stressedthe need to preserve the pris-tine environment and ecologyfor the betterment of mankind.

Dr E Siva Nagi Reddy, CEO,CCVA and advisor of the meetthanked the poets for their par-ticipation even during theCovid-19 pandemic.

Jagan has

emerged as a

welfare signature

to the State with

his sharpness in

decision making,

precision in work

style, eye for

detail, and com-

mitment to usher

in a welfare State

Jagan to launch land survey todayat Takkellapadu

Suspicions were raised on the deathof the differently-abled girl as post-mortem was not conducted tillSaturday evening, though she wasburnt alive at 8.30 pm on Friday.

Poets stress need to protectenvironment at APP-2020

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

AP State Women's Commis-sion chairperson VasireddyPadma on Sunday met theparents of Sowmya who com-mitted suicide unable to bearthe torture of one Varaprasadin the name of love. The chair-person visited Korrapadu vil-lage in Medikonduru mandalof Guntur district and spoke tothe grief-stricken parents ofSowmya. The parents ofSowmya told the chairpersonthat she consumed pesticideunable to bear the torture m-eted out to her by Varaprasad.The shy girl was embarrassedto tell the matter at home.

Meanwhile, the doctorstried their best to save Sowmya

but to no avail.Vasireddy Padma assured

the parents of Sowmya that theaccused Varaprasad will beseverely punished as per law.Police have already arrestedVaraprasad and a charge-sheetwill be filed against him in aweek.

She said that a few womenbrought to our notice thatthere was a troublesome mobin the village and ordered thepolice to set up a picket.

Vasireddy consoles Soumya'sparents, assures justice

CM is very seriousregarding safety andprotection of women,says the chairperson.

MONDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2020 nation 04

SHORT TAKESMaha soldier killed in Ladakhsnowstorm, cremated in Buldana

Ahome guardjawan died while

a constable gotseriously injuredwhen theirmotorcycle was hitby a mini-trucknear Khanna tollplaza here, policesaid on Sunday.According to

Additional Superintendent of Police Rajendra Kumar Gautam, theaccident took place late on Saturday night. "A mini-truck hit amotorcycle of Dial-112 from behind near Khanna toll plaza. Homeguard jawan Haricharan Prajapati (40) died on the spot whileconstable Rajkaran posted at Khanna Police Station got seriouslyinjured," Gautam said. "The duo duo was going to Bahinga village,"he said. The injured constable has been hospitalised while thebody of the home guard jawan has been sent for post-mortemexamination, police said. Efforts are on to catch the driver of themini-truck, they said.

Six get life term in UP for abducting boy in 2005

Acourt in Uttar Pradesh'sBallia district sentenced

six people to lifeimprisonment forabducting a six-year-oldboy 15 years ago.Government advocateVirendra Kumar Singh onSunday said the minor wasabducted on March 7,

2005, when he was going to attend a coaching class along withhis cousin in Revti police station area. Additional District JudgeChandrabhanu Singh on Saturday held the six people guilty ofabducting the boy and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on eachof them. The government advocate also said a case of kidnappingwas registered based on the complaint lodged by the boy'scousin. The minor was found in Gopal Nagar, he said.

Mini-truck hits bike: Homeguard dies, constable injured

An Army jawan who lost his lifein a snowstorm while on duty

in Ladakh region was crematedon Sunday with full state honoursin his native Palaskhed village inMaharashtra's Buldana district,an official said on Sunday. Amidchanting of slogans by hundredsof people who had assembled,

the mortal remains of Pradip Sahebrao Mandale of the Army'sMahar regiment was consigned to the flames by his 5-year-old sonJaydeep, they said. A functionary of the Buldana district soldierwelfare office said Mandale died on December 15 but his bodycould reach here only on Saturday due to inclement weather.Mandale's father Sahebrao said his son had joined the Army in2008-09 and had last visited the family while on leave in August thisyear. Among those who attended the funeral were district guardianminister Rajendra Shingne and Collector S Ramamoorthy.

PTI n BENGALURU

ISRO needs to draw up a ten-year vision plan, veteran spacescientist G Madhavan Nairsaid on Sunday and batted forbringing space and aeronauti-cal sectors closer like in Chinafor greater success.

He said the Bengaluru-head-quartered space agency underthe Department of Space(DOS) used to have such a doc-ument earlier but he hasn't seenone extending up to the year2030.

"Unless we have a long-termvision, we will be doing piece-meal", said Nair, who served asChairman of the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO)

and the Space Commissionand DOS Secretary from 2003to 2009.

"Of course there are ideas.But somebody has to consoli-date and come out with a con-crete plan of action for the nextten years", he said.

Nair said India's private sec-tor players in the field of spacewould have to go global ascatering to the domestic mar-ket alone would not sustaintheir business.

ISRO has good space-basedearth observation, communica-tion and satellite technologieswhich private sector playerswould have to access but justmeeting the national require-ment alone would not sustain

them."They have

to capture theinternation-al market.Then onlythere is ameaning.USD 300b i l l i o n(address-able globalmarket) is dis-tributed all overthe world", he said."So, when a private venturecomes in, its job should be toabsorb these technologies, massproduce and sell it economical-ly all over the world", Nair said.

In June this year, the govern-

ment decided toopen up the

space sectorand enablethe partic-ipation ofI n d i a np r i v a t esector as a"co-trav-

eller".As per the

C a b i n e tapproval, the

approach towardsspace activities in the

country will shift from a sup-ply-based model to a demand-based model, according toISRO.

With the creation of Indian

National Space Promotion andAuthorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), the reforms wouldprovide level playing field forprivate companies and start-ups, the space agency had said.

IN-SPACe is the authorisa-tion and regulatory body underDOS for enabling private play-ers to undertake space activi-ties in the country.

To enable enhanced partic-ipation of Indian industries intaking up high-tech space relat-ed activities, the union govern-ment has incorporatedNewSpace India Limited(NSIL), a wholly ownedCentral Public SectorEnterprise (CPSE), under theadministrative control of DOS.

Nair expressed the view thatIndia's new policy, as envisagedin the reforms push announcedin June, virtually takes awaythat "single point authorityand control (from ISRO)" andshakes up its managerial set-up.Citing the example of Chinaand SpaceX's Elon Musk, Nairstressed the need in India forbringing the space and aero-nautical sectors together forgreater success of the pro-grammes. "China continues towork under single leadershipnot only for space (sector) butalso for aeronautics. So that'ssomething that helps them toconsolidate their technologyand progress much faster", hesaid.

Nair stresses need to bring space, aviation sectors closer

PTI n BAREILLY

The ongoing farmers' protestagainst the Centre's new agrilaws is a fallout of BJP's poli-tics of "lies and deceit", theCongress said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters here,Uttar Pradesh Congress chiefAjay Kumar Lallu also saidthat the party will continue itsfight for farmers until thelaws are withdrawn.

Thousands of farmers,mainly from Punjab andHaryana, are protestingagainst the laws for the lastover four weeks at various bor-der points of Delhi.

"The agitation by the farm-ers against the farm laws is afallout of BJP's politics of lies(jhooth) and deceit (fareb).

The Congress will continue tofight for the farmers until thefarm laws are withdrawn,"Lallu said.

"Prime Minister NarendraModi cannot be trusted as tillnow he has not fulfilled any ofhis electoral promises," healleged.

The Uttar Pradesh Congresschief also alleged that today ifpeople raise their voice againstthe wrong policies of the gov-ernment, then false cases areregistered against them.

"The farmers are fighting fortheir legitimate rights, andtheir protests are getting sup-port from every section ofsociety. Prime Minister Modihas time to meet industrialists,but not farmers," Lallu said.

Farmers are protestingagainst the Farmers(Empowerment andProtection) Agreement ofPrice Assurance and Farm

Services Act, 2020, theFarmers Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, 2020, andThe Essential Commodities(Amendment) Act 2020.

The three farm laws enact-ed in September have beenprojected by the governmentas major reforms in the agri-culture sector that will removemiddlemen and allow farmersto sell anywhere in the coun-try.

However, the protestingfarmers have expressed appre-hension that the new lawswould pave the way for elim-inating the safety cushion ofMinimum Support Price anddo away with the mandis,leaving them at the mercy ofbig corporates.

Protest fallout of BJP's politicsof ‘lies and deceit': UP Congress

PTI n NEW DELHI

Ateam of nine doctors fromPunjab's Garhshankar set up a

two-day medical camp at theSinghu border here on Sunday toattend to the protesting farmerswho are suffering from eye-relatedproblems. On their fourth visit tothe protest site, a group of doctors,including ophthalmologists,physiotherapists and generalphysicians, arrived at the Singhuborder on Saturday evening afterattending to their duties at theirrespective workplaces inGarhshankar. Due to the excessivecold, dust and pollution, manyprotesting farmers, who have beenstaying put at the Singhu borderfor nearly a month now, have beencomplaining of the dry-eyesyndrome, watery eyes and othereye-related problems. Themakeshift camp has medicines andequipment worth over Rs 70,000,including eye-examination devices,lubricants, antibodies and anti-allergic eye drops, said the

doctors, adding that thesemedicines could give a temporaryrelief to the protesters complainingof eye-related problems in thischilling weather. As severalprotesters, including women,elderly people and youngsters,visited the camp complaining of aburning sensation due to dry eyesor weakness in the eyesight, DrRajdeep Singh (27), one of theophthalmologists in the team, saidduring their third visit to theSinghu border, they realised thatthere was a need for a separate eyecamp at the protest site. "This is

not our first visit here. Earlier, wehad set up general medical campson weekends. During our last visit,many people came to us with eye-related problems. While somecomplained of dry eyes, otherscomplained of a burning sensationor irritations in the eye. So werealised that no such facility wasavailable and decided to set up anexclusive eye-checkup camp hereto address the problems of suchpeople," he said while attending to50-year-old Mehrunisa, who havebeen complaining of pain andweakness in her eyes for the last

few days. She was advised to takeanti-allergic eye drops twice a day.Hailing from Delhi's Wazirabad,Mehrunisa has been camping atthe Singhu border for the last oneweek. Asked if she was a farmer,Mehrunisa said, "I am not a farmerbut we get our food because of ourfarmer brothers. If we do not standwith them today, we should beashamed of ourselves." Anotherophthalmologist in the doctors'team, Deepak Pandey (35), said,"Most of them complained of eye-related allergies, which are largelycaused by dust and pollution. Thisalso causes irritation and swellingin the eyes. Due to the excessivecold, they have also developed thedry-eye syndrome. Excessive useof phones also causes irritationand pain." He pointed out thatsince most of the protestingfarmers undertook long journeyson their tractor-trolleys to arrive atthe protest site amid this coldspell, they ended up developingeye-related problems due to dustand pollution.

Doctors from Punjab set up two-day eye-examinationcamp for protesting farmers at Singhu border

Narendra Modi cannotbe trusted as till nowhe has not fulfilled anyof his electoralpromises, says UPCongress chief

PTI n NEW DELHI

The CPI(M) Sunday hit outat the government for scrap-ping the winter session ofParliament over the COVID-19 situation, and said thepandemic is being used as anexcuse by the Centre to avoidbeing held accountable on its"all round failures".

In a statement issued hereafter a meeting of its Politburo,the Left party also demandedthe cancellation of the CentralVista project and said themoney allocated for this pur-pose be used to provide "freefood and cash transfers to ourbeleaguered people".

"The Politburo stronglydenounced the unprecedent-ed cancellation of the WinterSession of Parliament usingthe pretext of the Covid pan-demic," it said.

The pandemic is not anyproblem for the BJP toorganise its election cam-paign and rallies but it haschosen to "avoid beinganswerable to the parlia-ment", it added.

"It is thus abandoning itsconstitutional responsibilityof being accountable in theparliament." The Centre hassaid there will be no WinterSession of Parliament thistime because of the coron-avirus crisis.

Parliamentar y AffairsMinister Pralhad Joshi con-veyed the government's deci-sion to Congress MP AdhirRanjan Chowdhury througha letter. Chowdhury had de-manded a short winter ses-sion to discuss the three newfarm laws, which have trig-gered protests across thecountry.

The CPI(M) statementadded, "Clearly, the Modigovernment is escapinganswering questions over itsall-round failure in tacklingthe pandemic effectively andthe economic recession whilemercilessly attacking the

livelihood of the people anddestroying the rights of theworking people and the peas-antry. The people shall makethe government answer."

The statement also ques-tioned the need for theCentral Vista project at atime when the country is bat-tling a raging pandemic anddemanded it be scrapped.

"Instead of using the avail-able resources to feed ourpeople and provide themwith some means of liveli-hood, this central govern-ment is squandering ourcountry's resources in con-structing new buildings andthe Central Vista including anew parliament. In the midstof this pandemic and mount-ing people's woes, the PrimeMinister laid the foundationfor the construction of thenew parliament.

"The CPI (M) demandsthat this project of theCentral Vista be scrapped.The money allocated for thismust be transferred to pro-vide free food and cash trans-fers to our beleaguered peo-ple," it said.

‘Govt cancelledwinter session tocover its failures’

PTI n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray onSunday said wearing maskswill be mandatory for thenext six months in the state.

Addressing people of thestate on social media,Thackeray said experts are infavour of imposing nightcurfew or another lockdown,but he is not in favour ofthese steps. The CM appealedto people to be careful duringthe New Year celebrations.The coronavirus situation inthe state is under control,though not completely, hesaid. "Prevention is betterthan cure. Wearing of mask atpublic places should be madea habit for another six monthsat least," Thackeray said.

Those who don't follow thesafety protocol should knowthey are putting lives of oth-ers, who are abiding by rules,at risk, he said. Asking peo-ple to be careful while wel-coming the New Year, hesaid the discovery of a newstrain of the virus in Europehas resulted in lockdown inseveral countries as therewas no other option.

He said even though life isslowly limping back to nor-malcy, reopening of schoolshas been a problem.

Masks mandatoryfor next 6 months,says Uddhav

PTI n NEW DELHI

A full-fledged institute thatwill serve as a training hub forthe Awakened CitizenProgramme (ACP) being runin more than 5,000 schoolsacross the country will be setup in Gurgaon byRamkrishna Mission, an offi-cial statement said.

The project, VivekanandaInstitute of Values (VIVA),worth Rs 22 crore will helpaddress the gap in the educa-tional system by promotingvalue education,Ramakrishna Mission sec-retary SwamiShantatmananda said.

"In order to cater to thegrowing need for the struc-tured programmes for vari-ous groups of citizens, theinstitute is being built toserve as a training hub,” hesaid.

Centre is

escaping

answering

questions over its

all-round failure in

tackling the

pandemic and the

economic

recession, says

CPI(M)

RK Mission toset up traininginstitute inGurgaon

‘Kareena Kapoor Khan’s PregnancyBible’ to come out in 2021PTI n NEW DELHI

Bollywood superstar KareenaKapoor Khan is set to pen acomprehensive guide to preg-nancy, publisher Juggernautsaid on Sunday. The book,titled "Kareena Kapoor Khan'sPregnancy Bible", will comeout next year.

Kareena, who is expectingher second baby with husbandactor Saif Ali Khan, made theannouncement of her upcom-ing endeavour on the fourthbirthday of the couple's firstchild Taimur Ali Khan.

"Today is the perfect day toannounce - 'Kareena Kapoor

Khan's Pregnancy Bible' forall you moms-to-be. will talkabout everything from morn-ing sickness to diet and fit-ness and being a mom-on-the-go! can't wait for you toread it. To be published byJuggernaut Books in 2021,"the actor wrote on Instagramalongside the cover art of thebook.

The book will describe allthe medical aspects of preg-nancy with a focus on themother and her symptoms,and include Kareena's tips oneverything from managingmorning sickness to diet, exer-cise, wellness and preparing a

nursery. "I believe pregnancyis a natural process duringwhich we should be active,healthy and happy. In thisbook I will tell you how I han-dled my own pregnancies andgive you all the informationyou need to be happy in yours.This subject means a lot to meand I hope to create a bookthat will help and guide otherwomen," the 40-year-old actorsaid.

Talking about the upcomingbook, Chiki Sarkar, co-founder of Juggernaut, saidthat India "badly needed" aone-stop book that motherscan use.

Odisha logs372 new Covidcases, fourmore deathsPTI n BHUBANESWAR

Odisha's Covid-19 caseload onSunday mounted to 3,26,233after 372 more people testedpositive for the infection, whilefour fresh deaths raised the tollto 1,836, a health departmentofficial said. Of the 372 cases,214 were reported from vari-ous quarantine centres, andthe rest detected during con-tact tracing, the official said.Angul district recorded thehighest number of new casesat 50, followed by Sundergarhat 47 and Khurda at 38. Threedistricts- Bhadrak,Kandhamal and Subarnapur -did not report any new case.Four fresh fatalities wererecorded in Khurda,Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur andSundergarh districts.

2 Bengali films selected forIFFI Indian Panorama section PTI n KOLKATA

Two Bengali feature films havebeen selected for the presti-gious Indian Panorama sec-tion of International FilmFestival of India (IFFI).

Director of one of the filmsAritra Mukherjee said onSunday his first film 'BrahmaJanen Gopon Kommoti' hasbeen selected for the IndianPanorama section of IFFI,Goa. The film stars Ritabhari

Chakraborty, Soham Majumd-ar, Manasi Sinha and Subha-sish Mukherjee among others.

Scripted by Zinia Sen thefilm breaks stereotypes aboutwomen not made for certainprofessions like priests.

Another film 'Avijatrik',which was based on the con-cluding part of BibhutibhusanBandyopadhyay's novelAparajito not touched by SatyajitRay in his Apu trilogy films, hasalso been selected.

PTI n ASHOKNAGAR (WB)

West Bengal found a place inthe oil map of India as UnionMinister DharmendraPradhan on Sunday dedicatedan oil and gas producing fieldin North 24 Parganas districtto the nation.

He said production from thepetroleum reserve here, about47 km from Kolkata, has start-ed with extracted oil being sent

to Haldia refinery of Indian OilCorporation (IOC).

"With the commencementof production from theAshoknagar oil and gasreserve, West Bengal finds aplace in the oil map," he saidafter inaugurating the project.

The first proven reserve ofoil and gas in the state was dis-covered in 2018. TheAshoknagar field, which fallsunder the Mahanadi-Bengal-

Andaman (MBA) basin, hasbeen proved to be commercial-ly viable, he said.

PSU major ONGC hadspent Rs 3,381 crore for discov-ery of the Ashoknagar oilfield,he said, adding that two morewells will be explored by thecompany under Open AcreageLicensing Policy (OLAP).

The minister said crude oildiscovered at the Ashoknagarreserve is of high quality.

Pradhan dedicates Bengal's firstoil and gas reserve to nation

PTI n GWALIOR

The five-day Tansen SangeetSamaroh, an annual musicfestival, will be organised inthe presence of a limited audi-ence in Gwalior fromDecember 26, an official saidon Sunday.

Entry, for the first time,will be on the basis of passesdue to the coronavirus out-break, with attendancecapped at 300 to 350 per pro-gramme, but all events wouldbe streamed live on socialmedia, said an official of thegovernment run UstadAlauddin Khan SangeetEvam Kala Academy.

"Artistes from Britain,Mexico and Iran are expectedto attend. Seven programmeswill be held at Tansen Samadhiwhile one, on December 30,will take place in Behat, thelegendary musician's birth-place," he informed.

He said the MadhyaPradesh Culture Departmentwill upload programmes of thefestival live on its Youtubechannel and Facebook page.

Tansen music festival from Dec 26 in Gwalior

MONDAY | DECEMBER 21, 2020 nation 05

Seven people were bookedin Vadodara for allegedlyusing fake income

documents to obtain 35beneficiary cards issued underthe Gujarat government'shealth insurance scheme forthose in the low income group,police said on Sunday. Theseven, all agents, fraudulentlyobtained health cards issued under the Mukhyamantri AmrutamYojana by the urban health centre in Vadodara and were booked onSaturday after a probe found errors in the typing and photos on theincome documents, a Crime Branch official said."While the incomedocuments used to obtain the cards showed they had been issuedby the mamlatdar of Vadodara East. a probe found the mamlatdaroffice had not issued any of them. All seven have been booked andmore people are likely to be nabbed as part of the scam probe," headded.

INDIA CORNER

Guj: 7 booked in Vadodara forhealth insurance card fraud

PNS n BOLPUR (WB)

People of West Bengal areyearning for change as theywant to get rid of politicalviolence, corruption, extor-tion and Bangladeshi infiltra-tion, Union Home MinisterAmit Shah said on Sunday,attacking the MamataBanerjee government.

Addressing people duringa roadshow in this town asso-ciated with Bengali culturaland literary iconRabindranath Tagore, Shahvowed to restore the state toits old glory when it wascalled "sonar Bangla" (Bengalof gold) if the BJP is voted topower.

"I have attended andorganised several roadshowsin my life but have never seenone like this. This roadshowis a reflection of people'sanger against the MamataBanerjee government. Thiscrowd reflects people's faithin the agenda of developmentof Narendra Modi Ji," Shahtold the massive gathering atthe roadshow.

He said the yearning wasnot about changing a politi-cal leader but "getting rid ofcorruption, political violence,extortion and Bangladeshiinfiltration".

‘People of Bengal yearning for change’

PNS n KOLKATA

The TMC on Sunday said therewas no need to raise a hue andcry over the recent defectionsfrom the party, as "traitors andbackstabbers have existed sincetime immemorial".Addressing apress meet here, statepanchayat ministerand TMC MLA SubrataMukherjee said his party isneither shocked nor crestfallen,as such desertions "wouldn'thave any impact" on assemblypolls, likely to be held in April-May. The TMC does not attachmuch importance to suchdevelopments, he said, andpooh-poohed BJP's "absurdclaims" of winning 250 of 294assembly seats. Politicalheavyweight Suvendu Adhikari,along with one MP and fiveMLAs of the TMC, joined theBJP on Saturday, during HomeMinister Amit Shah's rally inMidnapore. Hinting that Adhikarihad been in touch with thesaffron party for quite sometime, the minister said, "We didhave some information, andtherefore we were not stunnedor crestfallen. There is noreason to raise a hue and cryover the desertion of Mir Jafars.Such betrayals have been takingplace for centuries." Historysuggests that Mir Jafar, amilitary commander, aided theBritish and betrayed Nawab ofBengal Siraj ud- Daulah duringthe Battle of Plasssey. His namehad since been synonymouswith treachery."Just with oneSuvendu in its fold, the BJPhopes to win 250 seats... Thank

God they are not saying theywill win all the seats," Mukherjeestated.He further accused thesaffron party of "belittling"Bengal's icons, as outrage overflex hoardings with Shah'simage on top of that ofRabindranath Tagore continuedin Santiniketan, the bard'sabode. The party's student wingis staging a daylong sit-inat Jorasanko, the birth place ofthe bard in the city, toprotest "this insult meted out toTagore", the minister said.Among others, TMC MP SudipBandopadhyay and stateminister Shashi Panja havejoined the sit-in."People coming from outsidecannot insult Tagore, whois the pride of our nation. Theycannot belittle our luminaries.The poster (flex) has insultedTagore and scores of people inthe country. It shows that theBJP has no respect for ouricons," Mukherjee said.Flex hoardings, with photo ofShah on top, image ofTagore in the middle and that ofBJP leader Anupam Hazraunderneath appeared in parts ofShantiniketan ahead of Shah'svisit to Visva-Bharati.

PNS n BOLPUR (WB)

In a show of might ahead of2021 assembly polls, UnionHome Minister and senior BJPleader Amit Shah on Sundayheld a roadshow in Bolpur areaof Birbhum district. Theroadshow, which began around3.10 pm from Dakbunglowgrounds here, is set to culminate

at Bolpur Chowrasta More.Shah,standing on top of a decked-up

lorry along with state BJPpresident Dilip Ghosh, was seenwaving to the crowd, as saffronparty supporters raised 'Jai ShriRam', 'Narendra Modi Zindabad'and 'Amit Shah Zindabad'slogans. undreds of people,standing on both sides of theroad, cheered the home ministeras he made his way through thecrowd.

Shah holds roadshow in Bengal's Birbhum district

Defections will not have any impacton TMC's poll prospects: Minister

PNS n SANTINIKETAN (WB)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah,on the second day of his two-dayvisit to the state, visited theresidence of a 'Baul' singer (sufigenre folk music of Bengal) hereto have a typical Bengali lunch.Shah listened with rapt attention

as Basudeb Das Bauland his family sang a popular folksong 'Tomay Hrid MajhareRakhbo' (will keep you at thebottom of our hearts) with'ektara' (one-stringed musicalinstrument) after the BJPheavyweight arrived at the baul'smodest residence,

'Manohardham Kutir', inRatanpally area of Santiniketan inBirbhum district.Shah, accompaniedby senior leaders KailashVijayvargiya, Mukul Roy, DilipGhosh, Rahul Sinha, AnupamHazra, had lunch at Baul'sresidence, sitting on the floor of thehouse.

Shah savoured the delicacies -'palong saak', 'alu posto', 'begunbhaja', 'nolen gurer payes' and'nalen gurer rosogolla' - along withother BJP leaders. Shah also offeredpuja at the family Shiva temple. Dassaid, "we are privileged that such animportant person visited ourresidence. We are overjoyed".

Amit Shah has lunch at Bengal folk singer's house in Santiniketan

Two people were arrestedby the Anti Narcotics Cellof Mumbai Crime Branch

allegedly with 66,000Nitrazepam tablets, a kind ofhypnotic drug used totreat sleep disorders, worth Rs33 lakh, an official said onSunday.Shahrukh Sheikh (27)and Abdullah Sheikh (29) werenabbed from Shivaji Nagar locality by the Ghatkopar unit ofANC on Saturday night following a tip-off, he said."These tablets can onlybe prescribed by a doctor and are used to treat sleep disorders anddisabling anxiety, but it is being misused as a narcotic by many," he said.

Mumbai: 2 held with Nitrazepamtablets worth Rs 33 lakh

Aleopardess has allegedlydied of electrocution atthe Pench Tiger Reserve

(PTR) in Madhya Pradesh'sSeoni district, an official saidon Sunday.The feline's carcasswas found on Saturday inGandatola beat of thereserve's Rukhad buffer zone,PTR's field director VikramSingh Parihar said. He said no evidence of hunting was found in thearea during a search operation.The leopardess possibly jumpedfrom a tree and came in contact with an 11 KV electricity linepassing through the area, the official said, adding that a team fromthe MP Electricity Board also inspected the area. After an autopsy,the carcass was disposed of as per guidelines of the National TigerConservation Authority, Parihar added.

Leopardess found dead in MP,electrocution suspected

Four women were rescuedand one person arrestedafter a sex racket was

busted in Kalyan area ofThane district, police said onSunday.A raid was conductedin Kolshewadi on Saturdayevening after a tip off and oneMohan Barman (33) wasarrested for forcing the fourwomen, all in their 20s, into the racket, said police PRO SuvarnaAdsule.A case has been registered under IPC and ImmoralTraffic(Prevention) Act, the official added.

Thane: Sex racket busted, 4women rescued; 1 man arrested

PNS n NEW DELHI

With no clarity yet on dates ofboard examinations next year,several schools are alreadyconducting pre-board examsin online mode to ensure thatstudents are fully prepared intime.

While the Ministry ofEducation (MoE) is yet totake a call on the dates ofboard exams for class 10 and12, it has already clarifiedthat the exams will be in penand paper mode only.

Schools in Delhi are restrict-ing to online exams whilethose in Gurgaon, Ghaziabadand Noida are also planningexams in blended mode as pereasing of restrictions byrespective state governments.

"The CBSE conducted theNEET and JEE exams in 2020during the pandemic in offlinemode. This strongly indicatesthat students of grade 10 and12 should prepare themselvesfor an offline examination. Wemanaged to conduct pre-board exams in online mode,

keeping in consideration safe-ty and security of staff and stu-dents.

"However, that amount ofpractice is not enough forpupils, we are exploring adopt-ing offline mode of conduct-ing exams as per the CBSEguidelines," said PriyankaBarara, Principal, MRGSchool, Rohini. According toPallavi Upadhyaya, Principal,DPS-RNE Ghaziabad, theschool has conducted onlineexams for pre-boards but isalso planning to hold physicalexams in January.

"Amidst the pandemic, wehave been able to complete theacademic syllabi for boardclasses and have conducted thefirst pre-board examinationvirtually as per the CBSEguidelines issued accordingto the paper pattern.

"We have conducted virtu-al sessions with students andparents and have ensured a fairexam. Our system has beendesigned to keep the exam fairfor the invigilator and stu-dents," she said.

Covid: Schoolsconduct pre-boardexams in online

PNS n THANJAVUR (TN)

Union Minister VK Singh onSunday said the on goingprotests by farmers against thethree Central farm laws was"more political" in nature and

underlined the NDA gov-ernment's intent to ensure thewelfare of the ryots.

Speaking to reporters hereahead of his interaction withfarmers, the Minister of Statefor Road Transport andHighways claimed that "actu-al farmers are very happy withwhat has been done in last sixmonths." He sought to allayfears on Minimum SupportPrice (MSP) and other issues,saying MSP will carry on whilecontract farming will only ben-efit the farmers. "Lot of mis-conceptions are being givenwhere farmer issue is con-cerned. Farmers all over Indiamostly are happy, actual farm-ers are very happy with what

has been done in last sixmonths," he said.

Prime Minister NarendraModi has ensured the benefitgoes to the farmers, Singhsaid, adding, "the present agi-tation actually is more politi-cal than about farmers."Farmers, mainly from Punjaband Haryana, have beenprotesting for the last 25 daysoutside Delhi against the

recently enacted three farmlaws, with five rounds of talkswith government so far failingto break the deadlock.

Singh further said that otherpolitical parties, whetherCongress, AAP or the NCP ledby Sharad Pawar, all of themwanted that farmers shouldhave the freedom from theagricultural produce marketingcommittee (APMC) and "they

didnt want them tied up tothese mandis."

He said Modi has the "high-est regard" for the farm sectorand assured the governmentwas with the farmer and point-ed out at the various schemesincluding insurance and soilcard to benefit them.

"The government wants thefarmer, who feeds the nation,to feel protected, to get the ben-efit of the government's protec-tion so that his income can bedoubled," he said. "...the farmermust understand that there arepeople who are misleadingthem and that is why I havecome here to explain to ourfarmers that things are good,not as being given out by peo-ple," he said. The legislations inquestion aim at protecting thefarmer and one of them saysthe farmer is free to sell his pro-duce anywhere he wants with"India being one market" forhim, Singh said.

‘Ryots protests more political in nature’

PNS n LATUR

A 27-year-old woman doctor,who has been treating COVID-19 patients at a hospital inLatur, has also found time tostudy and clear the exam forthe Doctor of Medicine (MD)degree with flying colours.

Talking to PTI, Dr NazneenJameel Khan said it was toughfor her to attend to COVID-19patients and at the same timestudy for the MD course, butshe focused on her goal.

Dr Khan, a student of theLatur-based Vilasrao Deshmukh Government Institute ofMedical Sciences (VDGIMS),secured first position in heruniversity and ranked 17thinthe Maharashtra University ofHealth Sciences, Nashik, whichconducted the PG course examearlier this year.

Khan, who hails fromAurangabad in Maharashtraand did her MBBS there, hasbeen working as a resident doc-tor at the department of med-icine in the VDGIMS, Latur.

The doctor said said whenshe was deputed in the

COVID-19 ICU ward here, itwas challenging for her tomonitor critical patients forlong hours every day.

"In the beginning, I eventhought of running away from

the ward due to the panicabout the infection. But then,

I realised that I couldn't runaway from my responsibility. Igot over the fear of the diseaseand realised it was time to con-tribute to the society and thenation," she said.

Meanwhile, Dr Khan hasalso qualified for the NEETsuper specialty course-2020and has got a seat at the RubyHall Clinic in Pune, where shewill be joining on January 1.

She also qualified the examfor the UK's Membership ofRoyal Colleges of Physicians,which grants postgraduate

medical qualifications to doc-tors.

"I could achieve all this dueto the strong emotional sup-port, guidance and motivationfrom my husband, Dr SyedWajeed Quadri, currentlyworking in Germany, who washere earlier with me during thepandemic," she said.

"Without his moral support,it would not have been possi-ble for me to achieve this goal.I also give credit of this successto my family members," sheadded.

Doc treating Covid patients excels in MD examDr Nazneen Jameel Khan said itwas tough for her to attend toCOVID-19 patients and at the sametime study for the MD course, butshe focused on her goal

PNS n NEW DELHI

BJP MP and Punjabi Sufisinger Hans Raj Hans is reach-ing out to people in villagesbordering Haryana in his par-liamentary constituency northwest Delhi to apprise them ofthe “benefits” of the Centre'sthree agriculture laws beingopposed by farmers.

Hans's South Delhi counter-part Ramesh Bidhuri onSunday also took out a nine-km-long 'Kisan Kanoon KalyanSamarthan Yatra' passing manyvillages including Jaitpur,Badarpur, Meethapur andMolarband in his constituency.

Hans is visiting rural pock-ets of his constituency, includ-ing Narela, Bawana andMundka, meeting farmers anddistributing Union AgricultureMinister Narendra Tomar'srecent letter addressed to theprotesting farmers.

Thousands of farmers fromPunjab, Haryana, UttarPradesh and some other stateshave been camping at Delhiborders for over three weeks,demanding the Centre to scrapthe three farm laws and pro-vide legal guarantee of mini-mum support price(MSP) forcrops. Two border pointsSinghu and Tikri in north westDelhi have become focalpoints of the farmers' protests.

There are around 100 vil-lages in north west Delhi bor-dering Haryana and they haveimpact on the villages andpeople living in the neighbour-ing states, Hans said.

The farmers should readthe leaflets of Tomar's letter tounderstand how the new farmlaws are “beneficial” to them

and how some people are tak-ing advantage of the currentsituation and creating confu-sion among them, he said.

"I am sure that when thisleaflet will reach the farmersand they read it, the prevailingatmosphere will definitely bepositive. The farmers will beable to know how many bene-fits the new laws have and thatits opponents are working toharm everyone under the coverof farmers' protests," Hans said.

Agriculture ministerNarendra Singh Tomar recent-ly issued an eight-page openletter to farmers, saying theCentre is ready to address alltheir concerns. Tomar, in theletter, had said the Modi gov-ernment was committed to thewelfare of farmers and stressedthat the new agri laws areaimed at benefiting small andmarginal farmers. Hans saidleaflets of Tomar's letters willbe widely distributed in northwest Delhi areas, especiallyNarela, Bawana and Mundkainhabited by the farmers.

Hans Raj apprisespeople of agri laws

PNS n BALARAMPUR

Two people were arrestedfor allegedly raping a minorgirl in Utraula Police Stationarea, an official said onSunday.According to the vic-tim's mother, the accusedtook away her daughter onThursday evening after luringher. They then raped her,police said. However, the girlmanaged to escape andinformed her family mem-bers after returning home,they said.

2 held forraping minorgirl

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government is planning toform a working group toexplore the possibilities oflinking Indian hospitals, well-ness centres and Ayurvedaclinics with foreign insurancefirms to boost medical tourismin the country, TourismMinister Prahlad Patel hassaid.

He said the aim is to ensurethat foreign nationals seekingmedical treatment in Indiacan arrive here with their own

insurance which would berecognised by all health cen-tres here.

"We will form a workinggroup to explore the possibil-ities to enrol foreign insur-ance firms with Indian healthcentres so that people can usethese for treatment here. So,when they arrive, they havetheir insurance in place. Thiswill be especially helpful forthose arriving from Iraq orSoutheast Asian countries,"the minister told PTI in aninterview.

Officials also said the min-istry has recommended thatforeign tourists visiting Indiamay be offered attractivelypriced COVID-19 insurancecovers as part of the min-istry's plans to revive the sec-tor post the coronavirus cri-sis. “The working group willprovide us a model on whichour system can be based. Weare also in discussions withdomestic insurance compa-nies as well as the depart-ments concerned here,” Patelsaid.

Move to link hospitals withforeign insurance companies

PNS n LALITPUR (UP)

A POCSO court here sen-tenced a youth to l ifeimprisonment in connec-tion with the rape of aminor girl four years ago, agovernment counsel saidon Sunday.

Assistant Distr ic tGovernment AdvocateLakhanlal Rajput said thaton Saturday judge NirbhayPrakash of the additionaldistrict and sessions court(POCSO) sentenced theyouth to life term and alsoimposed a fine of Rs 55,000.

She was then promisedby the youth of