VANTAGE POINT -NNARSIM

Dry run for Covid-19 vac-

cination in all states, UTs

on January 2

5

Crime against kids upby 20% inVizianagaram, 4.5%against women

8

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 31, 2020 5:00 PM

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Margashirsha & Shukla Paksha

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any important work)

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VIJAYAWADA, FRIDAY JANUARY 1, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

*LATE CITY VOL. 3 ISSUE 52*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

HAPPY 2021The Pioneer wishes itsreaders, advertisers,

suppliers and agents aHAPPY NEW YEAR. As

our offices will remainclosed today

(01-01-2021), there will beno issue of the paper

tomorrow (02-01-2021)

Resident Editor

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Aditya Nath Das, a 1987 batchIAS officer, assumed charge asthe Chief Secretary of AndhraPradesh amidst chants of Vedichymns on Thursday afternoonat a predetermined auspiciousmuhurtham.

His predecessor NilamSawhney has been appointedprincipal adviser to the ChiefMinister upon her retire-ment.

Before taking over as theCS, Das was the special chiefsecretary to the irrigationdepartment handling the cru-cial Polavaram project andother irrigation projectswhich are considered veryclose to Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy’s heart.

Das, who hails from Bihar,

had been handpicked byJagan’s father Dr YSRajasekhar Reddy to overseethe crucial ‘Jala Yagnam’ pro-gramme and he proved to bethe most successful irrigationsecretary in the history ofundivided Andhra Pradesh.

More particularly, Dashas sound and in depthknowledge about the inter-state disputes of Krishnaand Godavari waters.

“I’m happy to assumecharge as the CS and theopportunity given to me.Government’s agenda is oura ge n d a . I w i l l e ns u resmooth functioning of theadministration with bettercoordinat ion of a l l thedepartments.

The Chief Minister hadset a target to complete the

construction of Polavaramproject on time and we willstrive to meet this target.We will overcome all theproblems and take the stateforward. All our officialswill work to find solutionsfor all the issues. I thank theChief Minister for givingme this opportunity toserve the state as the CS,”Das told reporters afterassuming charge.

Aditya Nath Das wasborn on June 30, 1961 inBihar. He joined civil ser-vices in 1987 and started hiscareer as Assistant Collectorin Vizianagaram district.He s tud ie d at B anarasHindu University |(BHU)and JNU and also worked asa banker for a few monthsbefore joining civil services.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy onThursday promised stringentaction against those who des-ecrate idols.

His remarks came amidstthe sudden spurt in incidentsof desecration of idols andvandalism of temples in thestate over the past few months.The acts of vandalism havecome under sharp criticismfrom the opposition parties,especially the BJP.

Addressing a meeting withofficials on Thursday, theChief Minister said that des-ecration of idols will not betolerated and stringent actionwill be taken. He termed thatthe destruction of idols asatrocious and prayed that Godwill punish those who attackplaces of worship.

The Chief Minister direct-ed the police to take strictaction to prevent such inci-dents from recurring.

He also directed officials toensure all eligible candidatesget house sites without fail,emphasising that hisGovernment wouldn’t trimthe number of beneficiaries tosave funds. He said that all theeligible beneficiaries must getcovered in the government’swelfare schemes, leaving noone behind.

“The State government isworking relentlessly for thewelfare of the poor and in caseif anyone eligible is left out by

mistake, they should be imme-diately included in the welfareactivities. Any applicationsseeking ration card, pension,and housing should not be leftpending state and must beresolved at the earliest possi-ble,” Jagan said.

People's farewell to retiring JudgeUnprecedented scenes of respect for Justice Rakesh Kumar on his retirement from service

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In an unprecedented gesture,hundreds of women and farm-ers from the Amaravati capi-tal region formed a humanchain here to accord a touch-ing farewell to Justice RakeshKumar of the Andhra PradeshHigh Court who retired fromservice on Thursday.

In a reverential gesture,they chanted 'long live, longlive' with folded hands as thejudge began his return journeyhome from the court campus.

He was one of the judgeswho stayed the JaganmohanReddy government's move tohave three capitals for thestate, an issue over whichlocals had staged protestsagainst shifting the capitalfrom Amaravati.

The Judge also had madeseveral critical observationsagainst the administration andpulled up the state DirectorGeneral of Police over 'failure'to ensure rule of law.

As his official car reachedthe Seed Access Road, thewomen stopped him and pre-sented shawls, flowers andmementos.

"You live in our hearts... Youwere our saviour by upholdingjustice. May God give you along life," they said.

The judge reciprocated thegreetings and thanked them.

Women and farmers from the Amaravati capital region rush towards the car of retiring judge Justice Rakesh Kumar, to thankhim for standing by them, as he leaves the AP High Court premises, on Thursday.

Centre notifiesCJ Maheswaritransfer, judges’appointmentVijayawada: The Centre onThursday notified theappointment of AP HighCourt Chief Justice, JusticeJitendra Kumar Maheshwarias the Chief Justice of theSikkim High Court. Byanother notification SikkimHigh Court Chief Justice,Justice Arup KumarGoswami was appointedChief Justice of the AP HighCourt.

The notifications came 15days after the SupremeCourt Collegium, in itsDecember 14 meeting, rec-ommended transfer ofJustice Maheswari alongwith four other ChiefJustices, including JusticeGoswami.

Notably, a judge in thestate High Court, JusticeRakesh Kumar, who retiredon Thursday in a judge-ment on Wednesday said thetransfer of Justice Maheswariand Telangana High CourtChief Justice will give undueadvantage to Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy.

DGP, other top police brassasked to appear before HC Amaravati: The AndhraPradesh High Court onThursday directed the stateDirector-General of PoliceGautam Sawang, PrincipalSecretary (Home) KumarViswajit and IG MaheshChandra Ladda to appearbefore it in person, in a con-tempt of court case.

The court issued the direc-tions while disposing of a peti-

tion filed by S-I Rama Rao whoapproached the court statingthat the police departmentignored the court’s directive toinclude his name in the panelof promotees. Earlier, a HCBench asked the police depart-ment to include the S-I’s namein the panel.

HC punishesAssemblysecretary incontempt Vijayawada: The AndhraPradesh High Court,delivering the verdict in acontempt of court caseagainst Assembly secretaryBalakrishnamach-aryulu, onThursday asked the officer.

Aditya Nath Das assumescharge as Chief Secretary

PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP made key organisa-tional changes on Thursday,appointing joint general sec-retar y (organisation) VSatish to a newly-createdpost of 'organiser ' andSaudan Singh, who also heldthe same post, to that of vice-

president.Joint organisational secre-

tary Shiv Prakash will con-tinue in the same post butwith change in responsibili-ties. The BJP announcedthese new appointments in astatement.

Shiv Prakash to guideBJP’s AP, TS units

Won’t spare anyonedesecrating idols: CM

Jagan flags offdisaster,emergencyresponse vehiclesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy onThursday virtually flaggedoff 14 disaster response andemergency response vehiclesfrom his camp office atTadepalli.

The Chief Minister saidthat the vehicles shallstrengthen the existingmachinery of the PoliceDepartment fur therenhancing their effective-ness and also help dealwith tricky situations andmake the right decisions atthe field level.

He stated that this forcecan be mobilised to takepart in relief operations ofany serious disaster, asthese vehicles have specialequipment to save people’slives.

2

2

22 2 2

Former Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney congratulates her successor Aditya Nath Das upon the latter taking charge, at afunction arranged by staff of the General Administration Department, at Velagapudi Secretariat on Thursday.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | JANUARY 1, 2021

EGG RATES

` 50, 960 (10 gm)

` 00

GOLD

` 72, 400 (1kg)` 100

VIJAYAWADA 521

HYDERABAD 485

VISAKHAPATNAM 505

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀55.. 2211

SILVER

VIJAYAWADABULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `158

Without Skin `180

Broiler at Farm `109

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(IN HYDERABAD)

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

The preliminary investigationby the CID into the allegedinsider trading by the previousTDP government revealed thatthe much-hyped Inner RingRoad (IRR) design wasfinalised to benefit those whohad close links with a selectfew. These select groups of people

had worked in the proximity offormer Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu and werebelieved to be privy to the exactdetails of the IRR along withthe coordinates of theAmaravati capital city.

The IRR design was finalisedto aid a huge increase in realestate value of the lands ownedby them, the CID is believed tohave learnt.

More importantly, the CIDfound in the files that the IRRdesign was approved andfinalised at the intervention ofNaidu who was also the chair-man of CRDA.

CID is now looking if suchdecision making processeswere tailor-made to inflatethe real estate value of thelands held by these select fewin and around the Amaravaticapital.

After a Cabinet subcommit-tee submitted its report, theJaganmohan Reddy govern-ment had ordered a CID inves-tigation into the Amaravatiland scam.

The CID filed multipleFIRs and started investigatinginto the alleged murky landdeals.

According to the prelimi-nary investigation, the previ-ous TDP government plannedand finalised IRR inAmaravati, ostensibly to pro-vide quick and congestion-free

access to the new capital at alength of 96.25-km by provid-ing a link between Amaravati,Vijayawada and Guntur.

A gazette was also issuednotifying the IRR.

"It is to be noted that whilea few of the accused havepurchased lands right withinthe heart of the Amaravati cap-ital, a few of the accused havepurchased lands which areadjacent to the infrastructur-al assets such as Inner Ring

Road and adjacent to theboundary of the Land PoolingScheme Zone. The investiga-tion further revealed that thedesign of the Inner Ring Roadwas approved and finalised insuch a fashion as to benefit theaccused persons to cause ahuge increase in real estatevalue of the lands owned bythe accused," the CID recent-ly informed the High Court inan affidavit.

The affidavit f i led in

response to the writ filed bythe accused to quash an FIRregistered related to Amaravatiland scam said that variousfiles pointed out that theapproval and finalisation of theInner Ring Road was at theintervention of former chiefminister N ChandrababuNaidu, acting in the capacity ofthe Chairman of CRDA and PNarayana, Minister for MA &UD, as a member of theCRDA.

Amaravati IRR planned tobenefit TDP backers: CIDDesign approved at behest of Naidu who was also CRDA chairman

Amaravati location official in Dec, land deals struck by NovVijayawada: The CID found thatthere was no official record of thedecision-making process of the statebetween June and December 2014 asregards the exact location of theAmaravati capital city, its extent and thevillages comprised therein and theLand Pooling Scheme and otherinfrastructural assets. Curiously, all theland transactions that the CID has beenprobing were done between June andNovember in 2014 and in the samevillages where the core capital city wasto come up. The official recordsdisclosed that the only informa-tion letout into the public domain was inregard to the meeting of the stateCabinet on September 1, 2014 tolocate the Capital City in and aroundVijayawada. A further development, as

per the official record, is the meeting ofthe then Chief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu with the Advisory CommitteeMembers in his chambers on October25, 2014, about the dissolution of theexisting VGTMUDA and creation of theCRDA. The Advisory Committee that was setup by the TDP government to suggestthe capital city was also calledNarayana Committee. The CID foundthat the passage of events as officiallyrecorded had indicated that neither theminutes of the Advisory Committee onnew capital city set up by the then TDPgovernment, comprising P. Narayana,the then Municipal Minister, RajyaSabha Member YS Choudary, LokSabha Member Galla Jayadev andothers.

IRR was toconnect 27arterial roadsVijayawada: As per the finalalignment, the proposed IRRwas to connect 27 arterial roadsof the capital city. The IRR was to pass through41 villages of Krishna andGuntur, including a minor partof Kondapalli Reserve Forest.IRR required 3,521.76 acres forits completion.CRDA had also made someamendments to the ZonalDevelopment Plans of a fewvillages and tweaked the masterplan of Amaravati toaccommodate the IRR, as a fewareas were not a part of themaster plan. The eight-lane IRR was to havethe right-of-way of 75 metresand its construction was to betaken up in two phases. The first phase, of the length of68.08 km, was to be betweenNH-65 at Kethanakonda onHyderabad Highway and NH-16by-pass -at Vedurupavuluru viaChinakakani. The second phase,of 28.08 km, was to be laidbetween NH-16 by-pass atVedurupavuluru and NH65 -atKethanakonda on HyderabadHighway via Kondapalli.

MARTI SUBRAHMANYAMn AMARAVATI

Amaravati farmers, who havebeen agitating for over an yearagainst relocation of the statecapital, plan to travel to Delhiand express solidarity with theircompatriots from Punjab andHaryana who have been waginga stir against the Union govern-ment’s agricultural laws.

Two buses carrying the farm-ers will reach Delhi where theyhope to highlight their ownstruggle against the StateGovernment’s decentralisationdecision and garner support fortheir cause.

Farmers, mainly from Punjaband Haryana, have been stag-ing protests on the outskirts ofDelhi demanding repeal of theCentre’s contentious agricul-tural laws.

Barring the BJP and partnersof NDA, all other political out-fits are backing the farmers.

During the winter session ofthe Lok Sabha, Amaravati farm-ers and women had reachedDelhi and met national-levelleaders to seek their support totheir protests.

While the Congress and Leftexpressed solidarity with thefarmers, they remained a disap-pointed lot since there was notmuch difference on the ground.

They have now drawn inspi-ration from the Delhi protestsby farmers and hope that theongoing protest would alsodraw attention to their struggle.

Amaravati Mahila JAC con-vener Sunkara Padma said thatgoing to Delhi would hopeful-ly bear fruit.

Padma said that they hadalready met leaders of all polit-ical outfits in Delhi during theLok Sabha session and hopedthat the country would noticethe similarities between theirprotest and stir on the Delhiborders. “Amaravati farmersgot cheated at the hands of theGovernment after parting withtheir lands for Amaravati pro-

ject. The Jaganmohan Reddygovernment has been brandingfarmers who pooled their landsas ‘paid artistes’, she pointed out.

The proposed trip to Delhihas also found support of theAll-India Hindu MahasabhaAP president VelagapudiGopalakrishna Prasad.

“In view of Covid and fewermodes of commuting, protest-ers will reach Delhi in buses.There are many who want tojoin us, but we are taking a selectfew due to the biting cold inDelhi,” he said.

“Amaravati farmers have suf-fered financially, physically andmentally, but their resolve isfirm,” Prasad said.

Amaravati farmers to join stiragainst farm laws in Delhi

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Thursday said thestate government will set upmulti-purpose facility centres,Rythu Bharosa Kendras, thatwould include agriculturalmarketing and food processingcentres with an estimated bud-get of Rs 10,235 crore.

During a review meeting onDr YSR RBKs, AgriculturalMarketing, Food Processingand Amul project here, theChief Minister said the con-struction of multi-purposefacility centres should start inMarch 2021 and would becompleted within a year.

The facilities include ware-houses, drying platform, col-lection centres, cold rooms forstorage, custom hiring centres,primary processing centres,assaying equipment, janatabazaars, bulk milk coolingunits, cattle sheds and aquainfra in select villages, pro-curement centres and e-mar-keting.

The Chief Minister saidthat it was very important to

provide quality inputs to farm-ers on time. He said thatfarmers should be informedwhen seeds, fertilisers, pesti-cides, and the like will bedelivered as soon as they areordered and it should be dis-played in RBKs as well.

Jagan said quality aqua feedand aqua seed should be pro-vided through RBKs. The labsto be established at constituen-cy level to determine the qual-ity of feed and seeds should belinked with RBKs.

The products of organicand natural farming methodsshould be brought under

RBKs and they should be wellpublicised. Manufacturingunits of biopesticides andbiofertilisers should beencouraged at village level.

He said that "From Seed toSale" should be the motto ofRBKs and they should supportfarmers in all activities rang-ing form sowing seeds to sell-ing the crop.

He said agriculture univer-sities should prepare an actionplan for the effective function-ing of RBKs and also on theactivities of RBKs to be cate-gorised and a curriculumshould be prepared on market-ing, before harvest and afterharvest of the crop.

Officials informed the ChiefMinister that an additional 125Urban RBKs would be set upalong with 10,641 RBKs andthe vehicles count in RBKhubs has been increased to 154from existing 65.

They said 147 constituencylevel integrated labs will startfunctioning from March31and added that 13 districtlevel integrated agri labs willbe set up by June 30.

Continued from Page 1

Justice Rakesh Kumar, whohails from Bihar, served as ajudge of the AP High Court for18 months and was a part ofbenches that delivered severalverdicts against state govern-ments acts.

He has also pulled up thestate Director General of Policeover 'failure' to ensure rule oflaw.

"The High Court, with aview to protecting the rights ofcitizens has passed a number oforders setting aside incorrect orunsustainable orders passedby the Government of AndhraPradesh," Justice RakeshKumar noted in an order.

Just a day before his retire-ment, Justice Rakesh Kumar

made certain observations overthe transfer of the AP HighCourt Chief Justice, Justice JKMaheshwari.

"I am not raising any ques-tion on the transfer of Hon'bleChief Justices... but, at thesame time, I am constrained toobserve that transfer of HighCourt judges or its ChiefJustices may reflect some trans-parency and for betterment orupliftment of the administra-tion of justice," Justice RakeshKumar noted.

"After all, they are also hold-ing Constitutional post likemember of Hon'ble SupremeCourt Collegium," he had saidin an order by a division benchwhich directed criminal pros-ecution against an IAS officerfor perjury.

Multi-purpose facility centres tobe built at Rs 10,235cr

Jagan flags off disaster,

emergency response...Continued from Page 1

The vehicles are equippedwith various facilities likeradio equipment, publicaddress systems, networkvideo recording, and aredesigned to withstand severeconditions including fire tocome in handy during res-cue operations.

The Chief Ministerannounced to hand overanother 36 Emergenc yResponse Vehicles to thePolice Department, allocat-ing two vehicles of eachpolice district, to a total of18 police districts.

He said that the Stategovernment is going to givevehicles to the police depart-

ment for effective enforce-ment of the Disha Act.

All the vehicles will bedeployed from the controlroom immediately in case ofany incident, where eachvehicle can carry up to 10crew members to the sceneand has a facility to livetransmit the scene, thatallows to see and reviewhappenings at the scenedirectly from the controlroom. A total of 92 staffwere also specially trainedfor these vehicles, which arespecially focused to savehuman lives.

DGP Gautam Sawang andother senior police officialswere present at the launchevent.

Shiv Prakash to guideBJP’s AP, TS unitsContinued from Page 1

Shiv Prakash, who wasearlier looking after theparty's work in Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh and WestBengal, will now be posi-tioned in Bhopal, and willlook after the BJP's work inMadhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh, Telanganaand West Bengal.

Satish will now take careof coordination with theparty's parliamentary office,the SC/ST morcha and itsspecial contact programme.He was earlier looking after

the party 's work inRajasthan, Gujarat andMaharashtra. Saudan Singh,who was stationed in Raipurand looking after the party'swork in Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Bihar andJharkhand, will now be post-ed in Chandigarh and willtake care of the party's workin the union terr itor y,Har yana, Punjab andHimachal Pradesh.

All three leaders, Satish,Prakash and Singh, are full-time RSS pracharaks andwere loaned by the BJP'sideological parent to the saf-fron party.

People's farewell to retiring JudgeDGP, other toppolice brass...Continued from Page 1

The court heard the writand issued notices to the toppolice brass.

While counsel for the DIGMohana Rao appeared beforethe court, the principal sec-retary home, DGP and the IGneither made a personalappearance or through coun-sels. Angered at this, theHigh Court bench issuednotices asking these officialsto appear before it.

Later, the court posted thematter to January 25.

Continued from Page 1

The L aw Minis t r yalso notified the trans-fer of Justice SatishC h a n d r a S h a r m a ,judge of the MadhyaPradesh High Court,a s a j u d g e o f t h eKarnataka High Court.

Another notificationsaid Justice JoymalyaBagchi, judge of theCalcutta High Court,has been transferreda s a j u d g e o f t h eAndhra Pradesh HighCourt.

Centre notifiesCJ Maheswari...

HC punishesAssemblysecretary incontempt Continued from Page 1

The court also orderedthat Balakrishnamacharyuluwould have to undergoimprisonment for one weekif he defaulted on payment ofthe fine.

The HC observed that theAssembly secretary attractedcontempt of court by nothonouring the court verdicton outsourced employees.

ACT Fibernet, Forum Sujana Mall finedANUSHA PUPPALAn HYDERABAD

The Enforcement, Vigilanceand Disaster Management(EVDM) wing of the GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) hasfined ACT Fibernet, ForumSujana Mall and others heavi-ly for unauthorized advertise-ments in Hyderabad.

The EVDM collected Rs17,44,000 from ACT Fibernet,Rs 16,50,000 from ForumSujana Mall, and Rs 7,50,000from Sonovision this year.

The wing collected Rs5,00,000 fine from DSS GoldPvt Limited and Rs 4,50,000fine from GVK One Mall, Rs4,00,000 from Vijaya DiagnosticCentre, Rs 3,91,000 from OMBooks Foundation, Rs 3,00,000from Paradise, Rs 3,00,000 andRs 3,00,000 Kalyan Jewellers.On Thursday, the wing released

a list of fines collected fromthese establishments, after sev-eral citizens raised questions onwhether penalties levied arebeing collected.

Most of these establishmentshave erected unauthorisedadvertisements element above15 feet in height from theground level.

According to the authorities,erection of unauthorised adver-tisments, use of flashing lightsor non-static illumination in theadvertisements, use of moving,rotating or variable messageadvertising devices etc is anoffence committed under sec-tion 420,421 of the GHMC Act.

Srinivas, a resident said, "Assaid by EVDM there is changehappening, but it is not enough;a lot more needs to be done. Iprefer more than fining havingthe things removed and educat-ing them will bring the realchange. First politicians need to

change and make sure thattheir followers do not installflexies for each and every func-tion"(sic).

Vinay Vangla, a socialactivist, told The Pioneer, "Wecan witness the change, a lot ofestablishments started remov-ing/covering thedangerous/inconvenient hoard-ings to the citizens. Good jobdone by CEC team under theleadership of EVDM VishwajitIPS in the illegal advertise-ments area for the year 2020.

Request MAUD Minister toincrease the bandwidth to thiswing to assist public. If youobserve citizens are alsoinvolved in this program,Citizens Administration Goodpolicies is always a deadly com-bination for success. Wish wesoon see Swachh Hyderabadwith no public places deface-ments and increase in socialresponsibility in the Citizens".

Six arrestedfor childmarriagePNS n HYDERABAD

Six persons allegedly involvedin forcibly marrying a minorgirl to a 57-year-old manwere arrested by theFalaknuma Police onThursday.

The police rescued the vic-tim in the nick of time, withthe elderly groom fleeing thehotel in which he was staying.

The 16-year-old victim, aresident of Teegalkunta underthe Falaknuma Police Stationlimits, has been living withher aunt, Hoor Unnisa, afterher mother died a few yearsago. Her father had remarriedand has been living in anoth-er part of the city.

According to the police,earlier this month, HoorUnnisa conspired, along withher husband Mir Farhathullahand son Mir Rahmathullah,to marry the girl off to somerich person. For this purpose,they had sought the help oftwo brokers, MohammedAbdul Rahman and WaseemKhan. They found a manfrom Kerala who was willingto marry the girl, and accord-ingly the marriage was final-ized, said Gajarao Bhupal,DCP (South). On December27, they took the girl to theoffice of Qazi, MohammedBadiuddin Quadri, atMalakpet and solemnized themarriage, despite the girlresisting their attempts. Thepolice were alerted by thestep-brother of the girl, whoapproached the FalaknumaPolice. The police formedspecial teams and arrested allthe six persons, includingQuadri, though the groomfled the lodge in which he wasstaying before the police couldget him.

The police initially regis-tered a case under varioussections of the Child MarriageAct 2006, but later also addedSections 120 B, 376 (2) (I) (N)and 420 of IPC and alsoSection 5 (N) of POCSO Act.

KCR should mergeTRS with BJP, says CongressPNS n HYDERABAD

Former Minister MohammedAli Shabbir on Thursdayadvised Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao to offi-cially merge TelanganaRashtra Samithi (TRS) withBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ashis government was imple-menting all the anti-peoplepolicies of Modi Government.

"Chief Minister first enact-ed the drama of opposing newfarm laws of BJP governmentand even supported theBharat Bandh call given byfarmers'

organisation. He then tooka U-turn and announced sup-port for the contentious agri-cultural laws. KCR also tooka U-turn on the implementa-tion of Ayushman BharatYojna in Telangana which hehad opposed earlier on thepretext that Aarogyasri wasmore comprehensive and bet-ter. Therefore, instead of

enacting the dramas of rival-ry to cheat people, KCRshould officially merge TRSwith the BJP," Shabbir Alisaid adding that TRS-BJPmerger would be best NewYear's gift for people ofTelangana as they wouldrealise that Modi-KCR wereequal partners in deceivingthem.

Shabbir Ali, in a media state-ment on Thursday, said thatTRS has been working as the B-Team of BJP since beginning."KCR supported all the movesof Prime Minister NarenderModi. He was the first CM tosupport demonitisation, GSTand NITI Ayog. TRS MPsvoted for BJP's candidates in theelections for President of India,Vice-President and DeputyChairman of Rajya Sabha. CMalso supported BJP in TripleTalaq Bill, Article 370 andother issues. CM also support-ed the NRC and did not opposeCAA in a formal manner.

SCR to run spltrains betweenVizag andLingampalli PNS n HYDERABAD

In order to clear extra rush, theSouth Central Railway will runspecial trains betweenVisakhapatnam andLingampalli and will be fullyreserved for passengers. TrainNo. 02831 Visakhapatnam -Lingampalli festival special trainwill be operated from January9 to 31, which will departVisakhapatnam at 6.20 am andarrive Lingampalli at 7.40 pmon the same day. In the returndirection, Train No. 02832Lingampalli - Visakhapatnamfestival special train will departLingampalli from January 10

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | JANUARY 1, 2021

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

RINL-Visakhapatnam Steel Plantchairman and managing direc-tor PK Rath on Thursday inau-gurated a roof-top solar powerplant at TTI building here.

“RINL is always on the fore-front in implementing environ-ment friendly projects and thisis one of those,” said Rath, con-gratulating the employees whostrove hard to complete theproject on time and encour-aged them to maintain thesame pace with the upcomingprojects.

Rooftop solar power plantwas designed, supplied andcommissioned by M/sCleanmax Enviro energysolutions pvt ltd, Mumbai as

a part of Power purchaseagreement for a period of 25years with RINL for setting up500kW Rooftop solar pro-jects. RINL’s Directors, EDs,Senior off icers,Representatives of executiveassociation and trade unionsand employees participated inthe function.

The 29th formation day cel-ebrations of Visakha SteelGeneral Hospital (VSGH) took

place at TTI Auditorium atRINL-VSP on Thursday.

Addressing the gathering,chief guest PK Rath congratu-lated all the staff of VSGH whoprovided their services withdedication and sinceritythroughout the tense peakperiod of Covid-19. He saidthat the way RINL foughtagainst the Covid-19 gave con-fidence and it was a moraleboost for the entire RINL fra-

ternity. Kishore Chandra Das,

Director (Personnel), RINL,the guest of honour also appre-ciated the VSGH collective fortheir dedicated services. Healso lauded the cooperationand coordination rendered byTown Administration Dept,HR Dept and Works Dept incontaining the Covid 19 in thepremises of Vizag Steel and itsTownship.

He reminded that VSGHtook many timely health initia-tives like making ready forfever clinic, Covid ward, ven-tilators and quarantine centresetc. He thanked the Covidvolunteers who offered theirservices during the criticalperiod.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Former minister and seniorTDP leader Ch Ayyana Patruduon Thursday blamed the 'neg-ligent and indifferent' attitude ofthe YSRCP Government for theunchecked attacks on Hindutemples and idols all over theState over the past 19 months.

Ayyana Patrudu also pointedout that BJP AP president SomuVeerraju was unusually silentover the latest act of desecration.

In a statement here, the TDPleader wondered why Veerrajuwas not opening his mouth onthe desecration of the Sriramaidol when he used to speak ofSrirama as the sole property ofthe BJP.

“Even Swamijis andPeethadhipatis are not breakingtheir silence on theRamatheertham incident. Suchatrocities only happen if a crim-inal facing a large number ofcases is given power,” the TDPleader said.

“It’s deplorable that an inef-ficient and undeserving ChiefMinister does not dare to con-demn the incident for obviousreasons. The criminals and

gangsters are rearing their uglyheads ever since the YSRCPcame to power,” he said.

The former minister saidthat Sanchaita Gajapati Rajuwas brought to destroyMANSAS in order to loot thehuge property. “Sanchaita waslike a ganja plant in the lushgreen Ashoka garden,” AyyanaPatrudu said.

Terming it a Constitutionalobligation for any Governmentto respect all religions, he saidthat a strange situation wasprevailing in Andhra Pradesh.“The Jagan regime is followingits own Constitution and attackscontinue unabated on theHindu temples and idols. TheTDP would agitate and contin-ue its fight till justice is done,”he added.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Vizianagaram district saw a 4.5per cent increase in crime againstwomen and 20 per cent increasein crime against children thisyear compared to 2019.

The bodily offencesincreased in the district whileproperty offences decreasedslightly in 2020.

Vizianagaram police chief BRaja Kumari said that in thecategory of ‘crime againstwomen’, a total of 505 caseswere reported in 2020 whilethe number was 483 in 2019 inthe district.

This included four rapes, tenmurders (women), two dowrymurders, 31 statutory rapes,231 cases of harassment, sevencases of abetment of suicideand 214 cases of outrage ofmodesty of women.

In crime against children inthe district, a total of 77 caseswere reported in 2020 while itwas 64 in 2019. The police saidthat rapes increased to 10 in2020 from four in 2019 and alsothe incidents of kidnapping ofgirls increased to 22 from 13. Atotal of 25 statutory rapes werereported in the category.

Raja Kumari said that of the

77 cases of crime against chil-dren in the district in 2020, 63cases were registered under theProtection of Children fromSexual Offences Act-2012.Similarly, in 2019, out of the 64cases of crime against children,60 cases were registered underPOCSO-Act. “We have openedrowdy-sheets against 28 per-sons for committing crimes

against children in this year,”she added.

The police officer said thata total of 309 property offenceswere reported and propertyworth Rs 1.34 crore was stolenin the district in 2020 while thenumber was 327 cases and theproperty lost was Rs 1.3 crorein 2019. The police managed todetect 53 per cent of the prop-erty offences and recovered 64per cent of the stolen proper-ty in this year.

Cyber crooks continued todupe netizens with innovativemethods in 2020 as there wasa marginal decrease in thecybercrime. A total of 75cybercrimes were reported in2020 while the number was 98in 2019 in the district. Over 50per cent of the total cyber-crime were related to financialfrauds.

TDP decries attacks ontemples, targets political rivals

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Revealing that the StateGovernment has released Rs17,904 crore in 2019-20 toclear subsidy arrears, EnergyMinister Balineni SrinivasReddy on Thursday said thatthis was part of the measurestaken to improve the financesof Discoms.

“Out of subsidy arrears of Rs13,391 crore pending as onMarch 31, 2019, the State gov-ernment released Rs 8,655crore in 2019-20 and Rs 9,249crore towards subsidyannounced in 2019-20 andother charges,” Balineni said.

He was addressing electric-ity department employees afterunveiling the New Year calen-dar and diary of APTransco,APGenco, Discoms, APSECM,APSEEDCO and APNRED-CAP at a programme organ-ised by the APCPDCL atVidyut Soudha on Thursday.

Balineni added that the stategovernment also released Rs20,384 crore to Discoms to

clear the bills that were pend-ing as on March 31, 2019. Thetotal bills cleared by theDiscoms were Rs 34,384 crorein 2019- 20, he said.

The Minister said the stategovernment wants to create asustainable and financiallyrobust power sector in theState and provide round-the-clock access to affordable andquality electricity to all sectorsin the State for now and futuregenerations as well.

“The State will witness arapid growth in various sectors,including industrial and agri-cultural which will drive elec-tricity growth manifold in thefuture. In view of this, the gov-ernment has strongly deter-mined to strengthen powerutilities to address the futurechallenges,” the Minister said.

Stating that providinground-the-clock access toaffordable and quality electric-ity to all sectors was the prime

objective of the Government,Balineni said that all out effortswere being made rescue powerutilities from the financial cri-sis.

“As the Government hadfocused more on cost effectivepower, the utilities successful-ly procured low cost power inthe open market. TheGovernment is determined tomake Andhra Pradesh the des-tination for cost effectivepower. This would benefitevery consumer in the Stateand boost industrial and eco-nomic development,” theMinister said.

He said that the Governmentwas also giving top priority tothe agriculture sector andimplementing 9-hours freepower during day time to all18.5 lakh agriculture services.The government also allocatedRs 8,353.58 crore to the freepower scheme and released Rs1700 crore to improve powersupply infrastructure, includingnew substations and moderni-sation of lines, Balineni added.

`̀17,904 crore released tostrengthen Discoms: Balineni

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national general secre-tary and former MinisterNara Lokesh, along with theparty senior leaders, onThursday took part in thefuneral rites of slain leaderNandam Subbaiah inProddatur. Thousands of sup-porters and sympathisers alsobade adieu to Subbaiah.

Lokesh said that TDP chiefN Chandrababu Naidu hadannounced financial assis-tance of Rs 20 lakh on behalfof the party for Subbaiahfamily. All put together, theTDP and its Kadapa districtleaders had extended Rs 34lakh to Aparajita, wife of theslain leader, and their children.

Addressing a press con-ference, Lokesh demandedimmediate arrest ofProddatur MLARachamallu Siva PrasadaReddy, his brother-in-lawBangaru Reddy and alsoMunicipal CommissionerN. Anuradha.

The DSP, who was nowinvestigating the case, mustspeed up the investigationand file the chargesheet at theearliest. The accused shouldbe produced in court, theTDP leader demanded.

Lokesh pleaded for quickand impartial action from thepolice, failing which all theTDP leaders and cadreswould storm into Proddaturto press for justice.

“Action should be taken toinclude the names of the MLA,his brother-in-law and themunicipal commissioner inthe FIR before the 15-daydeadline. The DSP had alreadytaken the statement of Aparajitaunder Section 161 and assuredto file it in the court for takingfurther action as per her state-ment,” Lokesh added.

Tie up leaders,officials to treesif they demandbribes: MLA PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

YSRCP MLA (Palamaner) NVenkate Gowda on Thursdayasked beneficiaries of govern-ment schemes to tie up lead-ers or government officials toa tree if they demandedbribes to sanction their ben-efits.

“You tie any person, be itleaders or governmentemployees and inform thepolice or me,” said the pub-lic representative.

His comment soon wentviral on social networkingplatforms.

“YSRCP government hasdelivered its promises launch-ing various schemes for thebenefit of people. We wouldnot let any person ask for abribe for issuing benefitsunder any scheme,” he said.

“Opposition parties havebeen spreading false propa-ganda that money is beingdemanded from the benefi-ciaries for schemes such ashousing and land pattas inmy constituency,” the MLAsaid.

Lokesh demandsarrest ofProddatur MLA

Outgoing Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney takes a picture for posterity with her successor Aditya Nath Das at a functionarranged by staff of the General Administration Department of Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday

Rooftop solar power plant at RINL

Tirumala Pedda Jeeyar praysto Balaji on his TirunakshatramPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Pontiff of Tirumala PeriyaKoil Kelvi Appan ShatagopaRamanuja Pedda JeeyarSwami had the benign bless-ings of Lord Venkateswara inTirumala temple on the occa-sion of his 71stTirunakshatram onThursday.

The senior pontiff was cer-

emonially brought fromBanyan tree near the oldAnnadanam building to BediAnjaneya temple and afterdarshan and Shatari wastaken to Srivari templeamidst Mangala Vaidyam forSrivari Darshan.

It may be mentioned herethat the Tirumala Pedda JiyarMutt was set up by exponentof Visishta Advaita philoso-

phy by BhagavadRamanujacharya. All thedaily Kaikaryas, utsavas, rit-uals and religious practices atthe Srivari temple are eingsupervised by the Pedda JiyarSwami.

TTD Trust Board chair-man YV Subba Reddy, TTDEO KS Jawahar Reddy, addi-tional EO AV Dharma Reddyand others were present.

Crime against kids up by 20% inVizianagaram, 4.5% against women

Waltair Railwaydivision transportsfirst fly-ash rakefrom NTPCPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

With focus on new areas offreight traffic, WaltairRailway Division of EastCoast Railway transportedthe first fly-ash rake fromSimhadri Super ThermalPower Plant (NTPC),Visakhapatnam.

The rake is being loaded toACC limited private sidingserved by Thondebhavi sta-tion, South Western Railway,which is about 944 km fromthe Simhadri Super ThermalPower Plant.

The fly ash generated atNTPC stations as a byprod-uct is dumped into the sea orother land filling locations.This causes environmentalpollution and is also a safetyhazard.

The fly ash is ideal for usein the manufacture ofcement, concrete, concreteproducts, cellular concreteproducts, bricks/blocks/ tilesetc. Mostly, the fly ash istransported by road which isleading to environmental pol-lution.

n 10,361 FIRs registered in 2020 against 8,492 in 2019

n 2,774 cases were related to Covid-19lockdown violations

n 155 cases cheating andeconomic offences casesregistered

n 97 cases of crime against SCs/STs

n Bodily offences increased from 535 from 436

Figures speak

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-run engineering firmBHEL on Thursday said it hasbagged orders worth Rs 3,200crore for hydro projects inAndhra Pradesh andTelangana.

"BHEL has bagged signifi-cant orders, valued at Rs 3,200crore, for Electro-Mechanical(E&M) works for a HydroElectric Project (HEP) inAndhra Pradesh and E&M(electrical and mechanical)works of pump-motor sets forLift Irrigation Schemes (LIS) inTelangana," a BHEL statementsaid.

The order for E&M worksfor 12x80 MW Polavaramhydro power project in AndhraPradesh envisages manufactureand supply of India's highestunit-rating Kaplan hydro tur-bines, the company said.

Polavaram project, beingdeveloped by Andhra Pradesh

Power Generation CorporationLimited (APGENCO), is locat-ed in the East Godavari districtof Andhra Pradesh.

Pump-motor sets order forLIS projects in Telanganainclude 15 sets (1,992 MW) forKaleshwaram LIS and 13 sets(1,885 MW) for Palamuru-Rangareddy LIS (package 1 &16). These LIS projects arebeing developed by theIrrigation & CAD Department,government of Telangana.

BHEL is also executinganother order for 18 pump-motor sets of Palamuru-

Rangareddy LIS (package 5&8)in Telangana.

The above orders have beenreceived by BHEL from theEPC (engineering procure-ment and construction) con-tractor for the projects MeghaEngineering & InfrastructureLimited (MEIL).

BHEL's scope of work in allthe above projects includesdesign, engineering, manufac-turing, supply and supervisionof erection, testing & commis-sioning of the equipment andassociated auxiliaries.

Major equipment for the

projects will be manufacturedat BHEL's manufacturing unitsin Bhopal, Jhansi, Rudrapurand Bengaluru while supervi-sion of Erection andCommissioning (E&C) at sitewill be done by BHEL's powersector — Southern Regiondivision, Chennai.

BHEL has been a significantpartner in the development ofthe hydro power sector ofAndhra Pradesh andTelangana, with its setsaccounting for 72 per centand 44 per cent of the installedcapacity respectively.

Moreover, BHEL setsaccount for 45 per cent of theIndia's total installed hydropower capacity and BHEL'sportfolio of over 500 hydro-electric sets, with a cumulativecapacity of more than 30,000MW globally, is a testimony toBHEL's market leadership inthe hydro business segment,the company added.

Jobless, lockdown victims are easy prey for cyber crooks SUMIT ONKA

n VISAKHAPATNAM

Cyber crooks are finding grad-uates in Vizag, left unemplo-yed due to the Covid-19 pan-demic, soft targets these days.

Every month, at least 10 to15 youngsters from Vizag cityare falling victim to online jobfrauds. The actual number ofvictims could be much higheras most of the youngsters hes-itate to lodge complaints withthe police.

The cyber crooks are com-ing up with new methods todupe the gullible, and oftendesperate unemployed young-sters on the pretext of onlinejobs and also employment invarious private firms.

Inspector of Cybercrimespolice station, Vizag, RVRKChoudhary said that somefake firms and consultanciesregister with job search sites toidentify their victims as theunemployed young graduates(BTech, MBA, MTech, BScand other courses) registerwith them.

“Based on the request of thefirms, the job search sites,which receive CVs from aspi-

rant youngsters shortlist andsend the CVs to those firms.The fake firms and consultan-cies sent mails to gullible per-sons and later conductedinterviews over phone. Theunemployed are offered place-ments in various firms andasked to give some amount —from Rs 1lakh to Rs 3 lakh —for the appointment letters,”he said.

The delay in getting the

appointment letters make theaspirants suspicious and theywithdraw from the job offerand demand for the refund.

When they don't get theirmoney back, they realise thatthey have been cheated. TheCovid-19 pandemic is amongthe major reasons for the risein such crimes.

An MBA graduate fromVizag city KS Kumar (namechanged) was looking for a job

either in metro cities or in tier-II cities via a job search site. Adecent offer from a Delhibased firm tempted him.

However, by the time Kumarrealised that it was a scam, hehad paid over Rs 1 lakh (forregistration fee, laptop, insur-ance and others). Kumarapproached cops of cyber-crime police station in Vizagcity seeking action against thecyber crooks.

BHEL is alsoexecuting anotherorder for 18 pump-motor sets ofPalamuru-RangareddyLIS in Telangana

BHEL bags Rs 3,200 cr projects in AP, TS

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | JANUARY 1, 2021 nation 04

SHORT TAKES

Two killed as ambulance hits bike on Shishganj-Chaneta road

The New Year celebrations in thestate will be a low key affair as

the state police have imposed strictguidelines regarding the same. Thehealth department has alreadyissued guidelines to organisecelebrations adhering to strictCovid protocol. With the state

showing a steady surge of Covid positive cases after the local bodyelections, the government is not taking any risks. The state policehas issued orders to end all the celebrations by 10 p.m. and thishas not gone down well with the people of the state. On conditionof anonymity, a senior health department official said. “There is anincrease in the number of Covid cases in the state and local bodypolls have added to this. We need to conduct maximum number oftests and we know that several people are allowing themselves theluxury of not adhering to Covid protocol. This has to be objectedand opposed." On the strict orders of the state police, MithunGeorge, a student activist, said, "It is very unfortunate that the statepolice has brought in such an order. People were planning for thecelebrations from last few months.”

Bring back 39 Indian sailorsstuck in China: Sena

The Shiv Sena on Thursdayurged the Centre to bring

back the 39 Indian sailorsstranded in Chinese waters.Party spokesperson and RajyaSabha member PriyankaChaturvedi raised the issue withExternal Affairs Minister SJaishankar in a letter. "The 39

sailors have been left to their fate without much support from thecentral government and their families are struggling to get themback. The families of the sailors, many of whom are based inMaharashtra, have been running from pillar to post with no help insight," she said. Two cargo vessels- MV Anastasia and MV JagAnand- with 39 Indians on board have been on anchorage inChinese waters as they were not allowed to unload their cargothough some other ships have managed to do so.

NY celebrations to remain low key affair in Kerala

Two men were killedwhen their motorcycle

was hit by an ambulanceon the Shishganj-Chanetaroad in Uttar Pradesh'sBareilly district, police saidon Thursday. The deceasedwere identified as RamPrakash (30) and hisrelative Indrapal (20), theysaid. Ram Prakash died on

the spot in the accident that occurred on Wednesday evening nearBhitauli Nagla village, Circle Officer (CO) Mirganj Ramanand Raisaid. After getting information about the incident, police reachedthe spot and took Indrapal to hospital, where he was declared dead,the CO said. The official said efforts are on to trace the ambulancedriver who fled the scene after the accident. The bodies were sentfor post-mortem, police said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

There is no clinical evidenceto prove low levels of VitaminD lead to severe COVID-19symptoms but there is a defi-nite connect between the“sunshine vitamin” andimmune responses to the dis-ease, say experts as the pan-demic spreads across theworld and concerns mountover a new mutant strain.

Stressing that Vitamin D isinexpensive and has negligiblerisk when compared to theconsiderable risk of COVID-19, global researchers on thedisease have asked govern-ments to make it part of theirstrategy against the novelcoronavirus.

Many factors such as age,being male and comorbiditiesare known to predispose indi-viduals to higher risk fromexposure to SARS-CoV-2, butinadequate Vitamin D is by farthe most easily and quicklymodifiable risk factor withabundant evidence to sup-port a large beneficial effect,said Prof Afrozul Haq, formerdean of the School ofInterdisciplinary Sciences andTechnology (SIST) at NewDelhi 's Jamia HamdardUniversity.

He is one of the 170 expertswho earlier this month wrotean open letter on the matter.

Calling for immediate wide-spread increased Vitamin Dintake, the letter posted on thewebsite vitamindforall.orgstates that “research showslow vitamin D levels almostcertainly promote COVID-19 infections, hospitalisations,and deaths”.

“This campaign group ofVitamin D and COVID-19researchers, including myself,started the process to writethis letter for the purpose tomake all aware about the ben-efits of Vitamin D supplemen-tation in COVID-19 infectedpatients and sending this let-ter to all health ministries,healthcare workers, govern-

mental bodies and NGOs,”Haq told PTI.

According to the letter,which had 171 signatories byWednesday, evidence suggeststhe possibility that theCOVID-19 pandemic sustainsitself in large part throughinfection of those with lowVitamin D and deaths areconcentrated largely in thosewith deficiency.

“The mere possibility that

this is so should compelurgent gathering of more vit-amin D data. Even withoutmore data, the preponder-ance of evidence indicatesthat increased vitamin Dwould help reduce infections,hospitalizations, ICU admis-sions, & deaths,” it said.

As debate on the matterescalated, immunologistVineeta Bal added a note ofscepticism, noting that most

of the experts are based indeveloped countries whereVitamin D daily supplementa-tion may be feasible, practicaland affordable.

“But that is not the casewith India. Vitamin D defi-ciency is extremely commonin India. Regular supplemen-tation is not part of standardrecommendations, not evenfor pregnant women,” Bal,visiting professor at Pune'sIndian Institute of ScienceEducation and Research, toldPTI.

“If individuals are heavily defi-cient, supplementation as recom-mended in the letter is likely totake weeks or months to achievedesirable levels of Vitamin D inthe serum,” she said.

The scientist added thatthis cannot be considered anemergency measure, when thecountry lacks manpower andfacilities even for the vaccineprogramme.

In her view, Vitamin D sup-plementation should be along-term, non-emergencymeasure and something thatcould be useful in theCOVID-19 scenario as well.

“Not just Vitamin D, othervitamins and micronutrientssuch as zinc have also shownbeneficial effects,” sheexplained. According to ProfSrijit Mishra, another signato-ry to the letter, the recommen-dation is Vitamin D intake foradults of up to 4,000 interna-tional Units (IU) or 100microgrammes (mcg) daily.Those at an increased risk ofdeficiency due to excessweight, dark skin, or living incare homes may need higherintakes.

“The current evidence sug-gests that 25-hydroxyvitaminD serum levels over 30nanograms per millilitre(ng/ml), a test to measureVitamin D level is a widelyendorsed minimum to reduceCOVID-19 risk,” Mishra, fromMumbai's Indira GandhiInstitute of DevelopmentResearch (IGIDR), said.

Covid: Low-risk Vitamin D canstrengthen immune response PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

In an unprecedented move,BJP's lone member in theKerala Assembly, ORajagopal, on Thursday, sup-ported the resolution seekingscrapping of the three con-tentious farm laws againstwhich farmers have been agi-tating for over a month at theDelhi border.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan had moved the reso-lution at a special session onThursday which was unani-mously passed by the Housewith the ruling LDF,Opposition Congress-ledUDF and the BJP supportingit.

"The resolution was passedunanimously. I have told myviews... with regard to somematters (in the resolution)there was a difference ofopinion, which I had point-ed out in the House",Rajagopal told mediapersonsafter the session.

"I fully support the resolu-tion", he said.

When pointed out that theresolution was for scrappingthe three central farm laws,Rajagopal said he supportedit (resolution).

"I supported the resolutionand the central governmentshould withdraw the threefarm laws," the senior BJPleader said, adding he agreedwith the general consensus inthe House. That is the demo-cratic spirit, he added.

Speaker P Sreeramakrsihanansaid the resolution had beenpassed by the House and no onehad objected.

When pointed that he wasgoing against his party'sstand, Rajagopal said in ademocratic system, we needto go as per consensus.

While speaking during thesession, Rajagopal had saidthe new laws will protectfarmers interests and middle-men will be avoided.

Those opposing the lawswere standing against farm-ers, he said adding the newlaws would double theincome of farmers.

PNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Expressing solidarity with theagitating farmers in Delhi, theKerala Assembly on Thursdayunanimously passed a resolutiondemanding the immediatewithdrawalof the threecontentiouscentral laws, saying they were"anti-farmer" and "pro-corporate"and would push the farmingcommunity into a deep crisis. In arare gesture, not only thelegislators of the ruling CPI(M)-headed LDF and Congress-ledUDF, but the lone BJP member inthe 140-member state Assembly,O Rajagopal, also supported theresolution against the Centre,saying "it is the democratic spirit."However, Rajagopal opposedsome of the references in theresolution, which was presentedin a nearly two-hour-long specialsession convened in compliancewith COVID-19 protocols. Movingthe resolution, Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan alleged that thecentral laws have been amendedto help the corporates. The Centrehad presented and passed thethree agriculture laws inParliament at a time when theagriculture sector was facing asevere crisis, he said. "The threecontentious agri laws werepassed even without sendingthem to the standing committeeof Parliament. If this agitationcontinues, it will severely affectKerala, which is a consumerstate," he said. Stating that thereforms in the field of agricultureshould be implemented ascarefully envisioned, he said withthe implementation of the laws,the bargaining power of farmerswould be weakened, giving anadvantage to the corporate sector.The laws did not have anyprovision to ensure legalprotection for farmers, Vijayansaid adding that they do not havethe capacity to wage a legal battlewith the corporates for this. It

was clear that the major cause ofthe agitation was the possibleprice drop for agricultureproducts due to these laws, headded. As agriculture is the statesubject and it is an issue whichdirectly affects the states, theUnion Government should haveconvened the meetings of theinter-state committees and helddetailed consultations, he said."So, the Kerala Assembly requeststhe Centre to accept thejustifiabledemands raised byfarmers, who are the backbone ofthe country, and take immediatesteps to withdraw the threecontroversial farm laws," the ChiefMinister added. The session washeldafter Governor ArifMohammed Khan had in anunprecedented action earlierturned down the plea of the LDFgovernment to convene a specialsession on December 23 todiscuss the contentious lawssaying Chief Minister Vijayan hadnot addressed the question raisedby him on the nature ofemergency warranting the verybrief session. Law Minister A KBalan and Agricultural Minister VS Sunil Kumar, had met Khan onFriday last after the stategovernment decided afresh toconvene a one day session onDecember 31 to discuss and passa resolution against the farmlaws. Leader of OppositionRamesh Chennithala, who is in

quarantine after recovering fromCOVID-19, was not present in theHouse. In his reply,seniorcongress leader K C Joseph(Congress) attacked the Governorfor not convening the house onDecember 23. Joseph saidthough the Governor's act was achallenge to democracyas arecommendation of a majoritygovernment had not beenaccepted, "what surprised us wasthe cold response of thegovernment to the Governor'saction". Two ministers were thensent with Christmas cake to theRaj Bhavan and they pleadedbefore the Governor to convenethe session, he charged.Joseph said the controversiallaws were passed by the Centre100 days ago and some stategovernments,includingPunjab, had already passed aresolution against it andbroughtin a legislation.The state government shouldhave brought in a legislation andpassed a resolution, he saidadding the three laws wereunconstitutional and against thefederal structure as states werenot consulted. Raising objections,the BJP legislator, Rajagopal saidthose who oppose the centrallaws were the ones who opposefarmers. "The Congress hadmentioned this law in theirelection manifesto before. Thenew law is meant to double theincome of farmers," he saidduring the discussion.However, he did not object to itwhen the Speaker PSreeramakrishnan put theresolution for voice vote."The resolution was passedunanimously. I have told myviews... with regard to somematters (in the resolution) therewas a difference of opinion, whichI had pointed to in the House. Ifully support the resolution,"Rajagopal told mediapersons afterthe session.

Lone BJP member in Ker Assemblysupports resolution against farm laws

Ker Assembly passes unanimousresolution against central farm laws

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi's call to convert 'aapda'(crisis) into 'avsar' (opportuni-ty) paid the BJP rich dividendsin a year when the COVID-19convulsed the society and theeconomy as a mix of the rulingdispensation's welfare measures,organisational might and ideo-logical drive saw the saffronparty gain new territories in2020.

Governments in most of theworld saw their approval ratingsdip as they struggled to containthe raging virus, which hit econ-omy hard everywhere, butIndian politics followed a differ-ent script, with the outgoing yearmarking further shrinking of arudderless Congress while theruling BJP soared riding onModi's enduring appeal.

However, challenges emergedfor the BJP as the year drew toa close.

Mass protests from a largesection of farmers, especiallyfrom Punjab, against sweepingreforms brought in the agricul-ture sector through three laws bythe Modi government have pre-sented it with one of the mostserious challenges since it firstcame to power in 2014.

Shiromani Akali Dal, one ofthe BJP's oldest and steadfastallies, severed its ties with theparty, leaving the Modi cabinetwithout any representation froma non-BJP party.

The party's ties with theJD(U) are also far from smoothas the Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar's party is stillsmarting from its poor show inthe state assembly polls owing toChirag Paswan's Lok JanshaktiParty's decision to go all out

against it while lauding the BJP. The larger political fallout of

the agitation, spearheaded byfarmer unions, remains untest-

ed but its durability throughweeks of protests at Delhi bor-ders amid a harsh winter cou-pled with its potential to trigger

wider unrest India have seen theBJP making hectic efforts toreach out to the peasantry, whilethe government works to defusethe crisis.

If the year started on a badnote for BJP president J PNadda, who took over from theformidable Amit Shah inJanuary, after the party sufferedyet another rout in the Delhiassembly polls in February in itsfirst major elections under him,he is now likely to look back at2020 with more than a touch ofsatisfaction.

The BJP for the first timeemerged as the driver of theNational Democratic Alliance inBihar as its superlative show ofwinning 74 of the 110 seats itcontested in the 243-seat assem-bly polls ensured that Kumarretained his chair despite hisparty's dismal performance. TheJD(U) won only 43 of the 115

seats it fought. The BJP's perfor-mance in Bihar despite apparentanti-incumbency factor at workagainst Kumar was notable as itwas powered largely by the cen-tral government's welfare mea-sures during the pandemic andModi's appeal amid absence ofany regional leader with a state-wide draw. The prime minister'scall for converting the 'aapda' inthe form of the COVID-19 cri-sis into 'avsar' was apparentlyembraced by voters who wereimpressed with his pro-poorprogrammes and campaign for'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

The ground-breaking cere-mony of the Ram temple by theprime minister in August fol-lowed by enactment of so called'love jihad' laws, whose consti-tutionality has been questionedby critics, helped the party con-solidate its Hindutva core basefurther.

BJP gains new grounds in ’20 but ryots protest poses challenge

PNS n NEW DELHI

Four persons who recently cameto Delhi from the UK and testedpositive for COVID-19, have beenfound infected with the newstrain of coronavirus, HealthMinister Satyendar Jain said onThursday. Interacting withreporters, he said, a total of 38people have been found positivesince coming to Delhi from theUK recently, and kept in aseparate institutional isolationunit in the LNJP Hospitalpremises. "Four such patientshave been found infected withthe new UK strain of COVID-19.The persons who came in theircontact have been also tracedand tested, and its not in them.So, only these four cases of newstrain in Delhi so far," he said."Flights have been stopped andthose who came before that arebeing traced and testedrigorously," he added. Delhirecorded 677 COVID-19 casesand 21 new fatalities onWednesday, even as thepositivity rate dropped to 0.8 percent, authorities said."Positivity rate has dropped to0.8 per cent from 15.26 per centon November 7. About 85 percent beds are vacant, so thesituation has improved a lot.

And, so, it had been decided tomake LNJP Hospital and GTBHospital, partial COVID-19facilities now. All services,including the OPD will be soonresumed gradually," Jain said.On the preparedness for thevaccination, he said, work is onto set up 1,000 vaccinationcentres. Jain said the nightcurfew has been imposed as thesituation is under control rightnow, but huge gatherings couldspell trouble again. The Delhigovernment has imposed nightcurfew from 11 pm to 6 am onDecember 31 and January 1 toavoid large gatherings duringNew Year celebrations due toCOVID-19 and its highly

transmissible UK strain. A formalorder stated that not more thanfive people will be allowed toassemble at public places inDelhi during night curfew toavoid large gatherings in view ofCOVID-19. On COVID-biowastegeneration, he said, it is theresponsibility of the civic bodiesand they are doing it. Amidmounting concerns over the newvariant of the COVID-19, theDelhi government had earlier saidthat people who had arrived hererecently from that country, arebeing traced and tested, while aninstitutional quarantine facilityhas been set up separately forpositive cases at the LNJPHospital.

Over 36K ventilators delivered togovt hospitals amid Covid: GovtPNS n NEW DELHI

The Health Ministry said onThursday that it had ensureddelivery of 36,433 ventilators togovernment hospitals in thecountry and the average costnow ranges between Rs 2-10lakh as the domestic industrytook up manufacturing of theequipment.

The ministry underlinedthat all public health facilitiesin the country had only around16,000 ventilators from theIndependence till pre-COVIDtimes.

But in less than 12 months,36,433 'Make in India' ventila-tors have been supplied to allthe public health facilities, itsaid in a statement.

All export restrictions onventilators have now beenremoved and 'Make in India'ventilators are being exported.The year witnessed tremen-dous achievements in the med-ical supplies sector in thecountry, the ministry said.

"At the beginning of thepandemic, India was almosttotally dependent on import-ed ventilators, PPE kits and N-95 masks," it said. "There were,

in fact, no standard specifica-tions for these products whichare essential in the fight againstthe pandemic."

The central governmentrecognised the challengesposed by the pandemic in thevery initial stages and success-fully ensured more than ade-quate availability and suppliesof essential medical itemsacross the country, accordingto the ministry.

In the case of personal pro-tective equipment (PPE), Indiahas now become the world'ssecond-largest manufacturerfrom a miniscule domesticproduction capacity in March.There is a production capaci-ty of more than 10 lakh PPEcoveralls per day and it is also

exported to several countries,the ministry said.

There are already nearly1,700 indigenous manufactur-ers and suppliers registered onthe government e-marketplace,with dozens already certifiedby the Bureau of IndianStandards. Nearly 1.7 crorelakh PPE kits have been dis-tributed free of cost to thestates, Union territories andcentral institutions.

"The buffer stock of PPE kitsavailable with the central andstate governments has grownfrom about 2 lakh in March tomore than 89 lakh at present.The average price has comedown substantially from near-ly Rs 600 to about Rs 200 perkit in 9 months," the ministrysaid.

There were only three sup-pliers of N-95 masks with aproduction capacity of lessthan 1 lakh masks per day.Now over 3,000 manufacturersand suppliers, including 1,509BIS-certified ones, of N-95masks are already registered onthe government portal andthe domestic productioncapacity has risen to morethan 8 lakh per day, it said.

Delhi: 38 UK returnees found positive forCOVID; new strain detected in four patients

Shiromani Akali Dal, one of the BJP'soldest and steadfast allies, severedits ties with the party, leaving theModi cabinet without anyrepresentation from a non-BJP party

PNS n BENGALURU

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Thursday exudedconfidence that the 199 returnees from the United Kingdom whowent untraceable will be tracked by the end of the day. Desperate toprevent the spread of the UK mutation of the coronavirus, theKarnataka government is tracking all those who returned fromBritain. So far, seven people were found infected by the new variantof the virus. Speaking to reporters here, Sudhakar said 199 peoplewere untraceable of which 97 are foreign nationals, which is why thegovernment was unable to find their contact numbers. Now, theHome Department is trying to find them out. "Of the 199 people, 24were identified on Wednesday. Most probably, we will find out therest of the people by the evening," the Minister said. Of the 1,614people who have arrived from the United Kingdom, 30 had testedpositive for COVID-19 using the RT-PCR method, he said. Besidesthem, four of their contacts too were found infected with the virus."As you all know that seven were found infected with the mutatedversion of COVID-19, which the Centre has already announced. Afterthat no new cases have come to the light," he explained. The 30 UKreturnees and four of their contacts have tested positive forcoronavirus, the minister said adding, the state government istreating 34 people in the hospital under strict medical supervision."All of them are stable. None of them have any serious ailment. Weare also keeping a close watch on all the people who were in contactwith them," Sudhakar said.

199 UK returnees will be tracedby Thursday night: Health Minister

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | JANUARY 1, 2021 nation 05

ADelhi court has grantedbail to a man in a northeast Delhi riots case,

saying the alleged eye witnessand the beat Constable hadidentified him almost after twomonths from the incident.Additional Sessions JudgeAmitabh Rawat granted therelief to Deepak Tomar on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000 withone surety of like amount in the case related to alleged looting andvandalism of a shop during the riots in Jyoti Nagar area on February25. The court noted that the alleged CCTV footage of the accusedwas near the place of the incident of another FIR. “As per charge-sheet, there is a statement of public witness Mohd Rafiq undersection 161 (examination by police) CrPC which states that he wasan eye witness to the incident of rioting, vandalization and burningof properties including that of Imran on February 25, 2020, andnamed persons including applicant/accused Deepak Tomar.

INDIA CORNER

Ruling out leadership change, KarnatakaChief Minister B S Yediyurappa onThursday asserted he will remain in the

post for the remaining over two year periodand complete the term, and there was noconfusion regarding this within the ruling BJP.Suggesting that the last one year had been likea "trial by fire" for his administration withnatural disasters and COVID pandemic, he said his government'sdesire was to take Karnataka to the first place on the developmentmap of the country, as he also referred to financial constraints facedby the state. "In the last one-and-half years of my administrationeven for a day I did not bother about it, I was focused on my workand development. These things have in no way impacted,"Yediyurappa said.

Chief Minister Yediyurappa rulesout leadership change

Atwo-month-old boy died afterallegedly being beaten with astick by his drunk father in a

village in Uttar Pradesh's Shamlidistrict, police said on Thursday.The infant was hit as he lay on thelap of his mother Renu, whoopposed and fought with herhusband Devender due to his liquor addiction, police added. Theincident happened at Kaderghar village under Thana Bhawan policestation in Shamli district on Wednesday evening, SHO PrabhakarKantura said. According to the SHO, a case was lodged under IndianPenal Code Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting tomurder) against Devender, who is absconding. Renu lodged acomplaint stating that she was beaten up by her husband with astick for questioning his drinking habit.

AClass 10 student ofa school inBulandshahr district

of Uttar Pradeshallegedly shot aclassmate dead with hisuncle's licensed pistolafter a dispute overseats, police said onThursday. The incidenttook place onWednesday at the Surajbhan Saraswati Inter College of Shikarpur,they said, adding that the weapon used by 14-year-old Sunnybelongs to his uncle, who is in the Army and is visiting home. Theteenager tried to flee after the fatal shooting, but the headmasterhad already closed the gate and informed the police, followingwhich he was apprehended, Senior Superintendent of PoliceSantosh Kumar Singh said.

Minor fatally shoots classmateafter dispute over seats in school

Dry run for Covid-19 vaccinationin all states, UTs on January 2PNS n NEW DELHI

A dry run for COVID-19 vac-cination will be conducted byall state and union territoryadministrations on January 2 totest the linkages between plan-ning and implementation andto identify the challenges, theCentre said on Thursday.

The activity is proposed tobe conducted in all state capi-tals in at least 3 session sites.

Some states will also includedistricts that are situated in dif-ficult terrain/have poor logis-tical support, whileMaharashtra and Kerala arelikely to schedule the dry runin major cities other than theircapital, the Union HealthMinistry said.

The objective of the dry runfor COVID-19 vaccine intro-duction is to assess opera-tional feasibility in the use ofCo-WIN application in fieldenvironment, to test the link-ages between planning andimplementation and to identi-fy the challenges and guide wayforward prior to actual imple-mentation. This is also expect-ed to give confidence to pro-gramme managers at variouslevels," the ministry said.

The central government hasalso asked all states and UTs toensure effective preparednessfor the COVID-19 vaccineroll-out.

Union Health SecretaryRajesh Bhushan on Thursdaychaired a high-level meeting toreview the preparedness at ses-sion sites for COVID-19 vac-cination with principal secre-taries (Health) and other healthadministrators of all states andUTs through video-conferenc-ing.

The planning for the vaccineintroduction will be as per theOperational Guidelines issued

by the Health Ministry onDecember 20.

Regarding the dry run to beheld, for each of the three ses-sion sites, the Medical OfficerIn-charge will identify 25 testbeneficiaries (healthcare work-ers).

The states and UTs havebeen asked to ensure that thedata of these beneficiaries isuploaded in Co-WIN. Thesebeneficiaries will also be avail-able at the session site for thedry run. The states and UTsshall prepare the facilities andusers to be created on Co-WINapplication including upload-ing the data of Health CareWorker (HCW) beneficiaries,the ministry stated.

The states and UTs havebeen asked to ensure physicalverification of all proposedsites for adequacy of space,logistical arrangements, inter-net connectivity, electricity,safety, etc. and prepare at leastthree model session sites ineach state (at state capital) fordemonstration.

They have been asked toensure that the model siteshave separate entry and exit ina 'three-room set-up' with ade-quate space outside for aware-ness generation activities, dis-play all IEC material at thesesites and ensure that all SOPs

and protocols are being prac-tised at the identified sites in anideal environment along withvaccination teams to be iden-tified and trained in all aspects.

The dry run will also equipthe state and UT administra-tion in management of vaccinesupply, storage and logisticsincluding cold chain manage-ment, the ministry stated.

As the vaccine administra-tors will play an important rolein the vaccination process,training of trainers and thosewho shall administer the vac-cine has been taken up acrossvarious states.

Around 96,000 vaccinatorshave been trained for this pur-pose. A total of 2,360 partici-pants have been trained inNational Training of Trainersand over 57,000 participantstrained in district-level train-ing in 719 districts. States areaugmenting the state helpline104 (which shall be used inaddition to 1075) for any vac-cine/software-related query.

An important focus of thedry run will be on manage-ment of any possible adverseevents following immunisa-tion (AEFI). In addition,adherence and management ofinfection control practices atthe session site, to prevent dis-ease transmission, the ministry

said.The mock drill will include

concurrent monitoring andreview at the block and districtlevels, and preparation of feed-back. The State Task Forceshall review the feedback andshare with the Union HealthMinistry.

States/UTs were also askedto address the communica-tion challenges by taking inconfidence all the stakeholdersand by augmenting the com-munity engagement throughinnovative strategies.

Detailed checklist has beenprepared by the Union Health

Ministry and shared with thestates and UTs to guide themin the dry run.

The first round of the dryrun was conducted in AndhraPradesh, Assam, Gujarat,Punjab on 28-29 December intwo districts each where fivesession sites with 25 beneficia-ries each were identified.

No major issues wereobserved in the operationalaspects during this dry run. AllStates expressed confidence inthe operational guidelines andIT platform for large scaleprogramme implementation,the ministry said.

Poor air quality may affect recoveredCovid-19 patients, say ExpertsPune: Considering the drop intemperature that deteriorates airquality, doctors in Pune city haveissued a word of caution forpeople suffering from lungailments, especially those whohave recovered from COVID-19.According to medical experts,deterioration of air quality canalso cause complications inpatients infected by coronavirus.Increased level of pollutants inthe air can affect people sufferingfrom lung-related disorders suchas chronic obstructive lungdisease (COPD) and COVID-19,prolonging the process ofrecovery, they said.

"A drop in air quality makes itmore difficult for COPD patientsto breathe. We advise COPDpatients and those who haverecently recovered from COVID-19 not step out in the pollutedair," said Dr Vaibhav Pandharkar,a pulmonologist from NobleHospital.

Coronavirus disease affectsrespiratory organs and its effectscan be seen even after recovering

from the infection. "In some patients, we have

seen the development of lungfibrosis, post their recoveryfrom corona-virus. Hence,people suffering from lungdisorders and those who havealso recovered from COVID-19should take extra precautions ata time when pollutants in theair have increased," he said. According to Dr Pandharkar,there is an increased risk tolungs and heart of peoplesuffering from comorbidities. "If people with comorbiditiescontract coronavirus, it maycause inflammation, which willmake it easy for the infection toinvade the lungs. For patientsof asthma, lung fibrosis orheart disease, the risk of deathincreases when they alsocontract the infection," he said.Some recent studies havestated that certain air pollutantsare likely to enhancesusceptibility to COVID-19death outcomes, the doctorsaid.

A year of political turbulence,natural calamity for BengalPNS n NEW DELHI

Notwithstanding the surge inCOVID-19 cases and a supercyclone that left a trail ofdestruction in its wake, WestBengal's political cauldron wason the boil through 2020, withthe ruling TMC and BJP cross-ing swords at the drop of a hat,stoking tension and triggeringclashes.

Flashpoints in West Bengalpolitics were one too many, asthe state hogged national lime-light for all the wrong reasonsand witnessed widespreadpolitical violence, as the partiesgeared geared up for a high-octane assembly election nextyear.

The BJP has claimed thatmore than 130 of its cadreswere killed or found deadunder mysterious circum-stances, since the 2019 LokSabha polls.

The TMC government rou-tinely sparred with the BJP-ledCentre during the year, and theslugfest spared practically noone, including the saffronparty's president J P Nadda,whose convoy came underattack earlier in Decemberduring his visit to DiamondHarbour in South 24 Parganas.

The Home Ministry sum-moned three IPS officers toserve at the Centre on deputa-tion over alleged lapses whichled to the attack on Nadda,

leaving Chief Minister MamataBanerjee fuming.

Several BJP leaders sus-tained injuries in the attack. Union Home Minister AmitShah and the BJP went ham-mer and tongs against thestate government over the"worsening" law and order sit-uation, and the saffron partyshifted a battery of its centralleaders to the eastern state withan eye on the assembly polls.

Shah announced an ambi-tious target of winning morethan 200 of the state's 294assembly seats, an assertionwhich drew a sharp retortfrom the TMC's adviser andpoll strategist Prashant Kishor,who said the BJP will struggleto cross double digits.

Pushed to the wall by theaggressive Hindutva campaignby the BJP, Banerjee and herTMC invoked 'Bengali pride' toconsolidate its support base.

The BJP, in its bid to bluntthe TMC's election weapon ofsub-nationalism, took to eulo-

gising Bengali icons such asNobel laureate RabindranathTagore, Swami Vivekanandaand Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar.

The ruling party, for the firsttime since it came to power in2011, witnessed a rebellionthis year as several MLAs andan MP, including party heavy-weight and minister SuvenduAdhikari crossed over to theBJP. The TMC, however, putup a brave face and said it wasfinally free of "traitors".

The Left Front and theCongress, which have beenvictims of the TMC's defectionpolitics in the past, said the rul-ing party is getting a dose of itsown medicine.

The year began with massiveprotests sweeping the stateover the Citizenship Amend-ment Act, and the issue isexpected to haunt the saffroncamp in 2021 assembly polls.

The BJP is apprehensive thatthe delay in implementing theCAA due to agitations by itsrivals may turn refugee voters,especially those from theMatua community, against it.

Meanwhile, North Bengal,where the BJP made deep roads,bagging seven of the eight LokSabha seats in 2019, witnesseda political churning as the GJMfaction led by fugitive Gurkhaleader Bimal Gurung quit theBJP-led NDA and joined handswith the TMC.

Law Ministry provided courts with infra to go virtualPNS n NEW DELHI

As the Coronavirus pandemicmade courts adopt the newnormal and go virtual in 2020,the Union law ministry pitchedin by providing the requiredinfrastructure to ensure onlinehearings are held smoothly.

As part of its push toimprove India's ranking in theease of doing business, theministry also brought in anordinance to amend the arbi-tration law.

Issued in November, theordinance ensures that allstakeholder parties get anopportunity to seek an uncon-ditional stay on enforcement ofarbitral awards where the arbi-tration agreement or contractis "induced by fraud or corrup-tion".

The ordinance which furtheramends the Arbitration andConciliation Act, 1996 alsodoes away with the 8thSchedule of the Act whichcontained the necessary qual-ifications for accreditation ofarbitrators.

This provision had facedcriticism from some quartersthat the conditions prescribed

in the law came in way of Indiagetting the benefit of havingforeign arbitrators.

"But that was not the caseand a wrong impression hadgot created. Still, to do awaywith that impression, the con-cerned schedule has beendropped," a government func-tionary explained.

Now, the qualificationsbased on which arbitrators willbe accredited will be prescribedby regulations, which will beframed by a proposed arbitra-tion council.

Till recently, an arbitrationaward was enforceable even ifan appeal was filed against it in

the court under Section 36 ofthe law. But the court couldgrant a stay on the award onconditions as it deemed fit.

As per the latest amendmentbrought through the ordinance,if the award is being given onthe basis of an agreement basedon fraud or corruption, thenthe court will not impose acondition to stay the award andgrant an unconditional stayduring the pendency of theappeal if it has been chal-lenged under Section 34 of thearbitration law.

The law ministry ordinancesaid the amendment was nec-essary "to address the concerns

raised by stakeholders afterthe enactment of theArbitration and Conciliation(Amendment) Act, 2019 and toensure that all the stakeholderparties get an opportunity toseek an unconditional stay ofenforcement of arbitral awardswhere the underlying arbitra-tion agreement or contract ormaking of the arbitral awardare induced by fraud or corrup-tion".

In February, the UnionCabinet approved the constitu-tion of the 22nd LawCommission which advises thegovernment on complex legalissues. The term of the previ-ous law panel had ended onAugust 31, 2018.

But the law ministry is yet tonotify the new panel, whichwill have a term of three years.

The panel will have a full-timechairperson, four full-timemembers (including a membersecretary), and law and legisla-tive secretaries.

Seeking to boost the capabil-ity of the lower judiciary tohear cases online, funds havebeen released to set up "videoconference cabins" in 2,506court complexes across India.

While funds to the tune ofRs 5.21 crore were released inSeptember to set up videoconference cabins, another Rs28.886 crore were given inOctober to buy additionalvideo conference equipment,including hardware, cables andmonitors.

The funds were provided bythe e-committee of theSupreme Court and theDepartment of Justice in the

law ministry.While India has 3,288 court

complexes, which house thou-sands of subordinate courts,the funds have been releasedfor 2,506 court complexes toset up video conference cabins.

Bigger court complexes witha large number of courtroomswould get multiple cabins ascompared to smaller com-plexes.

The size of a court complex,including the number ofcourts it houses, depends uponthe size or population of thestate.

As courts continue to hearcases online amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the governmenthas also procured 1,500 addi-tional video conferencinglicences at an approximatecost of Rs 9 crore for provid-ing the facility for high courtsand district courts.

From the day the nation-wide lockdown was imposedto check the spread of coron-avirus till October 28, highcourts and district courtsacross India have heard over49.67 lakh cases virtually,according to data collated bythe law ministry.

Cops on duty surpass sanctionedstrength by 35 per cent: DataPNS n NEW DELHI

West Bengal, Punjab, Biharand Jammu and Kashmir havethe maximum numbers ofpeople getting police protec-tion, even as the all-India fig-ure reduced by nearly nine percent in 2019, according toofficial data.

Also, the number of policepersonnel put on protectionduty in 2018 and 2019 for min-isters, MPs, MLAs, judges,bureaucrats, etc., outnumberedtheir