+ˆ , RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · ˙˘ & ,! &˘01! ˚ ˛$˘(($ ˚ ˝!˚...

12
I ndia and China held the ninth round of military-level talks on Sunday to defuse ten- sion at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh and reaffirmed their commitment to resolve the issue through dialogue. There was no break- through but both the sides agreed to meet soon to find mutually acceptable agreement to disengage and de-escalate. The talks came amid reports that the Chinese Army has built a village inside Arunachal Pradesh and con- solidated its positions in east- ern Ladakh by bringing in more troops at the friction points along the LAC. The parleys lasting more than seven hours beginning at 10 am between the Corps Commanders of the two armies were held at the Chushul- Modo border meeting point on the LAC in Ladakh. The Indian side was led by 14 Corps chief Lt General PK Menon and the delegation also included a Joint Secretary from the Ministry of External Affairs. Incidentally, at least six rounds of the diplomatic level talks under the aegis of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) were also held since the face-offs began between the two armies in May last year. However, these interventions also failed to end the impasse. The last WMCC talks were held on December 18. The latest round of Corps Commander talks came more than two months after the eighth round was held on November 6 between the two Commanders. While no posi- tive result came out from the latest episode, both the sides focused on thrashing out a mutually acceptable timeline for disengagement from fric- tion points and ultimate de- escalation, sources said here on Sunday. In a joint statement issued after the last round of talks, the two countries agreed to imple- ment the “important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, ensure their frontline troops exercise restraint and avoid misunder- standing and miscalculation.” The two Commanders on Sunday took stock of this agree- ment and decided to sustain it till an amicable solution was found, officials said. Though reiterating its stand on finding a way out through dialogue, India is not taking any chances. Against this backdrop, it had so far turned down the Chinese insis- tence on withdrawing its troops from strategic heights on the south and north banks of the Pangong Tso (lake). Instead, India in all the rounds held so far stuck to its stand that China had to first withdraw its troops from all the friction points, including “Finger 4 to 8” at the same time. The Chinese have intrud- ed more than four km in this region near the Pangong Lake. India was of the firm view that China had to reduce its troop strength in depth areas besides tanks and artillery guns. At present, more than one lakh troops from both the sides were facing each other at the 1,700 km long LAC in Ladakh. Moreover, the entire LAC from west in Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh in the east was on heightened alert. The Indian Army and IAF have deployed its frontline troops and fighter jets at all the impor- tant forward bases all along the 4,000 km long LAC. Given China’s blatant attempt to unilaterally change the status quo at the LAC, Army Chief General MM Naravane said here on January 12 the Indian troops will hold their ground as long as it takes to achieve the “national goals and objectives.” He, however, underlined the need for find- ing an amicable resolution of the standoff through talks. IAF chief RKS Bhadauria on Saturday had said if China opted for an aggressive stance in eastern Ladakh, “we can also be aggressive.” These observations from the two Services chiefs came as the armed forces were prepared for a long haul as the talks had not yielded any results. The Indian troops were braving the harsh winter in Ladakh with the temperature dipping to minus 30 degrees now. In order to sustain them and keep them operationally ready, the Army has an ade- quate number of winter cloth- ing and prefabricated heated huts. S enior citizens above 65 years of age, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 will not be permitted to visit Haridwar during Kumbh Mela at Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Patients with health condi- tions and comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease, chronic lung disease, cerebrovascular disease, chron- ic kidney disease, immune- suppression, and cancer will be “discouraged” to visit. These are part of the guide- lines (SOP) issued by the Centre on Sunday for Kumbh Mela amid Covid-19, asking all devotees desirous of attending the “mela” to register with the Uttarakhand Government. They will also have to obtain a compulsory medical certifi- cate from Community Health Centre/District hospital/ Medical college in their State. According to the Centre’s guidelines, RT-PCR test should be taken not more than 72 hours prior to their visit to Haridwar during the Kumbh Mela. The reports will also be required to be uploaded on the Uttarakhand Government’s official web por- tal. Considered to be the biggest Hindu religious festi- val, the “Maha Kumbh” is cel- ebrated every 12 years and draws a huge crowd. This year, the Kumbh would con- tinue for two months — from February 27 to April 27 due to Covid-19 crisis. The Central Government has also acknowledged that since the Maha Kumbh receives devotees from various States of the country as well as from abroad, it is necessary to take precautions. Moreover, the State Governments have been directed to deploy only those healthcare personnel on duty who have been provided the Covid-19 vaccine shot. A fter several rounds of talks between the Delhi Police and farmers’ unions, the police on Sunday allowed their pro- posed tractor rally inside the national Capital on January 26. Police said the proposed trac- tor rally of farmers on Tuesday will begin amid tight security after Republic Day celebra- tions conclude. Police also said there are intelligence inputs suggesting that there are elements, which pose threats to the proposed rally and they may disrupt it. “After analysis of Twitter handles revealed that there are 308 such accounts created in Pakistan which are attempting to create confusion and thus disturbances during farmers rally,” said police. According to sources, the Delhi Police Cyber teams are keeping eyes on social media to track miscreants who may try to create panic. Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastva issued a circular and directed all officers and men, as well as Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and other forces to be deployed for Republic Day Parade security and should remain in a ready position to move at short notice for law and order arrangement. Police said the rally will be conducted in three parts — first from Singhu border which have 62 km route, then from Tikri border with around 60 km route and Ghazipur Border with 46 km route. “There are approximately 12,000 to 13,000 tractors at various border —around 7,000 to 8,000 at Tikri, around 5,000 at Singhu and around 1,000 at Ghazipur border which is expected to go up in coming days,” said police. As the farmers wanted to do a tractor rally on January 26, police have come to a conclusion that the rally will be conducted after the timing of the Republic Day Celebration ends. Police has given them around 170 kilo- metres of distance in three routes,” said the Special CP. T he ruling Nepal Communist Party’s splinter faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” on Sunday expelled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from the party’s general membership. The decision to remove Oli from the party’s general mem- bership was taken at the Standing Committee meeting of the faction led by former prime ministers Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal after Oli failed to produce explana- tion to his recent moves as sought by party leadership, sources said. Earlier in December, the splinter group had removed Oli, one of the two chairmen of the ruling party, as the party chair. Madhav Nepal was named as the party’s second chairman. Prachanda is the first chairman of the party. The Prachanda-led faction on January 15 sought clarifi- cation from Oli alleging that he was carrying out activities that go against the party’s policies. The faction decided to strip Oli off even from the ordinary membership of the party after he chose not to furnish any clarification, party sources said. Oli had been accused of violating party statute by the splinter group. The latest political devel- opment came two days after the NCP’s splinter faction led a massive anti-Government rally, saying the “unconstitu- tional” dissolution of the Parliament by Prime Minister Oli has posed serious threats to the country’s hard-earned fed- eral democratic republic sys- tem. A mid a spate of defections from the ruling TMC to the saffron camp in Bengal ahead of the Assembly polls, State BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Sunday allayed apprehensions of the turn- coats getting more importance than the old timers,saying switching political allegiance doesnt always guarantee lead- ership positions. Ghosh, however, insisted that the party, in order to expand its base for coming to power in Bengal, needs to induct people from other polit- ical outfits. In an interview to PTI, he also clarified that everybody has to abide by the rules and regulations of the party, be it the old-timers or the new- comers. “The BJP is a growing force in West Bengal. Our organisation is getting strengthened with each passing day; people from other parties including the TMC are joining us. If we dont take people from other outfits, how will we grow? “No matter who joins the camp, I would like to add that everyone has to abide by the rules and regulations of the party. No one is above the party,” he said, when asked about reports of infighting in certain pockets of the state over induction of leaders from the Trinamool Congress. S etting the stage for a massive show of strength in Mumbai on Monday in support of the farmers agitating on the out- skirts of the national Capital to demand the repeal of three farm laws, more than 15,000 farmers — marching through the stretch of Kasara Ghat by foot — congregated at the his- toric Azad Maidan in south Mumbai on Sunday. Farmers from as many as 21 districts of Maharashtra, who had arrived at the Kasara Ghat by vehicles from their homes, covered by foot the 7- km long stretch of the Kasara Ghat which joins Nashik and Thane districts. The marching farmers were followed along the Kasara Ghat by hundreds and thou- sands in their vehicles. The Kasara Ghat march and the vehicle jatha were spearheaded by the national president of All India Kisan Sabha (AKIS) Dr Ashok Dhawale, State president Kisan Gujar and State general secre- tary Dr Ajit Nawale. After the jatha entered Mumbai at the Mulund Check Naka, the farmers were accorded a rousing reception at the Kannamwar Nagar at Vikhroli in north-east Mumbai by hundreds of activists of the CPI(M), CITU, D Y F I and AIDWA in Mumbai, led by party CCM Mahendra Singh. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Transcript of +ˆ , RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · ˙˘ & ,! &˘01! ˚ ˛$˘(($ ˚ ˝!˚...

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    India and China held theninth round of military-leveltalks on Sunday to defuse ten-sion at the Line of ActualControl (LAC) in Ladakh andreaffirmed their commitmentto resolve the issue throughdialogue. There was no break-through but both the sidesagreed to meet soon to findmutually acceptable agreementto disengage and de-escalate.

    The talks came amidreports that the Chinese Armyhas built a village insideArunachal Pradesh and con-solidated its positions in east-ern Ladakh by bringing inmore troops at the frictionpoints along the LAC.

    The parleys lasting morethan seven hours beginning at10 am between the CorpsCommanders of the two armieswere held at the Chushul-Modo border meeting point on

    the LAC in Ladakh. The Indianside was led by 14 Corps chiefLt General PK Menon and thedelegation also included a JointSecretary from the Ministry ofExternal Affairs.

    Incidentally, at least sixrounds of the diplomatic leveltalks under the aegis of theWorking Mechanism forConsultation and Coordination(WMCC) were also held sincethe face-offs began between thetwo armies in May last year.However, these interventionsalso failed to end the impasse.The last WMCC talks wereheld on December 18.

    The latest round of CorpsCommander talks came morethan two months after theeighth round was held onNovember 6 between the twoCommanders. While no posi-tive result came out from thelatest episode, both the sidesfocused on thrashing out amutually acceptable timeline

    for disengagement from fric-tion points and ultimate de-escalation, sources said here onSunday.

    In a joint statement issuedafter the last round of talks, thetwo countries agreed to imple-ment the “important consensusreached by the leaders of thetwo countries, ensure theirfrontline troops exerciserestraint and avoid misunder-standing and miscalculation.”The two Commanders onSunday took stock of this agree-

    ment and decided to sustain ittill an amicable solution wasfound, officials said.

    Though reiterating itsstand on finding a way outthrough dialogue, India is nottaking any chances. Againstthis backdrop, it had so farturned down the Chinese insis-tence on withdrawing its troopsfrom strategic heights on thesouth and north banks of thePangong Tso (lake).

    Instead, India in all therounds held so far stuck to its

    stand that China had to firstwithdraw its troops from all thefriction points, including“Finger 4 to 8” at the sametime. The Chinese have intrud-ed more than four km in thisregion near the Pangong Lake.India was of the firm view thatChina had to reduce its troopstrength in depth areas besidestanks and artillery guns.

    At present, more than onelakh troops from both thesides were facing each other atthe 1,700 km long LAC inLadakh. Moreover, the entireLAC from west in Ladakh toArunachal Pradesh in the eastwas on heightened alert. TheIndian Army and IAF havedeployed its frontline troopsand fighter jets at all the impor-tant forward bases all along the4,000 km long LAC.

    Given China’s blatantattempt to unilaterally changethe status quo at the LAC,Army Chief General MM

    Naravane said here on January12 the Indian troops will holdtheir ground as long as it takesto achieve the “national goalsand objectives.” He, however,underlined the need for find-ing an amicable resolution ofthe standoff through talks.

    IAF chief RKS Bhadauriaon Saturday had said if Chinaopted for an aggressive stancein eastern Ladakh, “we can alsobe aggressive.”

    These observations fromthe two Services chiefs came asthe armed forces were preparedfor a long haul as the talks hadnot yielded any results.

    The Indian troops werebraving the harsh winter inLadakh with the temperaturedipping to minus 30 degreesnow. In order to sustain themand keep them operationallyready, the Army has an ade-quate number of winter cloth-ing and prefabricated heatedhuts.

    ����� ��������

    Senior citizens above 65 yearsof age, pregnant women,and children below the age of10 will not be permitted to visitHaridwar during Kumbh Melaat Haridwar in Uttarakhand.Patients with health condi-tions and comorbidities such asdiabetes, hypertension, cardiacdisease, chronic lung disease,cerebrovascular disease, chron-ic kidney disease, immune-suppression, and cancer will be“discouraged” to visit.

    These are part of the guide-lines (SOP) issued by theCentre on Sunday for KumbhMela amid Covid-19, asking alldevotees desirous of attendingthe “mela” to register with theUttarakhand Government.They will also have to obtain acompulsory medical certifi-cate from Community HealthCentre/District hospital/Medical college in their State.

    According to the Centre’sguidelines, RT-PCR testshould be taken not more

    than 72 hours prior to theirvisit to Haridwar during theKumbh Mela. The reports willalso be required to beuploaded on the UttarakhandGovernment’s official web por-tal.

    Considered to be thebiggest Hindu religious festi-val, the “Maha Kumbh” is cel-ebrated every 12 years anddraws a huge crowd. Thisyear, the Kumbh would con-tinue for two months — fromFebruary 27 to April 27 due toCovid-19 crisis.

    The Central Governmenthas also acknowledged thatsince the Maha Kumbhreceives devotees from variousStates of the country as well asfrom abroad, it is necessary totake precautions.

    Moreover, the StateGovernments have beendirected to deploy only thosehealthcare personnel on dutywho have been provided theCovid-19 vaccine shot.

    ������������� ��������

    After several rounds of talksbetween the Delhi Policeand farmers’ unions, the policeon Sunday allowed their pro-posed tractor rally inside thenational Capital on January 26.Police said the proposed trac-tor rally of farmers on Tuesdaywill begin amid tight securityafter Republic Day celebra-tions conclude.

    Police also said there areintelligence inputs suggestingthat there are elements, whichpose threats to the proposedrally and they may disrupt it.

    “After analysis of Twitterhandles revealed that there are308 such accounts created inPakistan which are attempting

    to create confusion and thusdisturbances during farmersrally,” said police.

    According to sources, theDelhi Police Cyber teams arekeeping eyes on social mediato track miscreants who maytry to create panic.

    Meanwhile, Delhi PoliceCommissioner SN Shrivastvaissued a circular and directedall officers and men, as well asCentral Armed Police Force(CAPF) and other forces to bedeployed for Republic DayParade security and shouldremain in a ready position tomove at short notice for lawand order arrangement.

    Police said the rally will beconducted in three parts —first from Singhu border

    which have 62 km route, thenfrom Tikri border with around60 km route and GhazipurBorder with 46 km route.“There are approximately12,000 to 13,000 tractors atvarious border —around 7,000to 8,000 at Tikri, around 5,000at Singhu and around 1,000 atGhazipur border which isexpected to go up in comingdays,” said police.

    As the farmers wanted todo a tractor rally on January26, police have come to aconclusion that the rally willbe conducted after the timingof the Republic DayCelebration ends. Police hasgiven them around 170 kilo-metres of distance in threeroutes,” said the Special CP.

    ���� �������

    The ruling NepalCommunist Party’s splinterfaction led by Pushpa KamalDahal “Prachanda” on Sundayexpelled Prime Minister KPSharma Oli from the party’sgeneral membership.

    The decision to remove Olifrom the party’s general mem-bership was taken at theStanding Committee meetingof the faction led by formerprime ministers Prachanda andMadhav Kumar Nepal afterOli failed to produce explana-tion to his recent moves assought by party leadership,sources said.

    Earlier in December, thesplinter group had removedOli, one of the two chairmen ofthe ruling party, as the partychair. Madhav Nepal wasnamed as the party’s secondchairman. Prachanda is thefirst chairman of the party.

    The Prachanda-led factionon January 15 sought clarifi-cation from Oli alleging that hewas carrying out activities that

    go against the party’s policies.The faction decided to strip Olioff even from the ordinarymembership of the party afterhe chose not to furnish anyclarification, party sources said.

    Oli had been accused ofviolating party statute by thesplinter group.

    The latest political devel-opment came two days afterthe NCP’s splinter faction leda massive anti-Governmentrally, saying the “unconstitu-tional” dissolution of theParliament by Prime MinisterOli has posed serious threats tothe country’s hard-earned fed-eral democratic republic sys-tem.

    ���� �����

    Amid a spate of defectionsfrom the ruling TMC tothe saffron camp in Bengalahead of the Assembly polls,State BJP president DilipGhosh on Sunday allayedapprehensions of the turn-coats getting more importancethan the old timers,sayingswitching political allegiancedoesnt always guarantee lead-ership positions.

    Ghosh, however, insistedthat the party, in order toexpand its base for coming topower in Bengal, needs toinduct people from other polit-ical outfits.

    In an interview to PTI, healso clarified that everybodyhas to abide by the rules andregulations of the party, be itthe old-timers or the new-comers.

    “The BJP is a growingforce in West Bengal. Ourorganisation is gettingstrengthened with each passingday; people from other partiesincluding the TMC are joiningus. If we dont take people fromother outfits, how will wegrow?

    “No matter who joins thecamp, I would like to add thateveryone has to abide by therules and regulations of theparty. No one is above theparty,” he said, when askedabout reports of infighting incertain pockets of the state overinduction of leaders from theTrinamool Congress.

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    Setting the stage for a massiveshow of strength in Mumbaion Monday in support of thefarmers agitating on the out-skirts of the national Capital todemand the repeal of threefarm laws, more than 15,000farmers — marching throughthe stretch of Kasara Ghat byfoot — congregated at the his-toric Azad Maidan in southMumbai on Sunday.

    Farmers from as many as21 districts of Maharashtra,who had arrived at the KasaraGhat by vehicles from their

    homes, covered by foot the 7-km long stretch of the KasaraGhat which joins Nashik andThane districts.

    The marching farmers

    were followed along the KasaraGhat by hundreds and thou-sands in their vehicles.

    The Kasara Ghat marchand the vehicle jatha were

    spearheaded by the nationalpresident of All India KisanSabha (AKIS) Dr AshokDhawale, State president KisanGujar and State general secre-tary Dr Ajit Nawale.

    After the jatha enteredMumbai at the Mulund CheckNaka, the farmers wereaccorded a rousing receptionat the Kannamwar Nagar atVikhroli in north-eastMumbai by hundreds ofactivists of the CPI(M), CITU,D Y F Iand AIDWA in Mumbai, ledby party CCM MahendraSingh.

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    Even as the farmers’ agitationagainst the controversialfarm laws at the Delhi borderscompleted two months onSunday, Punjab’s rulingCongress party and the prin-cipal opposition Aam AadmiParty (AAP) are engaged in warof words over the StateGovernment and ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh’s involvement in pavingway for the controversial leg-islations.

    With allegations andcounter-allegation continuingever since the farm bills werepassed by the Parliament somefour years back, both Congressand AAP on Sunday come outwith documentary evidences tosupport their claims.

    Hours after AAP’s DelhiMLA and Punjab co in-chargeRaghav Chadha alleged thatPunjab Chief Minister knewabout the farm laws and wasprivy to the terms of referenceof the high-powered commit-tee constituted to make and dis-cuss the laws in August 2019,Capt Aamrinder ridiculed it as“AAP’s brazen lies”.

    In fact, his FinanceMinister Manpreet Badal, whohad attended one of the meet-

    ings of the high-powered com-mittee on farm ordinances,released the “minutes of themeeting” to claim that the“three contentious farm billswere never brought up or dis-cussed in any meeting with theGovernment of Punjab or withany Punjab Minister”.

    AAP’S ALLEGATIONSAAP’s Punjab unit co- in-

    charge Raghav Chadha onSunday alleged that the PunjabChief Minister knew about thefarm laws, but he chose toremain silent for a year and didnot share the information withthe state’s farmers.

    “The Chief Minister knewabout the terms of referenceclearly mentioned in the officememorandum, which wouldmean large scale privatizationand corporatization of agri-culture in the country,” saidChadha, who was sharinginformation received by AAPthrough an RTI.

    Chadha, who was address-ing the media in Jalandhar, saidthat the Punjab Chief Ministerdidn’t oppose the farm lawswell in time, when they couldhave been withdrawn.

    Capt Amarinder said hedid not have any informationregarding the laws and he or

    the State was not a member ofthe committee.

    He also said that FinanceMinister was sent to the formalmeeting because it was a finan-cial issue. But the RTI makes itclear that as per an officememorandum dated August7, 2019, that the Chief Ministerwas the seventh member of thehigh powered committee ofCMs constituted by the PrimeMinister.

    He was privy to what thelaws entailed since August2019,” said Chadha.

    Reading out from the RTI,Chadha said that the PrimeMinister approved the revisedconstitution of a High-PoweredCommittee of Chief Ministersfor the ‘Transformation ofIndian Agriculture’ on August7, 2019.

    “In the agenda of thecommittee, the terms of refer-ence included key three points— Agricultural Produce andLivestock Marketing(Promotion and FacilitationAct, 2017; Agricultural Produceand Livestock, Contract farm-ing and Services (promotionand Facilitation Act), 2018;and “to examine various pro-visions of the EssentialCommodity Act and situationsthat require essential com-

    modity act,” he added.Underlining that the ‘terms

    of reference’ also detailed theprivatization of agriculture,Chadha said: “This means CaptAmarinder was aware that thelaws would lead to breaking ofmandis, weakening or finishingof the MSP law and largely theprivatization of agriculture.

    He was aware that the lawswould lead to hoarding and

    enslavement of farmers but hechose not to speak about themfor a year nor inform farmersor farmer unions.”

    AAP leader also dared theChief Minister “to share onedocument with us where youopposed the terms of referencefor the laws. If farmers knewthe laws, the passing of themcould have been stoppedbeforehand”.

    MANPREET’s DEFENCEComing to the defence of

    the state government and thechief minister, Punjab financeminister manpreet singh badalon Sunday said that the High-Powered Committee’s minutesclearly show that the threecontentious farm bills werenever brought up or discussedin “any meeting” with theGovernment of Punjab or with

    any Punjab minister.“The minutes of the meet-

    ing with the UnionGovernment have already beenreleased in the public domain.Anyone who reads the minuteswill note that the farm billswere neither brought up nordiscussed, nor were they on themeeting agenda,” saidManpreet.

    He said that he had already

    released the eight-page minutesof the meeting in the publicdomain on September 18, 2020.Further, to clarify any ques-tions, “I have addressed theentire issue in detail onSeptember 24, 2020.

    The video of the press con-ference is available in the pub-lic domain,” said Manpreetwhile sharing links for thesame.

    ����� +������2�

    Capt Amarinder, ridiculingAAP’s “brazen lies”, saidthat the non-evidence sharedby the party to support theirbaseless allegations againsthim had shown the extent oftheir desperation and hadexposed the shocking levels ofdeceit to which they hadstooped in the pursuit of theirpolitically motivated agenda.

    From sharing a selective-ly edited video of his (ChiefMinister’s statements) to therelease of a list of final com-mittee members, AAP’sspokesperson had made yetanother desperate attempt to

    sell his party’s pack of lies tothe people of Punjab, saidCapt Amarinder, adding thatthese actions showed thatArvind Kejriwal’s AAP had hitrock bottom in its desperationto promote its political agen-da in the State, where they hadbeen unceremoniously reject-ed by voters in 2017 Assemblypolls and in every electionthereafter.

    “If they think that by shar-ing a doctored video they canbefool the people of Punjab,then AAP leaders are evenmore ignorant about this Statethen I had believed them tobe,” said the Chief Minister.The fact that they needed to

    resort to such cheap tactics tofind a footing in Punjab goesto show that they have no con-crete agenda for the state, headded.

    Capt questioned AAPspokesperson, “a nobody inPunjab’s political arena”, onwhat he was seeking to proveby sharing a copy of the finallist of high-powered commit-tee members, dated August 7,2019, when the original com-mittee (minus Punjab) wasactually set up on June 15,2019. These dates are clearlymentioned on the documentsshared by their spokespersonhimself, he pointed out.

    “Don’t you understand the

    difference between Punjab notoriginally being included inthe Committee and beingnamed a member after I per-sonally wrote to the Centre onthe issue? How does flauntingthe final list, in which Punjabwas included after my inter-vention prove me wrong?”asked the Chief Minister,adding that he had never onceclaimed that Punjab was not inthe “reconstituted” committee.

    “Had AAP bothered toshare the complete videos ofmy statements, the truth ofwhat I have been saying wouldhave been endorsed, which isobviously why they have care-fully doctored my recorded

    statements,” Capt said.”Whenthe first meeting of the com-mittee was held, Punjab wasnot part of it.

    And after Punjab’s inclu-sion at his behest, one meetinghad discussed financial issues,with Manpreet Badal in atten-dance, while the last had onlyAgriculture Secy as the invit-ed participant...All this is amatter of record, which AAPclearly does not believe inchecking out,” he said, addingthat their spokesperson, inhis enthusiasm to prove him-self as the newly appointed in-charge of the party’s Punjabaffairs, had obviously failed todo his homework.

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    Himachal’s tourist hotspotKufri received fresh snow-fall while some other parts ofthe state witnessed rainfall inthe last 24 hours.

    Kufri in Shimla districtreceived 2 cm snowfall. Keylongrecorded 15 cm snowfall andKalpa 5 cm. Among other placesin the state, Gondla received 31cm snowfall, Bharmour 30 cm,Hansa 8 cm and Kothi 7 cm,according to the MeteorologicalCentre, Shimla.

    Shimla residents shiveredas icy winds brought down theminimum temperature to 2.1degrees Celsius. The state’s cap-ital recorded 1.7 mm rainfall.

    Kangra received 25.4 mmrainfall, Chamba 20 mm rain-fall, Palampur 17 mm,Dharamshala 14.8 mm, Manali10 mm and Bhuntar 3.8 mm.

    The tribal district of Lahauland Spiti’s administrative cen-tre Keylong was recorded as thecoldest place in the state atminus 9.2 degrees Celsius.Kalpa recorded a low of minus4.1 degrees Celsius. The min-imum temperatures inDalhousie and Kufri wererecorded at minus 1.8 and 0.5

    degrees Celsius respectively.Meanwhile, a 42-year-old

    man was killed in a lightningstrike in Kangra district. Theincident occurred on Saturdayevening and the deceased wasidentified as Parvinder Rana, aresident of Saunkni Da Kot inDharamshala sub-division. Thebody has been sent for post-mortem and further reports areawaited.

    Shimla MeteorologicalCentre Director ManmohanSingh said that no westerndisturbance would affect north-west India till February 1,therefore, weather will be dryover the state of HimachalPradesh till February 1.

    Thereafter, a fresh westerndisturbance may affect WesternHimalayan Region fromFebruary 2 and it may causeprecipitation at isolated placesover the state and it mayincrease in intensity and dis-tribution thereafter, he said.

    The dry northwesterlywinds would prevail overnorthwest India from January25 onwards, as a result, mini-mum temperatures are verylikely to fall by 2-4 degreeCelsius during the next 3 daysover most parts of Himachal

    while day temperature will riseby 3-5 degree Celsius in com-ing days on account of clear skyand sunny days, Singh added.

    THICK BLANKET OF FOGIN PUNJAB AND HARYANA

    The minimum tempera-tures hovered above normallimits in parts of Punjab andHaryana on Sunday. A thickblanket of fog engulfed mostplaces in the two states, reduc-ing visibility levels.

    According toMeteorological Departmentofficials here, fog engulfed var-ious places, includingChandigarh, Ambala, Hisar,Karnal, Sonipat, Bhiwani,Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda,Faridkot and Gurdaspur in themorning.

    Chandigarh, the joint cap-ital of Punjab and Haryanarecorded a minimum temper-ature of 11.2 degrees Celsius,six notches above normal.

    In Punjab, Amritsarrecorded a low of 6 degreesCelsius, while Ludhiana andPatiala too recorded abovenormal minimum tempera-tures at 8.6 degrees Celsius and 8.6 degrees Celsius,respectively.

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    Urging the CentralGovernment to considerall martyred 162 farmers for ex-gratia benefits, the PunjabCultural Council (PCC) onSunday written to the UnionAgricultural Minister NarendraSingh Tomar to repeal “black”farm laws forthwith therebyaccording due honour to the‘anndatas’ who have given theirprime for ensuring food secu-rity for the nation.

    Besides, the Council hasalso asked the Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal togive personal intervention,thereby helping the farmers atthe Delhi borders with proac-tive support.

    Council chairman HarjeetSingh Grewal and vice-chair-man Tejinderpal Singh Nalwa,in the letter, said that Punjab,Haryana.

    Uttar Pradesh and MadhyaPradesh have already lost 149precious lives during protests atDelhi borders since November25 against the Centre’s shame-ful arrogance and callousnessattitude.

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    Chandigarh:Punjab Congresspresident Sunil Jakhar onSunday said that the Centre, byfailing to invite the farmers atRepublic Day parade, has losta golden opportunity to breakthe stalemate with them overthe contentious agri laws.

    At the same time, Jakharalso advised the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to invite that“courageous old lady” to be thechief guest on the R-Dayparade, who had lost her sonwhile defending the nation’sterritory and is still fightingalong with the farmers to savethe Constitution at Delhi bor-ders along with her grandchild.

    “Because of its arrogance,the Central Government isdisrespecting the collectivevoice of farmers and of thenation. The celebration of ourRepublic is complete only whenthe government listens to thewill of the people,” said Jakhar.

    He added it would havebeen better had the CentralGovernment invited farmers aspart of the government RepublicDay ceremony. “I agree withsuggestion of Admiral (retired)Ramdass that after the annualceremony, farmers should beallowed to take out their tractorparade at the same venue,” headded. PNS

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    With 128 fresh Covid-19cases, Haryana’s caseloadsurged to 2,67,203 on Sundaywhile one more person suc-cumbed to the virus taking thetoll to 3,010 in the State.

    One death was reported inKarnal district due to Covid-19,the state’s Health Department’sbulletin stated.

    As per the bulletin, a max-imum of 39 fresh cases werereported from Gurugram fol-lowed by 22 in Faridabad.

    There were 1511 activecases in the state till theevening.

    175 people recovered fromthe virus in the last 24 hourstaking the total recoveries inthe state to 262682.

    Out of 46 critical patientsadmitted in the hospitals, 43patients were on oxygen sup-port while three were on ven-tilator, the health bulletin said.

    According to the bulletin,the fatality rate was recorded at1.13 percent in Haryana. Thecase-doubling rate in Haryanastood at 112 days, COVIDpositive rate was 5.27 per centand recovery rate was record-ed at 98.31 percent.

    As many as 50.77 lakhsamples have been tested tilldate in Haryana, it added.

    A total of 4208 number ofplasma units have been col-lected from COVID 19 recov-ered patients till date and 3036COVID 19 patients were givenplasma therapy treatment inHaryana.

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    Punjab continues to receivea tepid response to theCovid-19 vaccination drive.Till date, only 38 per cent of thetargeted 80,337 registeredhealthcare workers have beenvaccinated across 22 districts ofthe State.

    A total of 31,326 healthcareworkers have received theCovid-19 vaccines till date,ever since the drive waslaunched a week back.Maximum 7,248 healthcareworkers have been vaccinatedin Ludhiana district till date fol-lowed by 4,931 in Jalandharand 2,775 in Amritsar.

    The State Government hadrolled out the coronavirus vac-cination drive on January 16,with an aim to immunize 1.74

    lakh healthcare and frontlineworkers in the first phase.

    The state evoked a poorresponse with just 22.67 per-cent — 1,327 beneficiaries,including doctors and otherfrontline healthcare workers— turned up to receive theirfirst dose of vaccine, as againstthe target of 5,853 in 22 dis-tricts of the State on the firstday, followed by 33.1 percenton the second day, and 38 per-cent on the third day.

    However, the state showedthe signs of improvement onSunday as about 46 percent ofits targeted 2,160 registeredhealthcare workers in five dis-tricts come forward to receivethe jabs. A total of 1,007 regis-tered health care workers turn-ing up for vaccination onSunday.

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    Union Home Minister AmitShah and BJP presidentJagat Prakash Nadda willattend the state-level goldenjubilee function of HimachalPradesh Statehood Day at theRidge ground here on January25.

    Himachal GovernorBandaru Dattatreya will pre-side over the function that willalso be attended by UnionMinister Anurag Thakur.

    The Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Sunday visit-ed The Ridge here to reviewthe preparedness of arrange-ments regarding celebration ofgolden jubilee function ofStatehood.

    He gave necessary direc-tions to the officers for mak-ing foolproof and elaboratearrangements to make theevent a success and memorable one.

    He asked them to ensurethat minimum inconvenienceis caused to the general pub-lic and tourists during thecelebrations.

    Thakur also visited exhi-bition stalls and gave necessarydirections to concerned offi-cers to make the exhibitionsinteresting and catchy so thatpeople could get a glimpse of50 years of glorious journey ofdevelopment, the state hadwitnessed.

    The journey of the state’s50 years would be depicted inan exhibition where variousdepartments of the State

    Government would showcasetheir achievements.

    The state level functionwould be held on the Ridge inthe presence of 2,000 peopleamid the COVID-19 pandem-ic. A special postal stamp wouldbe released to mark the occa-sion. A total of 51 events wouldbe organised round the year tocommemorate the goldenjubilee of Himachal’s state-hood.

    Apart from the state levelfunction, district level pro-grammes at district head-quarters will be organized onthe theme of golden jubileecelebration. All the SDMs havebeen directed to organize suchfunctions at sub-divisionheadquarters.

    Notably, it was on January25 in 1971 when HimachalPradesh was carved out as the18th state of the country.

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    In a bid to attract real estateinvestors, Smart CityCorporation will organise aninvestors Summit at New TownHall in Dhanbad on Monday tointeract with the investors ofDhanbad.

    The smart city, which isbeing developed in the StateCapital under the Smart CityMission, is going to provide agolden opportunity for theinvestors of Jharkhand, officialssaid. The construction of thecity with world class infra-structure on 656 acres of landis going on fast andInfrastructure work is in thefinal stages. This is the reasonwhy the process of auction ofplots has been started by SmartCity Corporation, currently inthe areas of residential, com-mercial, educational, health,hospitality, hotels, mix use andothers. The process of 52 bigplots has started.

    According to informationprovided by the Urban andHousing DevelopmentDepartment of the StateGovernment, a total of 37 percent of the Green Field SmartCity, located on 650 acres ofland, will remain as open spacewhere there will be roads,drainage, sewerage, parks andplantations. The remainingland will be separated into dif-ferent areas like educational,residential, commercial, hoteland others.

    Construction of GIS sub-station and 4 additional powersubstations is underway to pro-vide 24-hour uninterruptedpower. For uninterrupted watersupply, 12 MLD water supplydedicated pipeline, water reser-voir and an additional filter bedhave been constructed at theWater Filter Center located atDhurva Dam. New city roadswill be 9 meters to 45 meterswide.

    There will be no overhead

    wires in the city, for this, pro-vision has been made to supplyutility services by constructingducts on the roads. River frontdevelopment plan is underwayfor conservation of two rivers

    passing through the area. Inorder to conserve water, waterharvesting facilities will bemandatory in all buildings.Apart from this, treatment ofdrain water coming out of thehouse has been made.

    The role of constructioncompanies will be important inthe development of this sectorand it is also a golden oppor-tunity for construction com-panies. The company or devel-opers who want to develop realestate, educational institutes,hospitals, malls, hotels andothers in the Ranchi Smart ifone qualifies to participate inthe auction process initiated bythe corporation, then they canparticipate in the online auc-tion process. The auctionprocess has been made com-pletely contactless. Completeinformation of e-auction isavailable on the website ofRanchi Smart CityCorporation, rsccl.in and eauc-tion.rsccl.in.

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  • RAIPUR | MONDAY | JANUARY 25, 2021chhattisgarh 03

    STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

    Landless tribal familieswill be provided land inScheduled Areas ofChhattisgarh, ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelsaid on Saturday, addingthat no family will be leftwithout ownership of land.

    Baghel was addressing theoath taking ceremony of thenewly elected body ofChhattisgarh Scheduled TribeGovernment DevelopmentService Association organizedat the Pt DeendayalUpadhyaya Auditorium here.

    Recalling the contribu-

    tion of tribal community inthe freedom movement, hesaid Gaind Singh Nayak,Shahid Veernarayan Singh,Gundadhur and other lead-ers had a role to play.

    Baghel said the stategovernment is making allefforts to ensure irrigationfacilities in tribal areas byreviving streams and rivuletsand other water bodies.

    The Bodghat irrigationproject is being revived. Itwill ensure drinking waterto wild animals, he said.

    Baghel administered theoath to newly elected presi-dent R.N. Dhruv and otheroffice bearers.

    STAFF REPORTER nRAIGARH

    Initiatives are being taken torevive the Raigarh-basedjute mill in Chhattisgarh sothat supply of gunny sacks isnot affected in future, ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelsaid on Sunday.

    He was addressing the‘Bade Bhajan Mela’ organizedby the Akhil BharatiyaRamnami Mahasabha invillage Nandeli in Sarangarhblock in Raigarh district.

    Baghel also announcedconstruction of a 50-bedhospital at Sarangarh,upgrading Kosir to Sub-Tehsiland construction of water

    reservoir at Bhadisar, anofficial communication said.

    Addressing the gather-ing, he said till date 86 lakhtonnes of paddy have beenprocured. The supply ofgunny sacks for the procure-ment was affected due toCovid. The jute mill, ifrevived, will generate

    employment too.Going by the teachings of

    Sant Kabir, he said membersof the Ramnami Samajinstead of searching Godhere and there etch the nameof Lord Ram on their bodyand even wear clothes withthe Lord's name. And theymeditate too.

    Trying to revive Raigarh-based jute mill: Baghel

    STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

    Chhattisgarh has becomethe top state in the coun-try in collection of minor for-est produce and the state hasestablished a new record bypurchasing 73 percent of it.

    Chhattisgarh is also theonly state where 52 types ofminor forest produce arebeing bought at a supportprice, benefitting forestdwellers and forest producecollectors, an official state-ment said on Sunday.

    Minor forest produce,which was earlier sold cheap,has now become a valuableproduct.

    The Chhattisgarh govern-ment has started a Vananchalproject to provide direct andindirect employment oppor-tunities by establishing smallforest produce based indus-tries in forest areas.

    The government hasgiven many types of discountsand attractive packages topromote small forest producebased industries.

    So far, 15 entrepreneurshave given application to thegovernment with a proposalto invest `75 crores to set upvarious types of forest pro-duce based industries inVananchal areas

    The rate of tendu leaf col-lection has been hiked from`2,500 per standard bag to`4,000. As a result, about 12lakh tendu leaf collector fam-ilies got an additional `225crores of wages per year aswell as extra incentive remu-neration bonus of `232crores.

    Due to the increase in theminimum support price of

    forest produce and arrangingfor their purchase, the vil-lagers now get additional ben-efits of about `300 crores.

    At present, only five per-cent of the forest producestored in the state is processedin Chhattisgarh. It is tochange this situation that thegovernment has started theVananchal project.

    STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

    The 73rd ‘Sanyaas Diwas’ ofJagatguru ShankracharyaSwami SwaroopanandSaraswati was celebrated byholding religious rituals andfunctions at the JagatguruShankracharya AshramBoriyakala in Raipur onSunday.

    Dr BrahmachariIndubhavanand said in astatement that special ritualswere held at the ashram tomark the 73rd ‘Sanyaas Diwas’of Jagatguru ShankracharyaSwami SwaroopanandSaraswati.

    In Indian spiritual

    tradition, there are four‘ashrams’ in life:Brahmacharya, Grahastha,Vanaprastha and Sanyaas.Swamiji has completed 73years of Sanyaas during whicha person renounces the world.

    Due to Paush month, ritualswere organized by offering prayersto ‘Lord Suryanarayan’. RedLotus was used for the offerings.

    Sanskrit teacher DeepakPandey and students organ-ized all the rituals.

    STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

    Chhattisgarh Home andPublic Works DepartmentMinister Samaj TamradhwajSahu was appointed as SeniorObserver for the Gujarat civicbody elections on Sunday andimmediately vowed to defeatthe BJP.

    Congress President SoniaGandhi appointed Sahu tocoordinate with the Congressstate president, a communiquefrom Congress GeneralSecretary K.C. Venugopal said.

    Sahu tweeted: “I have fullfaith that we will give a toughfight to the BJP and win theGujarat local body elections.

    STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

    Chhattisgarh Police onSunday arrested the 49-year-old director of a Noida(Uttar Pradesh) firm forcheating a woman of `16crores by promising her zone-level distributorship of TVchannels for Chhattisgarh inMarch 2019.

    Raipur SeniorSuperintendent of Police AjayKumar Yadav told ThePioneer that Vivek Prakash,

    director of PentalTechnologies Pvt Ltd, hasbeen taken into custody.

    In March 2019, PreetiSinghal Mundra, a resident ofRaipur, told the police thatAtul Mishra, Vivek Prakash,Ajay Rathore and othersduped her of `16 crores bypromising her distributorshipof transmission of 500 chan-nels in Chhattisgarh.

    After getting the moneyfrom the woman in variousbank accounts, she was notgiven the promised distribu-torship, the officer added.

    Based on technical analy-sis of bank account numbersand mobile call records, one ofthe accused was arrested fromNoida and brought to Raipuron transit remand, Yadav said.

    The police have launcheda manhunt for the othersinvolved in the crime.

    STAFF REPORTER nDHAMTARI

    Chhattisgarh Police onSunday arrested a 28-year-old man for possessing and try-ing to sell a tiger skin valued at`40 lakh in Dhamtari district.

    Speaking to The Pioneer,Dhamtari AdditionalSuperintendent of PoliceManisha Thakur Rawate saidthe man, Jayram Kawde, hailsfrom Kanker and presentlyresides in Narayanpur district.

    He was caught on a tip whenhe was heading towardsMukundpur village on a bikewithout registration number inthe Sihawa police station limits.

    A tiger skin was found in aplastic bag valued at `40 lakh,Rawate added.

    Police seized the skin and

    the motorcycle. The police areinvestigating where the man gotthe skin.

    A case under the WildlifeProtection Act has been lodgedagainst Kawde.

    C'garh buys 73 percent ofcountry's minor forest produce

    Man held for cheatingwoman of `16 crores

    Sahu is observerfor Gujarat civicbody elections

    Man held for trying to sell tiger skin

    73rd ‘Sanyas Diwas' ofJagatguru celebrated

    STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

    No industry in Durg orRaipur is dischargingcontaminated water intoKharun river, theChhattisgarh EnvironmentConservation Board (CECB)said on Sunday.

    A joint team of CECBand the Beergaon MunicipalCorporation (BMC) inspect-ed industrial houses in theindustrial area of Gondwara,Sondongri, Beergaon, Ural,Sarora, Urkura, Rawabhataand Bhanpuri.

    The inspection foundthat a limited section ofdomestic sewage was dis-charged into the river but notfrom any industry, a pressrelease said.

    To stop the flow of

    domestic sewage, theMunicipal Corporation isgoing is building sewagetreatment plants whichwill be ready beforeJuly 1.

    CECB is ensuring thatpolluting industries func-

    tion with water treatmentplants. Any violation of thenorms leads to power cutsor shutting down of theindustry.

    Most industries in indus-trial regions cause air pollu-tion, it was found.

    The board said it is mon-itoring water quality in themain rivers of the stateincluding Mahanadi,Shivnath, Kharun, Arpa,Hasdeo, Kelo, ShankhiniDankini, Maad andIndravati.

    CECB says industrial waterdischarge in Kharun river ‘safe’

    STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

    Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel has givenhis consent for organizing aRoad Safety World Seriescricket tournament fromMarch 2 to 21 in Raipur, it wasannounced on Sunday.

    The tournament'sCommissioner and eminentcricketer Sunil Gavaskar onSunday urged Baghel over tele-phone to permit the tourna-ment in Raipur and the ChiefMinister "gladly approved it", apress release said.

    The tournament will seeplayers from India, Sri Lanka,South Africa, Australia andthe West Indies includingSachin Tendulkar, Jonty

    Rhodes, Brett Lee, Brian Laraand Muttiah Muralitharan.

    The main objective behindthe tournament is to make themasses aware of the impor-tance of road safety in India.

    The tournament has beenapproved by the Board ofControl for Cricket in India(BCCI) and supported by theMinistry of Road Transport andHighways, with Sunil Gavaskar'scompany organizing it.

    The tournament willaccelerate Chhattisgarh'seconomy and boost up peo-ple’s morale amid the Coronapandemic, the release said.

    After the IPL in the UAE,Raipur will be the first city in thecountry to host a cricket meetduring the Corona pandemic.

    CM's consent for RoadSafety World Series Cricket

    Landless tribal families to getland in Scheduled Areas: CM

    STAFF REPORTER n DURG

    Chhattisgarh has procureda record 86 lakh tonnes ofpaddy and one week of pro-curement is still left, ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelannounced on Sunday.

    This has been possibledue to the government'sfarmer friendly policies dueto which farmers havereturned to the fields, he said.

    Baghel was addressingthe 75th annual convention ofManva Kurmi KshatriyaSamaj (Durg) in villageChetuva in Dhamdha block,an official communicationsaid.

    Baghel said the recordprocurement was achieveddespite a shortage of gunnysacks to store the paddy.

    He threw light on othergovernment schemeswhich brought economicbenefits to women and

    farmers. The farmers, hesaid, were now satisfied.They received moneyunder the Rajiv Gandhi

    Kisan Nyay Yojana ininstalments which helpedthem to carry out farmingand other work.

    C'garh procures record86 lakh tonnes of paddy

  • �������������������� ��������� ����� �!

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    The 18th-Century Rangdummonastery, a Buddhistshrine that lies in the Kargil dis-trict of the newly formedUnion Territory of Ladakhhousing several artifacts likeconches and scriptures fromTibet, has got the tag of ‘nation-al importance’.

    This is the first monu-ment to be accorded the ASItag after Ladakh was given theUT status in October 2019when Jammu and Kashmirwas officially divided into twoUTs — J&K and Ladakh.

    The Archaeological Surveyof India (ASI) recently issueda notification in this regardbringing it under its fold whichwould enable it to get centralfunds for its upkeep.

    Situated more than 130km away from Kargil, themonastery is a tourist’s delightperched atop a mountain andlooking like a citadel that over-looks and guards the sereneRangdum valley.

    A section of historians saysthat the gompa was establishedin the 8th century while manybelieve it to be of the 18thCentury. This shrine has acentral prayer hall, which isequivalent to a museum due tothe rich assortment of Tibetanantiques and other preciousartefacts.

    It is also the residence ofabout 40 Buddhist monks.

    Belonging to the Gelugpa sect,the imposing monastery is atourist’s delight for being aban-doned by colourful hills on theone side and glacier-coatedRocky Mountains on the other.

    It is next to the Julidok vil-lage, and about 25 km from the14,436 ft (4,400 m) Pensi la(pass) which leads into Zanskarin the head of the Suru Valleyin Ladakh in J&K.

    ASI officials say that this isthe only living monastery inSuru Valley except a few, indi-cating that the Buddhist flour-ished in this part of Ladakh.Currently, the monastery isbeing looked after by RangdumGompa Culture and WelfareSociety, Rangdum, Zanskar.

    “The monastery has twocourtyards giving the visitors aclear view of the artifacts andother collections of Tibetanpaintings. The available wallspace of the portico is embell-ished with paintings of cardi-

    nal kings, wheel of life,Buddhist mystic monogramNamchu Wangdan.

    “Also, there are images ofthousand armed Dukar andmummified statues of vulner-able blo-bZang dG-legs YshesGrags Pa is of exceptionalsacred value for pilgrimagevisiting this monastery. Also agiant thangka of lord Buddhakept in Tsazin Khang isunfurled once every year dur-ing the fifth day of the sixthmonth of the calendar,” as perthe details available on thewebsites.

    A few other ASI historicalmonuments of national impor-tance in ladakh region areSculpture at Drass, Rock CutSculpture at Mulbekh, lamayu-ru Monastery, likir Monastery,Alchi Monastery, PhyangMonastery, Hemis Monastery,leh Palace, Old Castle TsemoHill, Stupa at T-Suru and SheyPalace.

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    Voter identity cards are all setto go digital as the ElectionCommission (EC) will launchthe e-EPIC (Electronic ElectoralPhoto Identity Card) onJanuary 25, which is theNational Voters Day. The dig-ital version of voter identitycard can be downloaded on amobile phone or a personalcomputer and can be digitallystored.

    The digital version e-EPICis a non-editable secureportable document format(PDF) version of the EPIC andwill have a secured QR codewith image and demographicslike serial number, part number,etc. This is in addition to phys-ical IDs being issued for freshregistration. The digitalisationof voter-ID card will have a spe-cial significance in the upcom-ing polls in five states — Assam,Kerala, Puducherry, TamilNadu and West Bengal.

    In a statement, the EC saidthat a function will be orga-nized at Ashok hotel whereUnion Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad will launch thee-EPIC programme, and dis-tribute e-EPICs to five new vot-ers. President Ram NathKovind will be the Chief Guestat the national function.

    Under the e-EPIC pro-gramme, new voters will get thefacility after downloading the

    card on a registered mobile con-nection. Once the approval bycompetent authorities for anew application for a votercard is provided, the applicantcan get it in digital format.

    The digital version of EPICcan be accessed through theVoter Helpline App and web-s i t e shttps://voterportal.eci.gov.in/and https://www.nvsp.in/. Thee-EPIC would be a non-editablePDF of the EPIC that can bedownloaded on the phone and

    stored on the DigiLocker app orself-printed from a computer.

    According to the EC, the

    digital version of voter identi-ty card will be launched in twophases. In the first phase(January 25-31), new voterswho have applied for the voter-ID card and registered theirmobile numbers in Form-6will be able to download the e-EPIC by simply authenticatingtheir mobile number. In the sec-ond phase that will begin fromFebruary 1, general voters canapply for e-EPIC. “All thosewho have given their mobilenumbers (linked one) they can

    also download their e-EPIC.According to the plan, on

    the digital format of the EPICthere will be two different QRcodes consisting of informa-tion about the voter. One QRcode will have the voter’s nameand other specific details whilethe second code will have thevoter’s other information. Onthe basis of the data stashed inthe QR codes in the down-loaded version of the EPIC,voting rights can be availed.

    ���5��������� �������7�������

    Union Home Minister AmitShah on Sunday urged thepeople of Assam to give fivemore years to the BJP to makethe State free from flood too,just as it had done from bulletsand agitations.

    While addressing ‘VijaySankalp Samaroh’ rally in poll-bound Assam’s Nalbari, Shahalso attacked the Congress andits ally All India UnitedDemocratic Front-AIUDF ledby Badruddin Ajmal.

    “A flood of developmentcame here. Hospitals, newroads, colleges are being con-structed. Industries are beingset-up here. In the comingdays, only BJP can solve thebiggest problem of Assam —floods. We have made Assamfree from bullets and agitations.Give five years more to BJP andwe will make Assam free fromflood too,” he said.

    Attacking the Congress,Shah said Congress cannotstop infiltrators in Assam asthey are its vote bank. Shah saidthe Congress rule in the stategave only bloodshed, in whichthousands of youths lost theirlives.

    “Can Congress andBadruddin Ajmal stop infil-trators in Assam? They willallow infiltrators since it istheir vote bank. Only theNarendra Modi-led BJP gov-ernment can free Assam frominfiltrators,” he said.

    The Congress has formedGrand Alliance with AIUDF,CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) andAnchalik Gana Morcha (AGM)to fight the upcomingAssembly election, likely to beheld in March-April.

    “Many t imes, theCongress has accused the BJPof being communal, while theCongress is with the MuslimLeague in Kerala and is inalliance with BadruddinAjmal in Assam. In whichdirection will the Congresstake Assam? I want to ask thepeople who were in power foryears, what you did forAssam’s culture? What didyou do for the development ofAssam?” he added.

    Attacking the Congress,Shah said, “Congress contin-ued the British policy of divideand rule. They created adivide between Adivasis andnon-Adivasis, Assamese peo-ple and hill peoples, Bodosand non-Bodos.”

    “In 20 years there wasonly bloodshed and 10,000

    Assamese youths were killedby bullets f ired by theCongress,” he said.

    Listing out some of thedevelopments in Assam by theBJP government, Shah saidthat in the 13th FinanceCommission, the state wasgiven only �79,000 crore.

    “In the 14th FinanceCommission, the BJP gov-ernment gave �1.55 lakh croreto the State. We opened bankaccounts of about 7.20 lakhpeople in the tea garden area.BJP has done the work of giv-ing �5,000 to about 60.20lakh people in 26 districts ofAssam,” he added.

    Shah is in Assam as partof a two-day visit to theregion. Earlier in the day, headdressed a public rally tomark the first anniversary ofsigning the BodolandTerritorial Region (BTR)Accord at Kokrajhar inAssam.

    The term of the 126-member Assam Assembly isending on 31 May 2021.

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    The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) onSunday arrested a RegionalLabour Commissioner(Central) Madurai and a pri-vate person in an allegedbribery case of �30,000.

    A case was registeredagainst the Regional LabourCommissioner (Central),Madurai,

    P Sivarajan and private per-son N Murali, resident ofTriplicane, Chennai.

    The duo was arrested on theallegations that the said publicservant was demanding undueadvantage from the private per-son, representing a private com-pany for issuing labour licence.

    The CBI laid a trap andboth the accused were inter-cepted while exchanging theundue advantage/bribe amountof Rs 30,000.

    Searches were conducted atfive places in Chennai andMadurai (Tamil Nadu), the CBIsaid in a statement here.

    Both the accused were pro-duced in the court of PrincipalSpecial Judge for CBI Cases,Chennai and remanded to judi-cial custody till February 4, itadded.

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    The Election Commissionof India has selected sevenofficials and an NGO fromDelhi for the “Best ElectoralPractices Awards-2020”. Theywill be honoured here on theoccasion of National VotersDay on January 25.

    The officials who havebagged the awards are StateChief Electoral Officer (CEO),Dr Ranbir Singh and DEO(South East) Harleen Kaurfor best election managementwhile Special CP (Crime and

    EoW) Praveer Ranjan; thethen Special CP (Land andOrder, South Delhi) RSKrishnia; the then Addl CP(Central District) MandeepSingh Randhawa; Deputy CP(New Delhi district) Dr EishSinghal have been recognisedfor their contribution inensuring law and order duringthe polls. Krishnia is nowDGP Puducherry while

    Randhawa is Addl CP(Traffic).

    Dr Satendra Singh,Associate Professor at GTBHospital, Delhi and an NGO,

    Action for AbilityDevelopment and Inclusion(AADI), have been chosenfor helping carrying out acces-sible elections during theDelhi polls.

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    The five Left parties onSunday issued a joint state-ment reiterating the demandfor repealing the controversialthree farm laws in the forth-coming budget session ofParliament and urging theGovernment to hold discus-sions with all stakeholders foragrarian reforms.

    In a statement, the leadersof CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML),Forward Bloc and RSP said thatsuspending the laws are notenough and must be repealedin the Parliament even as theyhailed the determination ofthe farmers’ unions.

    “We demand that the cen-tral government must stopbeing obstinate and immedi-ately convey to the farmersunions that these agri lawswill be repealed in the forth-coming budget session of par-liament that is meeting thisweek. Already the Governmenthas conveyed its willingness tosuspend these laws for eighteenmonths. Acts that are legislat-ed by parliament, signed by the

    President of India and notifiedby the Gazette are law of theland.

    “They cannot be suspend-ed. Unless they are repealed,they are enforceable. Hence,the Government must be rea-sonable, repeal these laws,hold discussions regardingagrarian reforms with thefarmers and other stakehold-ers including StateGovernments and then bringproposals before parliament, ifany, for their considerationand due deliberations,” said thestatement issued by SitaramYechury, D.Raja, DipankarBhattacharya, DebabrataBiswas, and ManojBhattacharya.

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    Though bestowed with morethan 8,000 km coastlineenriched with seaweeds (macroalgae) which has huge potentialas a sustainable food source andprovide livelihood to coastalcommunities hit by climatechange vagaries, India’s share inglobal production is negligible at.01 per cent when compared toChina and Indonesia whichhave grabbed 80 per cent of themarket pie.

    Now, keen to be not leftbehind, the Modi Governmentis leaving no stone turned andtaking a series of measures likeproviding subsidy, capacitybuilding and awareness throughwebinars and interaction amongothers with the interested coop-eratives and entrepreneurs totake up seaweed cultivation in abig way, business of which is pro-jected to hit USD 26 billion by2026.

    India’s present seaweedvalue is estimated to be aroundjust USD 500 million ie 50crore and the officials feel thatthere is a huge opportunity toexploit the potential of the sea-weed business.

    To spur the sector, the gov-

    ernment has already allocated �637 crore for the cultivation ofthese nutrition-rich marineplants, as part of the �20,050-crore central scheme PradhanMantri Matsya Sampada Yojana(PMMSY)—to be spent over thenext five years, mainly as subsidysupport.

    In fact, seaweed cultivationhas been the pet project ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi,who since his days as ChiefMinister of Gujarat, had beenstressing on its promotion forthe fishermen and coastal com-munities looking to double theirincome by 2022 and boost therural economy.

    In this direction, to createawareness and deliberate on thestrength, opportunities and chal-lenges, an international webinaris being jointly organized by theDepartment of Fisheries, UnionMinistry of Animal Husbandry, LINAC-National CooperativesDevelopment Corporation(NCDC), and NEDAC,Bangkok next week ie January28, 2021.

    At the webinar, the stake-holders including scientists, gov-ernment officials and entrepre-uners from India and countrieslike Canada, Thailand,

    Phillippines and Vitenam willshare their views, brought onone platform and steps will betaken work towards forgingalliances for promotion of entre-preneurship in the sectorthrough cooperatives. At thesame time, the webinar willidentify bottlenecks at variouslevels and will aim at evolvingoptions.

    “Much of India’s coast isideal for seaweed cultivationwith suitable tropical weather,shallow waters and a rich sup-ply of nutrients. In total, as manyas 841 species of seaweed thrivealong the region, though only afew are cultivated. The seaweedis not only destined to be a foodsource, but also a source of bio-fuels, bio-fertilisers and otherproducts like in pharma and cos-

    metic,” said Sundeep KumarNayak, MD of the NCDC. Hesaid the webinar is the part ofseries of steps planned to pro-mote seaweed cultivation amongthe cooperatives in the country.

    While Dr. Rajeev Ranjan,Secretary of the Department ofFisheries from the AnimalHusbandry Ministry will be thechief guest at the webinar, ManojJoshi, Additional Secretary fromUnion Ministry of FoodProcessing will dwell on hisMinistry’s support for seaweedbased food and Dr. ThierryChopin, Prof of Marine Biology,University of New Brunswick,Canada will talk about‘Seaweeds, a key component ofIntegrated Multi-TrophicAquaculture (IMTA) providingimportant ecosystem services,

    which should be valued.”The other topics that would

    be taken up during the webinarwill be ‘Seaweed based Sagarikafor farmers’ by Dr. US Awasthi,MD IFFCO, India, Dr. BlossomKochhar, Chair, BlossomKochhar Group, India will touchupon ‘Seaweeds in the cosmet-ics industry in India’.

    Others who will participateinclude Kavita Nehemiah, SnapNatural & Alginate, India, Dr.Nguyen Van Nguyen, Dy Dir,Res Inst for Marine Fish,Vietnam, Dr. Anicia Q Hurtado,University of the PhilippinesVisayas, Philippines, ProfKrishna R Salin, Director,NEDAC Bangkok and Dr. AtulPatne, Commissioner Fisheries,Gov of Maharashtra, Indiaamong others.

    The key beneficiaries of thiswebinar will be seaweed farm-ers, budding entrepreneurs,youth, women and vulnerablecommunities. The webinar alsoaims at augmenting awarenessabout seaweed farming as abusiness and to come up withan actionable, time bound planwhich will contribute towardsattaining ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,’said Nayak.

    It has been estimated that

    lndia can produce one milliontonnes of dry seaweed provid-ing employment to nearly 2lakh fishers with an annualincome of �1 lakh per individ-ual.

    Nayak further said thatseaweed farming is one of thefew sectors in developing coun-tries that allow a certain level offlexibility besides tackling cli-mate change threats. As a result,women can work in this busi-ness and gain an independentincome without neglecting theirtraditional household work.For instance, Tanzania has seenwomen emerge as leaders in theseaweed world, and they haveeven moved onto producingseaweed flour in addition tofarming, he added.

    As per the PMMSY guide-lines, seaweed farming will bepromoted in a mission modeand supported through finan-cial, marketing and logisticalsupport to ensure income andwelfare gains to small fisherpopulation especially womenand fisherwomen headedhouseholds.

    Seaweed seed banks, nurs-eries, tissue culture units, pro-cessing and marketing units,etc. would be supported.

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    Groping a minor’s breastwithout “skin to skin con-tact” cannot be termed as sex-ual assault as defined under theProtection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act,the Bombay High Court hassaid.

    Justice Pushpa Ganediwalaof the Nagpur bench of theBombay High Court, in ajudgement passed on January19, the detailed copy of whichwas made available now, heldthat there must be “skin to skincontact with sexual intent” foran act to be considered sexu-al assault.

    She said in her verdictthat mere groping will not fallunder the definition of sexualassault. Justice Ganediwalamodified the order of a ses-sions court, which had sen-tenced a 39-year-old man tothree years of imprisonmentfor sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. As per the pros-ecution and the minor victim’stestimony in court, inDecember 2016, the accused,one Satish, had taken the girlto his house in Nagpur on thepretext of giving her somethingto eat.

    Once there, he grippedher breast and attempted toremove her clothes, JusticeGanediwala recorded in herverdict. However, since hegroped her without removingher clothes, the offence cannot

    be termed as sexual assaultand, instead, constitutes theoffence of outraging a woman’smodesty under IPC section354, the high court held.

    While section 354 entails aminimum sentence of impris-onment for one year, sexualassault under the POCSO Actentails a minimum imprison-ment of three years.

    The sessions court hadsentenced him to three years ofimprisonment for the offencesunder the POCSO Act andunder IPC section 354. Thesentences were to run concur-rently. The high court, howev-er, acquitted him under thePOCSO Act while upholdinghis conviction under IPC sec-tion 354.

    “Considering the stringentnature of punishment provid-ed for the offence (underPOCSO), in the opinion of thiscourt, stricter proof and seriousallegations are required,” HCsaid.

    “The act of pressing ofbreast of the child aged 12years, in the absence of any spe-cific detail as to whether the topwas removed or whether heinserted his hand inside the topand pressed her breast, wouldnot fall in the definition of sex-ual assault,” it said. JusticeGanediwala further said in herverdict that “the act of pressingbreast can be a criminal forceto a woman/ girl with theintention to outrage her mod-esty”.

    ����� ��������

    Over 16 lakhh e a l t h c a r eworkers across thecountr y havereceived Covid-19vaccine jabs till theevening of theninth day of thenationwide immu-nisation drive, asper provisionalreports, the Unionhealth ministr y said onSunday.

    The ministry said that31,466 beneficiaries were vac-cinated on Sunday till 7:30 pmin five states -- Haryana (907),Karnataka (2,472), Punjab(1,007), Rajasthan (24,586)and Tamil Nadu (2,494) --through 693 sessions.

    “The cumulative numberof healthcare workers vacci-nated against COVID-19 hascrossed 16 lakh (16,13,667) till7.30 pm today through 28,613sessions, as per the provi-sional report,” the ministrysaid, adding that the finalreport will be completed bylate in the night.

    “Only 10 adverse events

    following immunisation havebeen reported till 7.30 pm onthe ninth day of the vaccina-tion drive,” it stated.

    The inoculation drive waslaunched on January 16 withover three crore healthcareand frontline workers priori-tised to get the jabs initially.

    The total number of ben-eficiaries, who were vaccinat-ed till 7.30 pm on Sundaysince the launch of the drive,include 1,47,030 in AndhraPradesh, 76,125 in Bihar,53,529 in Kerala, 1,91,443 inKarnataka, 61,720 in TamilNadu, 25,811 in Delhi, 78,466in Gujarat and 84,505 in WestBengal, according to provi-sional reports.

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    Tamil Nadu has managed tobring the Covid-19 pan-demic under control, if the gov-ernment details are any indi-cation. A State which was aboutto top the table with the max-imum number of positive cases,has brought down the numberof new persons diagnosed withthe pandemic to 586 as onSaturday evening. The 24 hoursending Saturday night saw thefatalities coming down to justtwo.

    “This is a marked changefrom the weeks when TamilNadu used to test 6000 to 7000

    new Covid-19 cases daily andthe death tally per day hoveredaround 200 to 300 for manyweeks. Till Saturday the Statelost 12, 309 persons to the pan-demic. But as on Saturday,there are only 5073 patientsacross Tamil Nadu. This is theState which used to have lakhsof Covid-19 patients,” said aphysician working with TamilNadu Government HealthServices who spoke on condi-tion of anonymity.

    Chief Minister EdappadiPalaniswamy and HealthMinister Vijayabaskar attrib-uted the success to the dedica-tion shown by the doctors,nurses, paramedical staff and

    workers in the departments ofhealth, revenue, police and thegeneral public. “But for theirsacrifices and cooperation, wewould not have reached thislevel,” said Vijayabaskar.

    But DMK president M KStalin alleged that thePalaniswamy Government wasa total failure in handling theCovid-19 at Ground Zero. “Thefight against Covid-19 suc-ceeded in the State because ofthe DMK's Ontrinaivom Vaaprogramme which reachedcrores of people. The DMKlaunched a campaign to feedone crore people and offermedical facilities. Covid-19exposed Palaniswamy is a

    hopeless Chief Minister whohas no concern for the people,”said Stalin while speaking to apro-Left newspaper.

    The fever clinics opened bythe State Government acrossthe State, the awareness pro-gramme carried out by variousdepartments of theGovernment and the medicalfraternity who worked round-the-clock with the twin objec-tives of preventing the spreadof the pandemic and managingthe patients contributed a lot inbringing down the cases andfatalities, said the Governmentphysician. Veteran physicianDr C V Krishnaswamy, whowas monitoring the situation in

    Tamil Nadu from day one,agreed there has been a changein the course of the pandemic.“No doubt, it is a positivedevelopment. But I would liketo be cautious because you haveto take into account what ishappening in Kerala,” he said.

    Kerala, which by May 2020had claimed that it was free ofCovid-19 is reeling under yetanother onslaught of the pan-demic, which experts describeas a third wave of attack. BySaturday evening, the Statediagnosed 6,960 new cases.There are more than 72,000patients under treatment in theState, according to theDepartment of Health release.

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    Ayouth posing for a selfie, witha pistol pointed at his moth-er's head, has been arrested by theShamli police.The weapon has also been seizedfrom the youth, identified asDeepak Kumar, 20.

    The cyber cell of the policetraced the youth from the Sunhetivillage under Kairana police sta-tion in Uttar Pradesh. Kumarhad uploaded the picture onsocial media.Superintendent ofPolice, Shamli, Sukirti Madhav,has ordered an inquiry into thematter.

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    Bengaluru: Expressing outrage over theleak of the first division assistant exami-nation question paper, for which 14 per-sons have been arrested, Chief MinisterB.S. Yediyurappa on Sunday warned anyofficial of the Karnataka Public ServiceCommission found guilty would besacked.

    "I am not only ready to suspend theofficials involved in the leak of questionpapers, but also dismiss them from serviceif found guilty," Yediyurappa told reportershere. The KPSC on Saturday cancelled thetwin exams, which were to be held onSunday across the state for 1,114 FDAposts.

    "Stringent action will be taken againstthe guilty involved in the case, as leakingquestions papers is an unpardonable actand a crime," the Chief Minister said.

    According to KPSC Secretary G.Satyavathi, a whopping 3,74,000 candidatesapplied for the posts and 2,82,000 down-loaded their hall ticket to appear for theexams in two sessions -- general knowl-edge in the morning and language profi-ciency in the afternoon.

    On a tip-off, Central Crime Branchsleuths first arrested six accused, includ-ing kingpins Rachappa and Chandru in thecity on Saturday and filed a case againstthem. They had allegedly sold the ques-tion papers for Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore tomany of the job aspirants.

    Chandru is reported to be an inspec-tor in the state Commercial TaxDepartment.

    The CCB arrested eight more persons,including some KPSC officials, on Sundayunder various sections of the IndianPenal Code for the paper leakage.

    Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime,Sandeep Patil said in a statement that eightmore were arrested after their names wererevealed by the kingpins during prelimi-nary investigation earlier in the day.

    The CCB sleuths also recovered copiesof the question papers, Rs 24 lakh in cashand three vehicles from the two kingpinsin a raid conducted on their premises onSaturday night. The KPSC informed thecandidates through SMS that the exams onSunday were cancelled and would be heldat a later date. IANS

    Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh): A 24-year-old woman, who ispreparing for her marriage next month, has approached thedistrict magistrate with an unusual request.

    The woman, who lives in Iglas area, met the district mag-istrate with a request to repair the road leading to her housein the Naglachura village so that her 'baraat' does not face prob-lems in reaching her home.

    Karishma Kumari, the bride-to-be, said her marriage hadbeen fixed for February 27 and the road, in question, was filledwith potholes and mud.

    "It will be difficult for the 'baraat' to move on the road atnight," she told the district magistrate.

    Aligarh District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said,"I have directed the official concerned to take immediate actionand commence work for the construction of the road."

    He said that this initiative is the best example of theMission Shakti campaign, launched by the state governmentto empower women. IANS

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    No death due to the coron-avirus was reported on Sunday,it said.The highest number offresh cases were reported fromJaipur and Kota with 26 personstesting positive for the infectionin each of the districts, the bul-letin said.

    The rest of the cases werereported from Ajmer, Alwar,Banswara, Baran, Barmer,Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bikaner,Bundi, Chittorgarh, Dausa,Dungarpur, Ganganagar,Hanumangarh, Jhalawar,Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali,Pratapgarh, Rajsamand andUdaipur districts, it said. PTI

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    Bhuj (Guj): A police inspector andthree Constables have been sus-pended following the death of atheft suspect in the custody ofMundra police in Gujarat's Kutchdistrict a few days back, a seniorofficial said on Sunday. The threeconstables, who have been accusedof murder, are absconding andefforts are on to nab them, he said.

    The victim, Arjan Gadhvi(30), died on January 19 whileundergoing treatment at a gov-ernment hospital, after allegedly

    remaining in the illegal custody ofthe three constables at Mundrapolice station for six days, accord-ing to a police complaint filed bya relative of the deceased.

    Superintendent of Police,Kutch-West, Saurabh Singh onSunday said inspector J A Padhiyarhas been suspended for derelictionof duty, while the three constableswere suspended after a case wasregistered against them on chargesof murder.

    The three accused constables

    are - Shaktisinh Gohil, AshokKannad and Jaydevsinh Zala.

    "I have suspended the threeaccused constables and a policeinspector of Mundra. The threeaccused constables are still at largeand efforts are on to nab them,"Singh said. The constables areabsconding ever since the case ofmurder and wrongful confine-ment was registered against themon January 21 following the deathGadhvi in their custody allegedlydue to torture. PTI

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  • porting the frontline men withrifles and machine guns at thebare minimum. It was subse-quently discovered that theBritish Army had a 1:10 ratio,while the German ratio was 1:4.On this criterion, the Germanswere two-and-a-half timesmore efficient than the Britishat the fundamental function offighting and killing the enemy.

    Do not get the impressionthat I favour the Army set-upas an ideal example for organ-ising a large company. One, Ihave quoted an example of overa century ago. Two, in today’scontext, the Army’s fightingsoldiers and officers are divid-ed into many layers. A betterfocused training would requirefewer layers of supervision orleadership. In contrast, smallbusinesses require versatilemen and women, persons whoknow how to perform multiplefunctions for the simple reasonthat the smaller the company,the fewer number of persons itcan afford to employ.

    Looking at the world sce-nario, only about half theemployable people have jobs.The other half is self-employed, which includes thewealthiest entrepreneur to thehumblest hawker. The messageis that of the two youngsterscoming into the employmentmarket, one must look for self-employment. If one’s education

    has been law, medicine,accountancy or suchlike, s/heknows what to do. Else, onemay try one’s hand at business.This is where youngsters whodo not belong to families witha business tradition can feellost. Business managementstudies enumerate theories oncommerce-related subjects.But they seldom lay out adviceon how to set up a business ifone has no experience. Fewsuccessful entrepreneurs writetheir life stories for the begin-ners to learn from. Nor havethe publishers of educationalbooks apparently persuadedenough entrepreneurs to fillthis knowledge gap.

    A word of caution: Neitheran inheritor of business nor anacademician is quite the appro-priate author of a truly usefulbook. Only someone who hap-pens to have started his/herenterprise from scratch andsucceeded, is such an author.

    My plea is urgent becausein the employment marketright now, women in significantnumbers are seeking jobs,which was earlier a men’smonopoly. We had not heard ofwomen fighter pilots in the AirForce; now they are a reality. Onthe other hand, the COVID-19affliction has caused a loss injobs. Will all the shops surviveor will home deliveries replacesome of them? What are like-

    ly to be the effects of work-from-home on employment?

    With no family tradition ofbusiness, I worked as an exec-utive in big companies for 23years. By pursing acquain-tances in multi-national corpo-rations, I got started with con-tract manufacturing. That linehelped me set up small facto-ries manufacturing and sellingsimilar goods. This is oneexample of how a novice canenter his/her own enterprise.But one factor is certain: Theperson concerned has to losehis/her fear of insecurity. Thesecurity of a steady job cansometime be as bad as a disease.

    India is proud of its busi-ness management schoolswhich have turned out first-rateexecutives. But it will be inter-esting to see a survey of theiralumni: What percentage hasdeveloped their own enterpris-es? I feel there is a need for sim-ilar schools for small enterpris-es. A laundry, a restaurant, evena grocer or panwallah is a busi-ness worth learning and pur-suing. Everyone need not learnhow to run a large company. Infact, there is greater scope forsmaller enterprises but I doubtif there are schools teachingabout them.

    (The writer is a well-known columnist and anauthor. The views expressedare personal.)

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0 ˙ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - … the Yadav clan and cases of major crimes under its watch, besides “corruption” during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav and

0 ˙ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - … the Yadav clan and cases of major crimes under its watch, besides “corruption” during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav and

2 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · on New Delhi’s bid, and called for evolving a “package solu- ... answered saying “ ye kanun kisi ke liye bandhan

2 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · on New Delhi’s bid, and called for evolving a “package solu- ... answered saying “ ye kanun kisi ke liye bandhan

ˆˇ˛˘4 ( RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP … · centre would resume only after the induction of new staffers, he added. He said all work related to the collection

ˆˇ˛˘4 ( RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP … · centre would resume only after the induction of new staffers, he added. He said all work related to the collection

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ... · Traffic in parts of Lutyens’ Delhi was hit as students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) carrying placards and

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ... · Traffic in parts of Lutyens’ Delhi was hit as students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) carrying placards and

Varieties of Populism_tcm31-42718

Varieties of Populism_tcm31-42718

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ... · a major boost to the Indian defence industry. ... in the current financial year, he said. He said Prime Minister ...

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ... · a major boost to the Indian defence industry. ... in the current financial year, he said. He said Prime Minister ...

ˆˆ ˚ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ......detective in the action thriller ... The Centre and the Delhi Government will fight ... 60 per cent beds by private hospitals

ˆˆ ˚ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ......detective in the action thriller ... The Centre and the Delhi Government will fight ... 60 per cent beds by private hospitals

REGN Corporate Presentation

REGN Corporate Presentation

Regn No: Name

Regn No: Name

* +ˆ , RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · The Maharashtra political crisis saw no prospect of an ... Expressing his view of the Governor, Raut said, “It has

* +ˆ , RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · The Maharashtra political crisis saw no prospect of an ... Expressing his view of the Governor, Raut said, “It has

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ... · (Bilaspur), Chandrabhan Barmate (Mungeli) and Santosh Kaushik (Takhatpur). Singhdeo, however, had a note of caution

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ... · (Bilaspur), Chandrabhan Barmate (Mungeli) and Santosh Kaushik (Takhatpur). Singhdeo, however, had a note of caution

25 Notice - Prov Regn (1)

25 Notice - Prov Regn (1)

! ˇ # RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... levy charged on cinema ser- ... while those with room rate of between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,500 ... Burhan Wani, was killed in

! ˇ # RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... levy charged on cinema ser- ... while those with room rate of between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,500 ... Burhan Wani, was killed in

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ......(POS) installed at 13 RFID toll plazas. Additional six points have been set up in satellite towns of UP and Haryana.

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ......(POS) installed at 13 RFID toll plazas. Additional six points have been set up in satellite towns of UP and Haryana.

1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the index will encour-age all cities to move towards

1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the index will encour-age all cities to move towards

ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL CONSULTANTS … OF MEDICAL CONSULTANTS (MUMBAI) Public Trust Act. 1950, Regn. No. F - 7373 Bom. Societies Regn. Act XXI of 1860 Regn. No. BOM-454/81 GBBCD Main

ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL CONSULTANTS … OF MEDICAL CONSULTANTS (MUMBAI) Public Trust Act. 1950, Regn. No. F - 7373 Bom. Societies Regn. Act XXI of 1860 Regn. No. BOM-454/81 GBBCD Main

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718,Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ... · during his presidency and all that is at risk if he were to be defeated in the presidential elections next year. Unveiling

RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718,Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN ... · during his presidency and all that is at risk if he were to be defeated in the presidential elections next year. Unveiling

ˇ ˜˜ ˚˙ # RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... 60 per kg at Safal outlets run by Mother Dairy in the national Capital and Rs 45-48 on online ... wholesale market

ˇ ˜˜ ˚˙ # RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... 60 per kg at Safal outlets run by Mother Dairy in the national Capital and Rs 45-48 on online ... wholesale market

Draft data protection regn 2012

Draft data protection regn 2012

RNI Regn.# 5908/61 8500555365 • ... May 2017 full OPT.pdf · RNI Regn.# 5908/61 8500555365 • ... ... 15 ...

RNI Regn.# 5908/61 8500555365 • ... May 2017 full OPT.pdf · RNI Regn.# 5908/61 8500555365 • ... ... 15 ...