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Joe Biden will be sworn in asthe 46th President of theUnited States, while KamalaHarris will take oath as the firstwoman Vice President onWednesday, in the midst ofgrowing concerns over thesafety of the historic inaugura-tion following the recent vio-lent attack on the Capitol Hillby pro-Trump supporters.

Evoking some of thenation’s loftiest reforms helpedBiden unseat President DonaldTrump but left him with tow-ering promises to keep. And hewill be trying to deliver against

the backdrop of searing nation-al division and a pandemic thathas killed nearly 400,000Americans and upended theeconomy.

This year, however, thetransition stands out for itsacrimony. The process usuallystarts straight after the election,but it started weeks late after

President Donald Trumprefused to accept the result ofthe November 3 election wonby Biden, a Democrat. Trumphas said he will not attend theinauguration. Trump, aRepublican, will vacate theWhite House hours before theinauguration and is expected totravel to his Mar-a-Lago club inFlorida.

Chief Justice John Robertswill administer the oath ofoffice to Biden just after theclock strikes 12 (local time) atthe West Front of the Capitol —the traditional location —under the unprecedented secu-rity umbrella of more than25,000 National Guards, whohave transformed the capitalinto a garrison city, mainlybecause of the threat of violentprotest by Trump's supporters.

Continued on Page 2

New Delhi: Ahead of theBengal polls, the Centre onTuesday announced to cele-brate Netaji Subhas ChandraBose’s birthday on January 23as “Parakram Diwas” (ValourDay) every year with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi all setto attend the first day of pro-gramme in Kolkata on Bose’s125th birth anniversary. He willalso inaugurate an exhibitionon the grounds of the NationalLibrary to mark the occasion inthe State.

However, the decision wasslammed by the MamataBanerjee-led TrinamoolCongress which termed it aspoll gimmicks while evoking amixed response from SubhasChandra Bose’s grandnephewCK Bose, who is also a BJPleader. TMC leader SaugataRoy said that the declaration tocelebrate the day as “ParakramDiwas” has been made with aneye on upcoming West BengalAssembly polls. PNS

Detailed report on P4

Surat: Fourteen migrantlabourers and a year-old-girlfrom Rajasthan who weresleeping by the roadside inGujarat’s Surat district wereamong 15 dead after a dumpertruck ran over them onTuesday, police said.

Those killed include eightwomen and a migrant workerfrom Madhya Pradesh, policesaid. While 12 of them died onthe spot, three died duringtreatment at a hospital, policeadded. Except for the 19-year-old worker from MadhyaPradesh, all the other deceasedwere from villages in Banswaradistrict in south Rajasthan,police said. Tragedy took placenear Kosamba village, around60 km from Surat. The truckdriver, who apparently lostcontrol over the vehicle afterhitting a sugarcane laden trac-tor, has been booked under sec-tions of the IPC and MotorVehicles Act, police said.

Detailed report on P5

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Ahead of a meeting of aParliamentary panel onInformation technology onThursday to discuss safety andsecurity of users on socialmedia, the Government onTuesday asked WhatsApp towithdraw the recent changes inthe privacy policy of the messaging app, saying unilat-eral changes are unfair andunacceptable.

In a strongly-worded letterto WhatsApp CEO WillCathcart, the Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology said India is hometo the largest user base ofWhatsApp globally and is one the biggest markets for itsservices.

The proposed changes tothe WhatsApp Terms of Serviceand Privacy Policy, withoutgiving users an option to opt-out, “raise grave concernsregarding the implications forthe choice and autonomy ofIndian citizens,” it said.

The Ministry askedWhatsApp to withdraw theproposed changes and recon-sider its approach to informa-tion privacy, freedom of choiceand data security.

WhatsApp had on January16 delayed the introduction ofthe new privacy policy afteruser backlash over sharing ofuser data and information withthe parent company, Facebook.

Stating that Indians shouldbe properly respected, theMinistry said, “Any unilateral changes to theWhatsApp Terms of Serviceand Privacy would not be fair

and acceptable.”With over 400 million

users in India, the changeswill have a disproportionateimpact on the country’s citi-zens, the letter said.

It asked WhatsApp to pro-vide details of the services pro-vided by it in India, categoriesof data collected and permis-sions and consents sought.

Also, WhatsApp has beenasked to explain if it conductsprofiling of Indian users on thebasis of their usage, as well asexplain difference between theprivacy policy in India andother countries.

WhatsApp has also beenasked to provide policy ondata and information security,privacy and encryption.

Continued on Page 2

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Three days after the launchof the nationwide vaccina-tion drive and reports of sev-eral adverse events followingimmunisation (AEFI), SerumInstitute of India (SII) andBharat Biotech, makers of anti-Covid vaccine Covishield andCovaxin respectively, releaseda set of “Dos and don’ts aimingto help a recipient understandthe risks and benefits of their vaccine.”

Interestingly, soon afterthe approval of their vaccine bythe DCGI early January, bothfirms had questioned the effi-cacy of each other’s jabs.

The Bharat Biotech fact-sheet said that “it is advisablenot to take the vaccine if a per-son has allergies, fever or bleed-ing disorder or is on a bloodthinner. It also said that pregnant and breastfeedingwomen should also avoid tak-ing Covaxin.”

Those who are immune-compromised or are on medi-cine that affects immune sys-tem, and those who havereceived another Covid-19 vac-cine should also not get theBharat Biotech’s medicine, saidthe company whose vaccine isbeing refused by a section ofdoctors like the ResidentDoctors’ Association (RDA)of RML hospital in Delhi andKarnataka to name a few. They have preferred Covishieldover Covaxin.

Private practitioners likeDr Rahul Bhargava, Director(Institute of Blood Disorderand Bone Marrow Transplant)Fortis Hospital, Gurugram,too, minced no words as he

doubted the efficacy of theCovaxin.

He also felt that the twocompanies should havereleased the factsheets prior tothe mega vaccination drive sothat people were not only awareof the health impacts of thevaccines but also whether ornot they are eligible for it.

The Hyderabad-basedbiotechnology firm also saidthat the DCGI has authorisedthe restricted use of its vaccineunder clinical trial mode.

“Individuals, who are pri-oritised under the public healthprogramme of the Ministry ofHealth and Family welfare,will be covered under thisendeavour. Informing the indi-viduals about the offer for vac-cination with Covaxin will rest with the respectiveGovernment programme offi-cials. Those offered Covaxin atpre-specified booths will havethe options to receive or rejectadministration of the vaccine,”the factsheet stated.

The company documentfurther described the ingredi-ents in the Covaxin. It contains64g of whole-virion inactivat-ed SARS-CoV-2 antigen(Strain: NIV-2020-770), andthe other inactive ingredientssuch as aluminum hydroxidegel (250 μg), TLR 7/8 against (imidazoquinolinone)15 μg, 2-phenoxyethanol 2.5mg, and phosphate buffersaline up to 0.5 ml.

“The vaccine thus has beendeveloped by using inactivat-ed/killed virus along with theaforementioned chemicals,” itsaid, adding that Covaxin isadministered as an injectioninto the deltoid muscle of the

upper arm. It is a two-doseseries given four weeks apart.

Not keen to be left behindin the race, within minutes theSII too released its factsheet,stating that people who areseverely allergic to any ingre-dient of Covishield are advisednot to take it. “Pregnant andlactating mothers should men-tion it to the healthcareprovider before getting the jab.Also, do not forget to take thesecond dose!”

The SII said that oneshould not get the Covishieldvaccine if the person had asevere allergic reaction after aprevious dose of this vaccinewhich has “L-Histidine, L-Histidine hydrochloride mono-hydrate, Magnesium chloridehexahydrate, Polysorbate 80,Ethanol, Sucrose, Sodium chlo-ride, Disodium edetate dihy-drate (EDTA), water for injec-tion,” as its ingredients.

About the possible adverse

effect of the vaccine, the SII saidthat “some of the very commonside effects of the vaccines aretenderness, pain, warmth, red-ness, itching, swelling or bruis-ing where the injection is given,

generally feeling unwell, chillsor feeling feverish, headache orjoint aches.”

However, if you feel dizzy,lack of appetite, abdominalpain, enlarged lymph nodes,

excessive sweating, itchy skin orrash, then you should contactthe doctor as these are not very common symptoms, therelease said.

Continued on Page 2

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Brushing aside the US threatto impose sanctions, thefirst batch of IAF personnel willshortly leave for Moscow fortraining to operate S-400 airdefence systems. India andRussia had inked a deal in 2018worth over �45,000 crore forfive defence systems. The firstS-400 will arrive in India by this year end and the remain-ing four systems will be induct-ed by 2023.

China has already induct-ed six S-400 air defence systemsand India needs it urgently tobolster its capabilities to secureits air space. The S-400 candetect an incoming hostile air-craft or missile from a distance

of more than 500 km andshoot it down.

Giving details of the Indianteam’s departure to Moscow,Russian ambassador NikolayKudashev on Tuesday heredescribed it as a “remarkableoccasion” that will usher in “anew stage in our strategic part-nership.” More than 100 per-sonnel, including officers and airmen, will leave forRussia by the end of this month

for the training.“S-400 supplies initiative is

one of the flagship projects inthe Russian-Indian militaryand military-technical cooper-ation, which historically con-stitutes the main pillar of thespecial and privileged strategicpartnership between our twofriendly countries,” the envoysaid while hosting the Indianteam at an event.

Continued on Page 2

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Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterEdappadi Palaniswami,who is also the co-coordinatorof the AIADMK, said in NewDelhi on Tuesday that therewas no possibility of VKSasikala, the jailed aide to lateChief Minister J Jayalalithaa,returning to the party.

The TN Chief Ministermet Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday and UnionHome Minister Amit Shah onMonday. During his meetingwith the Prime Minister,Palaniswami extended the for-mer an invitation to visit theState for inaugurating a slew ofprojects there.

Ruling out Sasikala’s inclu-sion in the AIADMK-led front,Palaniswami said, “There is nochance… She is not with theparty now. I can say that ...100 per cent…there is nochance of Sasikala returning to AIADMK.”

The fact that he shut thedoor of Sasikala after his meeting with Modi and Shah is significant.

Sasikala is serving a four-year-jail term in Bengaluru’sParappana Agrahara CentralJail in connection with thedisproportionate asset case inwhich she was an accusedalong with late Jayalalithaa,and two others. All the accused

were sentenced to four-yearrigorous imprisonment by aspecial court in Bengaluruwhich was upheld by theSupreme Court.

Sasikala’s prison term iscoming to an end on January26 and she would be releasedon January 27, said her lawyerS Pandian. Sasikala was elect-ed General Secretary of theAIADMK by its general council on December 29, 2016. Edappadi and OPanneerselvam convened aGeneral Council meeting of theAIADMK in August 2017 and abolished the post of gen-eral secretary.

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Amid reports of vaccine hes-itancy among doctors andhealth workers, theGovernment on Tuesday triedto allay their fears saying thatthe concerns about adverseeffects and serious problems, asof now, seem to be unfounded,negligible and insignificant andthat the adverse events follow-ing immunisation reported“were fairly low, in fact lowestso far in the world in the firstthree days.”

It also urged healthcare

workers not to hesitate to getthe Covid-19 vaccine as “it wastheir societal responsibility toget inoculated.”

Both the vaccines —Covishield and Covaxin — aresafe and a lot of effort has goneinto making them, NITI Aayogmember (health) Dr VK Paulsaid as he lamented that “It issaddening that healthcareworkers, especially doctors andnurses, are declining to take it.”

“We are not fulfilling oursocietal responsibility if a vac-cine assigned to us is not beingtaken. The whole world is

clamouring for a vaccine. Irequest you to please accept thejab. Vaccine hesitancy shouldextinguish because Covid-19inoculation is taking us towardsthe elimination of this calami-ty,” Paul said and disclosed thathe himself has taken a jab ofCovaxin.

“We are very fortunate thatwe are running this vaccinationdrive at a time when the pan-demic looks like to be in a con-trolled situation. So in thisperiod, by taking the jabs, wehave to create a wall of vaccine-induced immunity and be

ready for any kind of eventu-ality in future,” he said.

Continued on Page 2

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Brisbane: A fearless India, dri-ven by its courageous young-sters, pulled of an exhilaratingthree-wicket win over Australiain the fourth Test to claim theseries 2-1 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Tuesday.

Resuming at four for noneon the final day, India over-hauled the target with 18 ballsto spare in a match that wentdown to the wire.

Rishabh Pant led the chasewith his aggressive yet matureunbeaten 89 while Shubman Gillscored 91. Cheteshwar Pujaraenduring many a painful blowson his body in his dogged 56-runknock that he raised with a 211-ball vigil. Australia had won thepink-ball Adelaide Test whileIndia struck back with victory inMelbourne. Third Test in Sydneyhad ended in a draw. India hadwon a historic Test series DownUnder two years back and nowthe team is cherishing back-to-back series victory.

Detailed report on P12

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The Delhi Jal Board (DJB)will establish a state-of-the-art, real-time monitoringsystem for ensuring Delhi’swater supply as well as theproper functioning of ‘WaterTreatment Plant’ (WTPs)through the ‘SupervisoryControl and Data Acquisition’(SCADA) system.

“This system providesdetails such as the pressure andflow of water at pre-decidedimportant locations in thewater supply system,” the DJBVice Chairman Raghav

Chadha said while visiting the‘Supervisory Control and DataAcquisition’ (SCADA) systemwater monitoring system cen-tre ahead of the onset of sum-mer to ensure DJB is preparedto meet and monitor theincreased demand as temper-atures rise. He was accompa-nied member (Water) andother senior officials of the DJB

Chadha said, “Delhi is aland-locked city and dependenton other sources for the supplyof water. Ahead of the brutalsummer, where the demand forwater increases greatly, it isessential that Delhi Jal Board is

prepared to meet and monitorsaid demand.”

DJB produces 935 MG ofpotable water per day. Delhi isa landlocked city, and as aresult, has limited resources ofwater. To conserve water, it isessential to measure the quan-tity of water by installing flowmeters, he said, adding that theDJB has also initiated projectsfor the installation of flowmeters and the setting up of aSCADA Centre.

The DJB intends to installabout 3,200 flow meters for thewater auditing of Primary andSecondary systems up to the

District Metered Area (DMA)level. A total of 3,192 flowmeters have already beeninstalled and their integrationwith the SCADA Centre isunder progress.

Chadha also expressedconcern over the urgent needto complete the installation offlow meters for better moni-toring of water supply throughSCADA across Delhi as well asfor the identification of waterlosses. He said, “Keeping inview the limited resources ofwater and the importance ofwater conservation, the identi-fication of water losses across

Delhi must be the prime objec-tive of SCADA.”

Talking about future plan-ning of the DJB, he said that theobjective of the DJB is to estab-lish a state-of-the-art, real-time monitoring system forDelhi’s water supply as well asthe proper functioning ofWTPs through the SCADAsystem.

“This system providesdetails such as the pressure andflow of water at pre-decidedimportant locations in thewater supply system,” he said.

“It also provides real-timemonitoring and integration of

other instruments like waterquality in the remote terminalunit (RTU) and SCADA,benchmarking of water supplyfor the entire region, integra-tion of further analytical soft-ware for in-depth analysis,water auditing of the quantumof water distributed, auditing ofthe primary and secondarysystems across Delhi, calculatewater losses for better moni-toring and quick response,leakage management andreducing the scarcity of waterparticularly in the summermonths,” he added.

After inspecting the

SCADA water monitoring sys-tem, the DJB Vice Chairmanalso issued immediate instruc-tions to concerned officials tocomplete any pending work onwar footing and for the unin-terrupted operation of theSCADA centre to ensure effi-cient monitoring of water uti-lization across Delhi.

Chadha said, “The deploy-ment of an effective alarm sys-tem in SCADA will help issuetimely alerts on the quality andquantity parameters. It hasbeen seen that DJB is facingregular crises in water produc-tion due to various pollutants,

such as ammonia and chloride.Turbidity is another parameterthat must be factored in duringwater production. An alarmsystem will go off as soon as theparameters cross their limits inraw water. This in turn willallow the DJB team here to takeany preventive measuresrequired.”

The Vice Chairman alsoissued directions for the instal-lation of a remote computerscreen at his office in order topersonally monitor Delhi’swater supply system through‘Supervisory Control and DataAcquisition’ (SCADA) system.

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The Delhi Traffic Police isorganising road safetymonth to motivate commutersto obey and follow traffic rulesand regulations. Police saidthat the initiative, which beganon Monday, will continue tillFebruary 16.

Surendra Choudhary, theDeputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), Traffic, inaugu-rated a series of events fromRing Road opposite Gate No. 2AIIMS, where the traffic staffof Defense Colony Traffic cir-

cle educated commuters. Thevolunteers from JK Tyres dis-played cardboards with mes-sages on road safety.

“The traffic police stafffrom the Road Safety Cell

briefed the commuters throughloudspeakers, and the circlestaff managed the traffic regu-lations and briefed them toobey traffic rules and regula-tions for their own safety aswell as for the safety of others,said the DCP.

“Similar awareness drivewas carried out in other areasof the city as well, where vol-unteers from an NGO alsoeducated the traffic commutersand distributed helmets tocommuters found riding with-out wearing a headgear,” theDCP said.

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The Union Home Minister,Amit Shah on Tuesdaypraised the role of the DelhiPolice during the coronaviruspandemic and said the policeforce has been providing exem-plary services to people of theNational Capital. He also saidthat the police force tackled thenortheast Delhi riots last yearand brought back peace to thecity. Shah also announced that15,000 CCTV cameras will beinstalled in Delhi for closemonitoring of crime and crim-inals and also for the mainte-nance of law and order. Thesepolice CCTV networks willalso be connected with theCCTVs installed in railwaystations, he added.

At an event organised atthe Delhi Police headquarterson Jai Singh road in NationalCapital, the Union HomeMinister also asked the DelhiPolice to set five targets for eachpolice station for its improve-ment and better performanceby 2022 when the country willcelebrate 75 years of indepen-dence.

Shah praised the role of theDelhi Police during the coro-navirus pandemic and said the

force has been providing exem-plary services to people of thenational capital.

Praising the tackling ofNortheast riots in Delhi lastyear, the Union Home Ministersaid that whether it is tacklingthe northeast Delhi violence, orthe lockdown announced afterthe outbreak of coronavirus, orthe unlocking process, or themovement of migrant workers,the Delhi Police has providedexemplary services to the peo-ple in the city.

On the occasion, the HomeMinister also honoured somepolice personnel for their per-formance and paid tributes tothose who lost their lives whiledischarging duties during thepandemic.

With Republic Day cele-brations round the corner, thehome minister also chaired ameeting with senior policeofficials where he reviewedsecurity arrangements onJanuary 26.

The meeting comes a dayafter the Supreme Court askedthe force to decide on theentry of farmers protestingagainst the central farm laws, inthe national capital on January26.

The protesting farm unions

have announced their tractorrally on the Outer Ring Roadon the Republic Day.

Addressing a gathering atthe event, Shah recalled sever-al challenges faced by the citypolice force..

“To tackle challenges, wewill have to first understandthem and bring changes in theway we function accordingly.Each police station of the DelhiPolice should set five targets forits improvement and betterperformance by 2022, that is,when India completes 75 yearsof independence,” he said.

Talking about the chal-lenges ahead, he said that theyhave several challenges in frontof them since Delhi is a nation-al capital. “Terrorism is a chal-lenge, drug trafficking is achallenge, fake note business isa challenge and traffic is also achallenge,” he said.

Shah noted that DelhiPolice has a very large area ofresponsibility as various keyinstallations come under itsjurisdiction that includeRashtrapati Bhavan, PrimeMinister's residence, embassiesof a large number of countries,headquarters of many keyorganisations, science centres,among others.

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South Delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC) hasset up as many as 58 Covid-19vaccine centres where vacci-nation is being done success-fully, Standing CommitteeChairman Rajdutt Gahlot saidon Tuesday.

Presenting revised budgetestimate for the year 2020-21and budget estimate for theyear 2021-22, Gahlot said that

the property tax departmentgenerated a revenue of Rs610.23 Crore from 3,83,395properties in year while in2020-21, till 25-10-2020, thedepartment has collected Rs620.15 Crore from 3,85,668properties which is 1.63 percentmore.

In order to ensure onlinepayment of property tax fromFY 2021-22, the SDMC hasdeveloped a new website.

Gahlot further said that

during Covid-19 period, theSDMC lifted nearly 3,200 met-ric tonne garbage from isola-tion/quarantine centres andfrom homes where Coronacases were found. Besides this,2,89,086 kgs bio-medical wastewas also disposed of from con-tainment zones.

The Standing CommitteeChairman turned down theproposal to hike property tax inresidential, commercial andnon-residential properties (less

than 150 sqm in area). He alsorejected the proposals to fixproperty tax of Category A andB residential properties to 14per cent of their annual valueand C to H residential proper-ties to 12 per cent of theirannual value.

The civic body will takepenal action if Delhi Jal Board

(DJB) fails to repair or restoreSDMC roars/streets after cut-ting and digging for sewer andwater related works.

The Corporation is alsomaking provision to collectrestoration charges for carrying work by the DJB butnot restoring/repairing the same.

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Intensifying its ongoingdrive against property taxdefaulters, South DelhiMunicipal Corporation(SDMC) sealed 18 commer-cial properties for not payingthe outstanding amount of Rs1.15 Crore on Tuesday. Theaction was initiated underSection 123D of ‘DelhiMunicipal Corporation’(DMC) act as the assessmentand collection departmenttook suo moto cognizance.

The Assessor andCollector Department ofSouth Zone of the SDMCtook action against commer-cial properties at MG Road inGhitorni area of Aya Nagar

ward as the owners of theseproperties have failed todeposit the property tax. Thedepartment had earlier servednotices for outstandingamounts following whichaction was initiated, a seniorSDMC official said.

The official said thatunder Section 123D of theDMC Act, the departmenthas issued notices to a total of17,500 commercial propertiesin the South Zone for notdepositing property tax.Besides this, the departmenthas also issued assessmentorders to 730 commercialproperties, he said.

The SDMC also requestedproperty tax payers to paytheir amount and play a role ofresponsible citizen, he added.

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Ahead of the Bengal polls,the Centre on Tuesdayannounced to celebrate NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose’s birth-day on January 23 as ‘ParakramDiwas’ (Valour Day) every yearwith Prime Minister NarendraModi all set to attend the firstday of programme in Kolkataon Bose’s 125th birth anniver-sary. He will also inaugurate anexhibition on the grounds ofthe National Library to markthe occasion in the state.

However, the decision wasslammed by the MamataBanerjee-led TrinamoolCongress which termed it aspoll gimmicks while evoking amixed response from SubhasChandra Bose’s grandnephewCK Bose, who is also a BJPleader.

TMC leader Saugata Roysaid that the declaration to cel-ebrate the day as ‘ParakramDiwas’ has been made with aneye on upcoming West BengalAssembly polls. He said thatthere shouldn’t be politics inNetaji’s name.

Roy added that if thePrime Minister wanted to doit, he could have done it sixmonths ago. “Why on the eveof Netaji’s birthday and justbefore the Assembly Electionsin the Atate?”

He added that TMC is nothappy with the Government’sdecision. “We are not satisfiedwith the Government’s deci-sion to celebrate Netaji’s birth-day as ‘Parakram Diwas’. It

should be ‘Deshprem Diwas’.We believe Netaji deservesmuch better. We will observethis day on our own withMamata Banerjee leading aprocession in the State,” saidRoy.

Earlier, West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee hadwritten to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi requesting theModi Government to declarethe birth anniversary of NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose as anational holiday.

Naren Chatterjee, state sec-retary of the Forward Bloc, theparty formed by Netaji in1939, said, “Instead of‘Parakram Diwas’, the dayshould be celebrated as ‘DeshPrem Diwas’. The demand toobserve January 23 as‘Patriotism Day’ was made bythe Left Front when it was inpower”.

CK Bose, a BJP leader andNetaji’s grandnephew said that“Netaji was India’s liberator. Wewelcome the announcementbut people have been cele-brating January 23rd as‘Deshprem Diwas’. It would’vebeen more appropriate, had thegovernment announced it asDeshprem Diwas. But we’rehappy about the announce-ment.”

Earlier in the day, Unionminister Prahlad Singh Patelhad at a press conferenceannounced the Government’sdecision and said that in thisregard a notification has alsobeen issued.

“The Government has

decided to observe January23 as ‘Parakram Diwas’ tocommemorate the birthanniversary of Netaji SubhasChandra Bose,” Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will participatein the first ‘Parakram Diwas’programme in Kolkata onJanuary 23 on Bose’s 125thbirth anniversary and inaugu-rate an exhibition on thegrounds of National Library tomark the occasion, Patel said.

Patel said PM Modi willalso felicitate prominent mem-bers of the Indian NationalArmy formed by Bose andtheir family members inKolkata on Saturday.

He said 200 Patua artistesfrom West Bengal will make apainting on a 400-metre-longcanvas depicting Bose’s life.

Petroleum MinisterDharmendra Pradhan will par-ticipate in a programme inCuttack, Odisha, where Bosewas born while another pro-gramme will be held inHaripura village in Gujarat’sSurat district where Bose waselected as president of theIndian National Congress in1938.

The culture ministry isalso considering building amemorial in the honour ofaround 26,000 martyred mem-bers of the INA, Patel saidadding that a 85-member high-level committee helmed byPM Modi has been formed toplan year-round programmesto mark the 125th birthanniversary of the freedomfighter.

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Former Congress chief RahulGandhi on Tuesday hit outat Prime Minister NarendraModi on the issue of nationalsecurity after reports thatChina has built a village inArunachal Pradesh. He alsoalleged that India doesn’t havea clear strategy like China toassert its dominance in theworld and unless India sendsout a clear message, Beijingwon’t stay quiet.

“Remember his (PM)promise — Mai desh jhuknenahi dunga (Will not let thecountry bow),” Rahul said.Congress leaders PChidambaram, RandeepSurjewala and Manish Tewarialso attacked the PrimeMinister on the matter.

Recalling the two recentincidents in Doklam andLadakh where Indian andChinese soldiers clashed, hesaid China will make the mostout of India’s shortcomingsand the day will come soonwhen we will suffer damages.

During a Press conferenceRahul launched a blisteringattack at the Modi governmentover the reported discovery ofChinese settlements inArunachal Pradesh.

“China has a clear strate-gic vision of shaping the worldwhich India doesn’t have. Indiadoes this and that but doesn’twork strategically. China has

tested twice. Once in Doklamand other in Ladakh.”

“If India doesn’t give aclear message to them andmake clear military, econom-ic geopolitical strategy, Chinawon’t stay quiet but will makethe most out of it. The day itwill happen, we will sufferdamages,” added the Congressleader.

Rahul Gandhi had repeat-edly attacked the ruling BJPGovernment in the Centre on

issues of China’s intrusion inIndian Territory, its stands onthe farm laws, and the Centre’shandling of the COVID-19pandemic in the country.

Earlier in the day, theGandhi scion also tweeted anews report alleging Chinahas established a village inIndian territory, with the cap-tion “Remember his promise-’I will not let the countrybow’”.

“Modiji where is that 56-

inch chest,” Surjewala tweeted.Chidambaram had demandedanswers from the governmenton the issue, alleging that BJPMP Tapir Gao has claimed thatChina has built a 100-housevillage in the “disputed area”deep into Arunachal Pradesh.He said if the allegation madeout by the BJP MP is true, willthe government again give aclean chit to China or willblame the previousGovernments for it.

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As Congress leader RahulGandhi attacked theModi-Government on theChinese border incursions andthe unresolved farmers agita-tion, BJP top leaders onTuesday hit-back sayingCongress gave away thousandskm land to China and that“dynasty-ruled party” ignoredfarmers interests and indulgedin “double-speak”.

Political temperaturesincreased as BJP’s own MPfrom Arunachal Pradesh TapirGao said that Chinese had con-structed a village on the Indianside in Arunachal Pradesh.

BJP President J P Naddaand Union Information &Broadcasting PrakashJavadekar took turns sepa-rately to attack Rahul and theCongress after the latter tookjibe at the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on the reports

of Chinese construction ofvillage in Arunachal Pradeshand questioned him on theissues of national security.

“Now that Mr RahulGandhi has returned from hismonthly vacation, I would liketo ask him some questions. Ihope he will answer them inhis today’s Press Conference,”tweeted the BJP President.

“When will Rahul Gandhi,his dynasty and Congress stoplying on China? Can he denythat thousands of kms, includ-ing the one in ArunachalPradesh he is referring to wasgifted by none other thanPandit Nehru to the Chinese?Time and again, why doesCongress surrender toChina?” Nadda tweeted.

He accused Rahul of “pro-voking and misleading” farm-ers and alleged double stan-dards.

“Why did farmers remainpoor for decades under

Congress governments? Doeshe feel sympathy for farmersonly in opposition?” he asked.

“Why is he spreading lies?”, Nadda sought to ask.

Nadda accused Congressand the ‘dynasty’ striking anMOU with the ChineseCommunist Party and receiv-ing money in a fund con-trolled by the Gandhi family.

He accused Congressparty of demoralising thecountry on all issues be it relat-ed to border, national securi-ty or fighting Coronaviruspandemic.

“Rahul Gandhi spared noopportunity to demotivate thenation in the spirited fightagainst COVID-19. Todaywhen India has one of the low-est cases and our scientistshave come up with a vaccine,why hasn’t he congratulatedthe scientists and lauded 130crore Indians even once?”, BJPhead asked.

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Agreeing to the long termdemand, Parliament hasdecided to end the subsidy inthe canteens which may saveannually around �8 crore.

Briefing the media onTuesday, Lok Sabha SpeakerOm Birla said that Lok SabhaSecretariat which was bearingthe cost of subsidy has decid-ed to stop the practice of sub-sidised price of food items inthe canteens and the canteenswill be run by ITDC in place ofNorthern Railway.

Talking to reporters aboutpreparations for the nextParliament session, beginningJanuary 29, Birla said QuestionHour and Zero Hours will bein this session. Members ofParliament will be requested toundergo the COVID-19 testbefore the start of the Budgetsession.

While Rajya Sabha will sitfrom 9 am to 2 pm, Lok Sabhawill function in the second halffrom 4-8 pm. The QuestionHour will be allowed duringthe session for an already fixedtime of one hour.

He said all arrangementshave also been made forRTPCR COVID-19 tests ofMPs near their residence. InParliament premises, theRTPCR tests will be conduct-ed on January 27-28, whilearrangements have also beenmade for these tests of familiesand staff members of MPs.Birla said the vaccination drivepolicy finalised by the Centreand states will apply to parlia-mentarians as well.

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Former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi on Tuesdayaccused Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of monopo-lising the agriculture sector ashe renewed his attack againstthe Centre over the con-tentious farm laws. He alsoreleased a booklet to highlightthe pitfalls of the legislationenacted in September lastyear.

“ There is a tragedyunfolding today in the coun-try, Govt wants to ignore theissue and misinform thecountry,” Rahul said whileaddressing a press confer-ence after the release. “I amnot going to speak aboutfarmers alone as it is only part

of the tragedy. It is importantfor youngsters. This is notabout present but about yourfuture,” he added.

“Today, every industry isunder a monopoly of three tofive people.Be it airport, tele-com or power. ModiGovernment wants to give theagriculture sector as well tothose four to five industrial-ists,” he added.

The Congress leader alsosaid that the new farmreforms are designed todestroy India’s agriculturesector. “The biggest businessin this country is agriculture.Sixty per cent of our peopleare engaged in agricultureand in terms of value, agri-culture is by far the biggesthit. Now we are seeing is thatthe last bastion which wasprotected from monopoly isnow being overrun. Threenew laws have been passed.They are designed to destroyagriculture by destroying the

mandi, Essentia lCommodities Act, and bymaking sure that no Indianfarmer can go to court to pro-tect himself,” he added.

“We were a preeminenteconomy, now we are a laugh-ing stock,” Rahul Gandhi alsosaid.

Farmers are agitatingagainst the farm laws for over50 days now and the govern-ment has held nine round oftalks so far. However, it hasfailed to bring any resolutionto the matter. The farmers areadamant on the demand torepeal the laws which thegovernment has refused andis firm on their offer to amendthe legislation.

In the last meeting, theCentre had suggested thatthe unions constitute theirown informal group to pre-pare a concrete proposal onthe three farm laws for furtherdiscussion at their next meet-ing.

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The Supreme Court onTuesday sought a reportfrom a committee, set up bythe NGT, on its recommen-dations for improving thewater quality of the Yamunariver and the extent to whichthe authorities have imple-mented them.

The National GreenTribunal, on July 26, 2018,had constituted the monitor-ing committee comprising itsformer expert member B SSajwan and former Delhichief secretar y Shai lajaChandra on the cleaning ofthe Yamuna and had directedit to submit an action plan inthis regard.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde took noteof the submission of amicuscuriae and senior advocateMeenakshi Arora that theNGT-appointed panel hasbeen monitoring the cleaningof Yamuna water.

In the proceedings con-

ducted through video con-ferencing, the bench, alsocomprising Justices LNageswara Rao and VineetSaran, asked the committee tosubmit its report on recom-mendations made by it forimproving the quality of waterof Yamuna and the extent towhich they have been imple-mented.

Earlier, the top court hadtaken suo motu cognizance ofcontamination of rivers byeffluent in the country andhad decided to take up thepollution of Yamuna riverfirst.

While taking cognisanceof contamination of rivers, thetop court had said that thepollution-free water is a fun-damental right which a wel-fare state is “bound to ensure”.

It had asked CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) to submit a reportidentifying municipalitiesalong the Yamuna which havenot installed total treatmentplants for sewage.

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The CBI has recovered anadditional �2.04 crore dur-ing further searches conduct-ed in the bribery case related tosenior officers of NortheastFrontier Railway (NFR).

It was found during furthersearches at the premises of aprivate firm located at KailashColony here that certain itemswere removed and concealed atother places in Delhi. Earlier,�2.39 crore in cash was recov-ered during searches.

On Tuesday, searches werealso conducted in Sikkim andKanpur. During earlier search-es at 26 locations, including atDelhi, Uttarakhand, Assam,Tripura and West Bengal, atotal amount of �2.39 crore wasrecovered. This includes an

alleged bribe of Rs 1 crore,which exchanged hands and isstated to be one of the biggestbribe money trapped, the CBIhad said.

Besides this, there wererecoveries of jewellery anddocuments related to propertyfrom the locations of accused.

So far, �4.43 crore have beenrecovered.

The CBI has registered acase against a ChiefAdministrative Officer of NFR,Mahendra Singh Chauhan andothers under relevant sectionsof IPC and Prevention ofCorruption Act.

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Following request from sev-eral countries for its twovaccines—Covishield andCovaxin, India is all set to pro-vide the jabs under grant assis-tance to Bhutan, Maldives,Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmarand Seychelles, to begin withfrom Wednesday.

It will also send shipmentsto Sri Lanka, Afghanistan andMauritius as well on receipt ofnecessary regulatory clear-ances.

However, India said that itwill be ensured that domesticmanufacturers will have ade-quate stocks to meet domesticrequirements while supplyingabroad.

In a tweet, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said India isdeeply honoured to be a “long-trusted” partner in meeting thehealthcare needs of the globalcommunity and that supplies ofthe vaccines to several coun-tries will commence onWednesday, and more will fol-low in the days ahead.

India is one of the world’sbiggest drugmakers, and anincreasing number of countrieshave already approached it for

procuring thecoronavirus vac-cines.

The Ministryof External Affairssaid India will sup-ply Covid-19 vac-cines to partnercountries over thecoming weeks andmonths in a phasedmanner keeping inview the domestic

requirements.In a statement, the MEA

said India has received severalrequests for the supply ofIndian-manufactured vaccinesfrom neighbouring and keypartner countries.

“In response to theserequests, and in keeping withIndia’s stated commitment touse India’s vaccine productionand delivery capacity to help allof humanity fight the Covidpandemic, supplies under grantassistance to Bhutan, Maldives,Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmarand Seychelles will begin fromJanuary 20,” it said.

“In respect of Sri Lanka,Afghanistan and Mauritius, weare awaiting their confirmationof necessary regulatory clear-ances,” it added.

“India fulfils commitmentto give vaccines to humanity.Supplies to our neighbourswill start on 20th January. ThePharmacy of the World willdeliver to overcome theCOVID challenge,” ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarsaid on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Union HealthMinistry officials said that thetotal number of persons foundpositive with UK strain of

Covid-19 is 141 while dailynew Covid cases have toucheda new low with 10,064 casesadding up to the national tallyin the last 24 hours after sevenmonths. India’s total activecaseload has dropped to 2 lakh(2,00,528), said the official.

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With the Union Territoryof Lakshadweepreporting its first ever case ofCovid-19 on Tuesday, theUnion Health Ministry hasrushed a team of medicalexperts to contain the situa-tion there. The index case isa traveler who had come toLakshadweep from Kochi inKerala on 4th January 2021by a ship. “The traveler hadreported to hospital withsymptoms suggestive ofCOVID-19 and was testedpositive. Initially 31 primarycontacts of the patient havebeen traced and quarantinedof which 14 have now beenfound to be positive andhave been isolated.

“56 contacts of positivecases detected so far havealso been traced and quar-antined. The UTAdministration has initiateddisinfection procedures andintensive risk-communica-tion activity has been oper-at ionalised,” said theMinistry.

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Members of the SupremeCourt-appointed panelon farm laws will not let theirpersonal views on these Actscome in the way of theirdeliberations with variousstakeholders, key committeemember Anil Ghanwat saidon Tuesday, while assertingthat they are not on the sideof any party or theGovernment.

After their first meetinghere, Ghanwat said the firstround of consultations withfarmers and other stakehold-ers has been scheduled forThursday.

The Supreme Court hadset up the four-member panelon January 11, but one ofthem, Bhupinder SinghMann, recused himself laterafter questions were raised bythe agitating farmer unions

about the viewsexpressed by allmembers in thepast in supportof the con-tentious laws,against whichthousands areprotest ing onDelhi bordersfor almost twomonths now.

Separately,nine rounds of talks havetaken place between the gov-ernment and agitating unionswithout any concrete resolu-tion. Ghanwat, who is thepresident of the Shetkari Sanghatana, said thepanel will hold its first roundof talks with farmers andother stakeholders on January21.

“The biggest challengefor panel is to convince agitating farmers to comeand speak with us. We will tryour best,” he said.

Ghanwat further said thecommittee will seek views offarmers and all other stake-holders on the new farm laws,besides the central and stategovernments.

“Panel members will keeptheir personal views on farmlaws aside while preparingreport to be submitted to theSupreme Court,” he said.

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Aday after the CongressHigh Command appoint-ed Oommen Chandi, formerChief Minister, as the head ofthe campaign committee forthe upcoming Assembly elec-tion in Kerala, discontentmentamong a section of the partyleaders have come out in theopen.

Chandi, a two time ChiefMinister, has wide acceptabil-ity in the Congress as well as inthe cross section of the Keralasociety. Though he is knownfor his Christian spiritualism,the Hindus and Muslims in theState have no reservationsagainst him unlike other lead-ers in the party. A person withmore than six decades of cleanpolitical life, Chandi is certainto give the ruling CPI(M) a runfor their money.

But by Tuesday, groupleaders were out in the openchallenging Congress presi-dent Sonia Gandhi’s decision tofield the old warhorse as the defacto chief ministerial candi-date of the party. RameshChennithala, Leader of theOpposition, made use of hisfollowers in the party to makeknown his displeasure overthe cold shouldering hereceived from the Congresspresident.

“You cannot ignore thecontributions made by RameshChennithala during the last fiveyears. The precedence in theparty has been to appoint theLeader of the Opposition as theChief Ministerial candidate inthe next election,” saidChandrasekhar, a faction leadermore loyal to Chennithalathan the Congress.

The Congress HighCommand is worried over thepowerful Christian lobby’s dis-pleasure over the party for itsstance on issues like Love Jihadand special privileges to theMuslim community, accordingto political commentator AJayashankar. “It is to win overthe Christian community thatSonia Gandhi has recalledChandi to lead the Congress aswell as the United DemocraticFront,” he said.

This was substantiated byP C George, MLA and leaderof Jana Paksham, a politicaloutfit in Kerala. “The Marxistsregime is discriminating theChristians in the allocation offunds meant for the welfare ofminorities. The Muslims areallocated 80 per cent of theresources while the Christiansare given a mere 20 per cent.This has definitely antagonisedthe Catholic Church,” saidGeorge who is expected tocast his lot with the Congress-led UDF in the upcoming elec-tion.

Tuesday’s meeting thesenior Cardinals of the Churchhad with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and the sub-sequent statement by CardinalGeorge Alencherry that theChurch does not have anyuntouchability with the BJP toohas to be noted in this context.

Oommen Chandi, at 77, isnot in the best of his health.Though the Marxists have leftno stones unturned in attack-ing him and his family mem-bers with allegations of allkinds, Chandi came outunscathed and strong. “At themoment he is the one and onlyleader who is respected wide-ly all over Kerala. He is the rightchoice for the chief minister’spost,” said George.

Another person to join thefray is MullappalliRamachandran, the presidentof Pradesh CongressCommittee. ButRamachandran’s day one aschief minister candidate evokedstrong reaction from theMuslim League as the formerdeclared his intention to con-test from Kalpetta assemblyconstituency in Wyandu dis-trict. Yahya Khan, the districtchief of the Muslim Leaguedeclared that his party wouldnot give up its claim overKalpetta, a traditional strong-hold of the party.

The CPI(M)-led LDFwhich is plagued by a numberof corruption charges couldheave a sigh of relief ifChennithala andRamachandran sustain theirchief ministerial dreams.

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Pre-poll war of words intensified as did headon clashes between Trinamool Congress andthe BJP as Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Tuesday attacked the saffron out-fit calling it worse than Maoists and more ven-omous than snakes.

Apparently playing on the fears of the Redmenace in an erstwhile ultra-Red zone the ChiefMinister while addressing a mega rally atPurulia said, “the BJP is more dangerous thanthe Maoists … they will ruin Bengal, discontinueall the pro-poor schemes started by us,” onceagain raking up the outsider issue.

“Let them use terror tactic, let them issueany amount of threat but we shall not bow ourheads before these outsiders who do not knowabout the real culture of Bengal who break thestatues of Vidya Sagar, humiliate RabindranathTagore,” Banerjee said comparing the saffronleaders with cobra.

Criticising the Centre for christeningJanuary 23 the birth day of Netaji SubhasChandra Bose as “Parakram Diwas” Banerjeesaid that her government was “not happy withCentre’s decision,” adding her Governmentwould call it “Desh Prem Diwas.’’ The ChiefMinister will hold a ‘padayatra’ (foot-march ) inKolkata to mark the special occasion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visitKolkata on January 23 to inaugurate the mainprogramme to celebrate the birth anniversaryof Bose. The celebrations will be held atVictoria Hall.

During his visit, PM is also likely to be a partof an event at the National Library, where he willinaugurate restored architectural sites and ded-icate them to the people of West Bengal,Government sources said adding GovernorJagdeep Dhankhar will also be a part of theevents that Modi is likely to attend.

Back to Purulia: Comparing the saffron out-

fit with cobra Banerjee said, “These people areas venomous as cobra … they will come, catch,swallow, eat and digest you before moving aheadas if nothing happened,” adding, “these are riot-ers, looters who create division in the society,set one community against the other, promisebut do not deliver … ask them as to what hap-pened to the Rs 15 lakh that they had promisedbefore coming to power in Delhi.”

Asking the people to “drive these outsidersaway when they come to ask for votes,” Banerjeeattacked the BJP Government for browbeatingthe media into submission. “I do not understandhow such big media houses give in to the threatsof the BJP which is forcing them to run falsenews,” she said how the “BJP is trying to terroriseeven the civil society.

“They are threatening the film people, thecivil society but I will not tolerate this inBengal… let them touch our film fraternity atTollywood and then see the consequence.” Shesaid.

Attacking the central government for itsalleged “anti-farmer policy” Banerjee said “theyare giving tall promises to farmers in Bengal buttorturing the farmers of Punjab, Haryana andUttar Pradesh who are sitting in the open inthese cold months demanding the scrapping ofthe anti-farmer laws,” adding “these laws willhelp the corporate and the rich people to lootaway your crop and reduce you into their slaves.”

Attacking the leaders like Suvendu Adhikariwho left the Trinamool Congress to join the BJPBanerjee said “some people are leaving our partythinking that this will bother us… but we arerelieved that these people are leaving the party… they are burden on us.”

Two districts away Adhikari hit back atBanerjee from a rally at Khejuri nearNandirgram saying the Chief Minister shouldget the “ex word” printed on her letter pads as“very soon she will be out of power.”

New Delhi: A girl who went “missing”from her maternal uncle's house here near-ly four years ago has been found by theDelhi Police who said onTuesday that shehad left to escape being married off as aminor and is now pursuing a nursingcourse.

Officials said she had left the house inMay 2017, when she would be around 16,and the matter was reported at theShalimar Bagh police station in northwestDelhi where a kidnapping case was regis-tered and an investigation initiated.The police had in 2019 also announced areward of Rs 50,000 for anybody provid-ing information that helped to locate her,they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police(Crime) Bhisham Singh said, “Our (CrimeBranch) team contacted and examined the

relatives, friends and acquaintances of thegirl. After analysing Call Detail Records,we found that the girl was somewhere inBihar.” Head Constable Ramdasreceived an input Monday that the girl wascoming to Delhi by a bus and would reachAnand Vihar Inter-state Bus Terminal inthe morning, he said.

Based on this tip-off, a team was sentto the ISBT and the girl was found, he said.He said the girl told the police her parentshad passed away when she was a child andshe and her brother used to live with hermaternal uncle in Delhi.

“When she was in Class 10, hermaternal uncle was forcing her to marrya person of his choice, but she did not wantto get married as she was interested instudying further. So she left her maternaluncle's house in 2017 without telling any-

one and reached her maternal grand-mother's house in Samastipur district ofBihar,” he said. None of her relatives vis-ited her in the Bihar house and hermaternal grandmother too did not informanyone about her being there and sup-ported her in pursuing her studies, accord-ing to the DCP.

She completed her school educationand took admission in a nursing course inSamastipur, the DCP said. The girlwas not aware that an FIR had been lodgedin this regard, he said, adding the CrimeBranch handed her to the Shalimar BaghPolice Station, where the cases was regis-tered.

The police then presented here beforethe Child Welfare Committee (CWC) andfurther action will be taken in the matteron the direction of CWC. PTI

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Internal bickering in thePeoples Alliance for GupkarDeclaration (PAGD) came tothe fore on Tuesday afterPeople's Conference ChairmanSajjad Lone announced thedecision to pull out of thealliance, almost a month afterthe announcement of DistrictDevelopment Council electionresults.

The Peoples Alliance forGupkar Declaration was float-ed by the Kashmir based main-stream political parties aheadof the DDC polls. The PAGDcontested the DDC polls on theslogan of restoring the specialstatus of the erstwhile state ofJammu and Kashmir and

revoking Abrogation of Article370 and 35-A.

Sajjad Lone, who was madespokesman of the allianceahead of the DDC polls, alsoshot off a three page letter tothe Chairman of the PeoplesAlliance for GupkarDeclaration Dr FarooqAbdullah citing reasons behindthe pull out.

According to the letter cir-culated in the media by thePeople's Conference, SajjadLone wrote, “There has been abreach of trust between part-ners which we believe isbeyond remedy”.

“The majoritarian view inour party is that we should pullout of the alliance in an ami-cable manner rather than wait-

ing for things to get messier.And I am confirming that wewill no longer be a part of thePAGD alliance”. Sharing hisangst, Sajjad further wrote,“We fought against each otherin Kashmir province notagainst the perpetrators ofAugust 5,2019.

And those who perpetrat-ed August 5 and their minionsare now vocally gleeful “Sajjadwrote in the letter. Exposing thefacade of unity in the PAGDSajjad said, “in majority of theplaces the party fielding thecandidate on behalf of PAGDwas left to fend for itself andsecured the votes that his partymanaged.

In most places other par-ties were silent bystanders or

worst compounded the prob-lem by fielding proxy candi-dates''.

“On the face of it, PAGDwon these elections unam-biguously having won the max-imum number of seats. Wecan’t hide statistics and apartfrom the number of seats thatPAGD won, another importantstatistical variable in the con-text of August 5 is the numberof votes polled against thePAGD.

We believe that the votespolled against the PAGD aremajorly the votes cast by prox-ies of PAGD constituent partiesagainst official PAGD candi-dates. And the net outcome ofselectively voting for andagainst PAGD is a very poor

vote share. This is certainly notthe vote share that people of Jand K deserved post August 5”,Sajjad Lone wrote.

People's Conference, one ofthe constituents of PAGD, hadwon a total number of 8 seatsin the DDC polls while Jammuand Kashmir NationalConference (JKNC) had wonmaximum number of 67 seatsfollowed by the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) whichmanaged to secure 27 seats.Despite contesting the DDCpolls under the banner ofPAGD, the party constituentshad failed to project a unitedface after the announcement ofpoll results. No formal eventwas organised to 'unitedly' cel-ebrate the victory of the PAGD

candidates.Referring to the internal

audit within his own party, Sajjad said, “It is difficultfor us to stay on and pretend as if nothing has hap-pened.

“ This alliance needed sac-rifice. Every party had to sac-rifice on the ground in terms ofgiving space to fellow allies. Noparty is willing to cede space,no party is willing to sacrifice”added Sajjad Lone.

''I would however want toadd that we are divorcing fromthe alliance not its objectives.We will continue to adhere tothe objectives that we set outwhen this alliance was made”, Sajjad Lone con-cluded.

Surat: Thirteen migrantlabourers and a year-old-girlfrom Rajasthan who weresleeping by the roadside inGujarat's Surat district wereamong 15 dead after a dumpertruck ran over them onTuesday, police said.

Those killed include eightwomen and a migrant workerfrom Madhya Pradesh, policesaid. While 12 of them died onthe spot, three died duringtreatment at a hospital, policeadded.

Except for the 19-year-oldworker from Madhya Pradesh,all the other deceased werefrom villages in Banswara dis-trict in south Rajasthan, policesaid.

The tragedy took placenear Kosamba village, around60 km from Surat, police said.The truck driver, who appar-ently lost control over the vehi-

cle after hitting a sugarcaneladen tractor, has been bookedunder sections of the IPC andMotor Vehicles Act, policesaid.The truck driver and thevehicle's 'cleaner' were alsoinjured in the accident and arebeing treated at a hospital.

The truck ran over themigrant construction workerson the Kim-Mandvi roadshortly after midnight, Surat SPUsha Rada said.

The truck driver lost con-trol over his vehicle after dash-ing against the tractor andveered off the road onto thepavement where the workerswere sleeping, she said.

“The truck was on its wayto Mandvi from Kim. The dri-ver lost control of the vehicleafter it hit sugarcane hangingout of the tractor trolley com-ing from the opposite direction.

“The truck's front window

pane shattered on impact,which blocked the driver'svision. The truck then veeredoff the road and crashed intothe sleeping labourers,” shesaid.

Three workers injured inthe tragedy are being treated ina nearby hospital, the policeofficial said.

Prime Minister NarendraModi announced that ex-gra-tia of Rs two lakh from thePrime Minister's NationalRelief Fund would be given tothe next of kin of each personkilled in the accident and Rs50,000 would be given to eachinjured.

“The loss of lives due to atruck accident in Surat is trag-ic. My thoughts are with thebereaved families. Praying thatthe injured recover at the ear-liest,” the PMO tweeted, quot-ing Modi. PTI

Kota (Raj): A 27-year-old man was sentencedto life in jail till death for raping three five-to-nine-year-old girls in his village under Simliyapolice station area of Kota district over threeyears ago.

A special court set up under provisionsof the Protection of Children from SexualOffences Act sentenced Mithun alias GajendraRao after convicting him of the offence of rapeand various other offences under the POCSOAct and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities)Act, Public Prosecutor Suresh Verma said onTuesday.

Special Judge Hanuman Prasad convictedRao on Monday while observing that “nounnecessary compassion should be displayed”while sentencing such criminals who “affect theentire judicial system and also obliterate pub-lic sentiments”. The public prosecutor said thejudge also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on theconvict.

The case against Rao was lodged in July2017 on the complaint of the mother of a nine-year-old girl, accusing him of raping herdaughter.

During the investigation of the case, it tran-spired that Rao had also raped two other girls ofthe village, aged five and seven years respectively.The police subsequently filed the charge-sheet inthe case indicting Rao of all three rapes. PTI

Malappuram (Kerala):A 17-year-oldgirl,Who recently disclosed that she had alleged-ly been sexually abused by 38 persons, is stil-lundergoing psycho-social counselling,police said on Tuesday. The girl was beingcounselled at the state-run Nirbhaya Centrehere and there was no plan to send her backhome, considering her safety, the police said.

Based on the girl's disclosure inNovember last, a total of 29 cases had beenregistered so far and 20 persons arrested inthis connection, a top police official said.

“We have registered 13 and 16 casesseparately. Of the total 40 accused, 20 havealready been arrested and weare on a huntto trace 20 more accused,”district police chiefAbdul Karim U told PTI. Of the arrested20, 15 went out on bail and five wereremanded, he said. He said mother wasthe lone close relative the victim had and itwas not safe to send the girlback home.

“The victim continues to undergo coun-sellingat the Nirbhaya centre. Ifhigher-upsseek any report from us in this regard, wewill object to sending her back home to joinher mother due to safety reasons. We takeinto considerationher mental conditionalso,” the officer added. The teenager'sordeal came to light during a counselling ses-sion at the Nirbhaya centre recently, policesaid. PTI

Mahoba (UP): Three people werearrested in Mahoba district ofUttar Pradesh on Tuesday forallegedly raping and killing a Dalitwoman, whose body was foundhanging from a tree here, policesaid.

The 18-year-old victim, who wasin Class 12, left home to buy veg-etables on Saturday afternoon but didnot return. Later, her family mem-bers found her body hanging froma tree in the Belatal area, CircleOfficer Rampravesh Rai had said.

An FIR was registered againstthe trio, Rohit, Bhupendra andTarun, on charges of rape and underthe Scheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act, SHO, Kulpahadpolice station, Ravindra Tiwari hadsaid. Further investigation is under-way, he added.

The woman's aunt told thepolice on Sunday that she was beingharassed by a man in their locali-ty, who was making phone calls toher for the last one month. Shealleged that the victim's body washanged from the tree after she waskilled, the officer had said earlier. PTI

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Impeachment is essentiallysymbolic, but the sort ofsticky symbolism with amoral dimension that standsthe test of time. History booksthat transcend time and lives bearthe impeached person’s namewith an unflattering asterisk oftransgression. Only threePresidents of the United States(US), out of the 45 that preced-ed Joe Biden, were tainted withthis blot, with Donald Trumpgoing down in posterity as theunique one, with two impeach-ments! The Constitution of theUS describes acts that are deemed“treason, bribery, or other highcrimes and misdemeanours” tobe impeachment-worthy. Beyondthe legality of formal convictionin a classic justice sense,impeachment is tantamount toabuse of public and constitution-al trust, with possible intersectionof legal criminality, subsequent-ly. But the man whom the usual-ly reserved Dalai Lama suggest-ed had a “lack of moral principle”,i.e. Trump, remains brazen andunrepentant.

Others like Richard Nixon,who had faced a near-certainprospect of getting impeached,had resigned from office justbefore impeachment. The othertwo impeached US Presidents,Andrew Johnson and BillClinton, had in hindsight consid-erably less deleterious and viola-tive portents to democracy ascompared to the ingloriousnessof Trump’s acts. Andrew Johnson,arguably a racist himself who hadsucceeded the colossus of democ-racy, Abraham Lincoln, wasimpeached for a technicality ofviolating the Tenure of Office Actwhen he removed a federalappointee without consulting theSenate. History reflects thatimpeachment as more of a par-tisan act that seized upon anunacceptable presidential actionbut perhaps not warranting theburden of impeachment.Similarly, Bill Clinton had per-jured himself by lying to theinvestigators about his relation-ship with Monica Lewinsky, asalso encouraging the WhiteHouse staff to toe the said line.The undeniable dereliction andmisconduct was perhaps stillshort of breaching the high railsof “treason, bribery, or otherhigh crimes and misdemeanours”.The fine difference was illustrat-ed by a rival Republican Senator,Susan Collins, who agreed thatClinton had conducted himselfdisgracefully, but perhaps short of

a crime, when she still votedagainst the impeachment bystating: “In voting to acquit thePresident, I do so with gravemisgivings for I do not meanin any way to exonerate thisman.” Bill Clinton was visibly,and admittedly, embarrassedand repentant.

Trump was, on the otherhand, first impeached for theabuse of power and obstruc-tion of Congress. He hadallegedly pushed Ukraine tosnoop into the commercialaffairs of his ultimate nemesis,Joe Biden, and therefore enlist-ed a foreign power in corrupt-ing the democratic elections.Trump had also withheld mil-itary funds from theUkrainians in order to coercethem to do so. But Trump’smisdemeanours had continuedwith his denialist approach byfurther ordering the ExecutiveBranch to not comply with theCongressional subpoenas forthe trailing documents andtestimonies. However, unlikethe bipartisan expressions thatsurrounded the Clinton orNixon build-up, Trump hadmanaged to polarise and dividethe nation into extremitiesthat ensured that, barring oneRepublican Senator, all hadacquiesced blindly to Trump.The second Trump impeach-ment was unprecedented in its

seriousness of accusativeimport, “incitement for insur-rection”. The self-interest ofRepublicans, which was inplay to defend Trump duringthe first impeachment on par-tisan lines, was equally visiblein the second impeachment,with 10 Republican Senatorsdisassociating themselves fromsupporting Trump, owing toworse consequences in repeat-ing their partisan decision.The Joint Chief of Staff hadissued an internal memo thatsought to remind the uni-formed fraternity of their solefidelity to the Constitutionand alluded to the potentialdisruption of the Biden inau-guration as “against the law” —further suggesting the grave-ness of the unconstitutionali-ty that Trump was accused of.

The weight of the 10Republicans who bolted out ofthe Trump bandwagon is muchmore than its arithmetical sig-nificance, as it is about theassertion of bipartisan courage,democratic values and basiccommon sense. In many ways,this internal dissenting notehas allowed the Republicans ofabsolve and permanentlycleanse themselves ofTrumpism, post-January 20,2021. While the impeachmentprocess was rushed throughthe last days of Trump’s presi-

dency, its necessity is contex-tualised to the public healingof the shame of “coup” andoffering a restorative opportu-nity and agenda for bipartisanpolitics hereinafter. The singu-lar Republican who had yield-ed to the dictates of his person-al conscience in voting againstTrump’s first impeachment,Mitt Romney, noted evocative-ly in Trump’s second “coming”that there must be “meaning-ful consequences” when aPresident incites an attackagainst the Congress and, moreimportantly, against all knowntenets of democracy.

Opinions now abound thatthe new President, Biden, neednot federally prosecute Trumpand sustain the divisive andinflammatory ‘Donald Trumpshow’ to linger, irate passionsand sustain dangerous rumours.Trump’s descent into indefensi-ble infamy and notoriety that had toyed withreckless ideas like attackingIran before elections, imposingquasi-martial law or actuallytriggering social unrest by insist-ing upon his allegations of“fraudulent elections”, “can’t playin the hands of these people”,“elections that were stolen” andsuchlike, has already broughtthe US to the unthinkable brinkof anarchy and civil war. Theisolation of Trump among his

own party leaders and ostensi-ble loyalists has shifted gearsfrom private murmurs behindclosed doors to open calls forintrospection within. The trig-gers for the much-neededcourse correction have not beenthe legality, but the loss ofmorality, surrounding Trump’sindefensibility. In a shifting signof times, Republican leaderMitch McConnell had freedRepublican Senators from toeing any party line and,instead, urged them to “votewith their conscience”; the subliminal writing on the wallfor Trump is unmistakable.Indeed, Trump will be expect-ed to continue his slanderousrants, unsubstantiated false-hoods and desperation to retainthe centre-stage but the loss ofmoral high ground for theRepublican Party, going for-ward, will drop Trump from theonly political anchorage thatsustains his relevance. It is notthe electoral triumphs, unchal-lenged dominance or legality inthe court, but the diminishmentof morality as captured in this symbolic impeachment thatended a destructive streak and individual.

(The writer, a military veteran, is a former Lt Governorof Andaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

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Forced conversions are not new in the subcon-tinent. Reports regularly pour in from Indiaas well as Pakistan about illegal conversionsof women/girls through force, deceit or other meth-ods which are in contravention of the law of theland. The issue was highlighted after the UttarPradesh (UP) Government brought a legislationtermed the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion ofReligion Ordinance, 2020, that is meant to stopforceful conversion of women/girls from other reli-gions to Islam, which the Right-wing sympathis-ers call the “Love Jihad Act.” Around the sametime in Pakistan, a report claimed that about 1,000women/girls are converted to Islam every year inthe country.

It is the minority community which faces thebrunt of an interfaith marriage, when it goes wrong.In India, Muslims who are in a minority, accountfor 15 per cent of the population while minorityHindus make up 1.60 per cent of the total popu-lation of Pakistan. Likewise, the Christian popu-lation comprises of 1.59 per cent of the total pop-ulation of the Islamic Republic. Both the countriesare facing the problem of conversion of non-Muslim women/girls. Sometimes this change offaith is coerced and many a time it is by mutualconsent. But in both the cases sparks fly, creatinga law and order problem.

Human Rights activist and advocate inPakistan’s Supreme Court, M Shoaib Ashraf says:“There is no law to stop forced conversion in ourcountry. But it is also true that Islam does not allowconversions for the sake of marriage. This is con-sidered exploitation of the faith. One has to con-vert out of the love for the religion and not for anyother reason.”

However, the Indian Constitution upholds thatthe right to marry is a component of the right tolife which comes under Article 21. It states: “Noperson shall be deprived of his life and personalliberty except according to the procedure estab-lished by law.”

Delivering a historic judgment in the Hadiyaand Shefin Jahan case, Justice DY Chandrachudof the Supreme Court of India said: “The choiceof a partner whether within or outside marriagelies within the exclusive doma