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12 PAGES | `4.00BHUBANESWAR | TUESDAY, MARCH 2 | 2021

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Popular Odia cine actors Sabyasachi andArchita exchange wedding vows atJodhpur in Rajasthan

REEL TO REALGovts and aid groups across Africa and SoutheastAsia call on pharma companies to share theirpatent information

VACCINE PATENT INFO

INTERNATIONAL | P10LEISURE | P2

Already 7 out of 21 forest ranges of Similipal arereeling under wildfire, will it worsen withthe temperature soaring ahead? STATE | P5

SIMILIPAL INFERNO

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 329 | www.orissapost.com

IRREGULAR by MANJUL

He is in toilet, mom. In fact, he spends allhis time there only trying to extract

cooking gas from the sewage

SHORT TAKES

Mumbai: Thecountry's largestlender State Bankof India Mondaysaid it has reducedinterest rates onhome loans by up to 10 basispoints (bps) and is offeringloans starting from 6.70 per centrate. The new rates are basedon loan amount and CIBIL scoreof the borrower, and areavailable till March 31, 2021,according to a statement. Thebank said the home loaninterest rates will start from6.70 per cent for loans up to `75lakh and 6.75 per cent for loansin the range of `75 lakh-`5 crore.

SBI reduces homeloan rates to 6.70%

WEATHERBHUB

39.0° 38.0°CTK

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Humidity 84% 79%Rainfall Nil Nil

ForecastFog or mist

in themorning

23.4°

INDEX VARIATION

SENSEX 49849.84 749.85

NIFTY 14761.50 232.30

DOLLAR 74.65 `0.29

EURO 88.50 `0.74

GOLD `45,675 `61

SILVER `68,171 `910BULL

ION

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MARKET WATCH

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1: The OdishaState Commission for Backward Classes(OSCBC) will conduct the much-awaitedsurvey to know the social and educa-tional status of people belonging tobackward classes May 1. The survey willbe conducted from May 1 to May 20across the state while final list of OBCpeople likely to come out by June 11.

After getting green signal from thegovernment, the commission chalkedout a detail roadmap to conduct thesurvey in the state. A high-level meet-ing was held here Monday in the newoffice building at Toshali Bhawanunder the chairmanship of judgeRaghunath Biswal

The details will be discussed at nextall secretaries meeting scheduled March3 where the format of the survey formwill be finalized. A preparatory meet-ing will also be held with Collectors onthe next day and database of differentofficials to be engaged for the surveywill be prepared by March 15, sourcessaid. As per plan, the survey will be con-ducted between May a and 20 while aspecial drive will be conducted for an-other five days to collect informationfrom left-out OBC people, the source said.

Entire state has been divided into 10zones, namely—Bhubaneswar, Cuttack,Berhampur, Angul, Keonjhar, Balasore,

Rourkela, Sambalpur, Bhawanipatnaand Jeypore.

Around 20,000 Anganwadi workerswill be engaged as enumerators at eachrevenue village while Anganwadi su-pervisor or civil supply officials will su-pervise the survey activities at pan-chayat or ward level.

Fair price shop (FPS) will be desig-nated as the survey center where theenumerators will fill up survey forms.Training of the enumerators and su-pervisors will be done. Month-long

awareness activities will be taken upin April, the source said.

The collected forms will be then dig-italized and uploaded on Odisha StateData Center cloud for validation withother available data. After that, the draftlist of backward class people will be pub-lished, June 1.

The commission will give seven daysfor raising objections on the list. Citizenscan either submit their objection atblock/ULB nodal officer or can sub-mit online also. Target has been set to

publish the final list, June 11.Senior OAS officers will be appointed

in each district as observers for smoothconduct of the survey. A dedicatedwebsite will be created for the citizensto register their information online. Thepersonal information provided onlinewill be first authenticated throughAadhaar number. The state govern-ment has decided to conduct the OBCsurvey through forming a Commissionafter the Centre did not agree to con-duct socio-economic caste enumera-tion along with the general census2021. The state Cabinet had also passeda resolution in this regard.

Through the motive behind suchsudden move of government has notbeen cleared, opposition feels that theBJD may use the huge OBC vote bankduring upcoming elections. Whileurban elections are due, rural pollsare to be held next year.

AGENCIES

New York, March 1: A cyberintelligence company says ithas found that hackers linkedto China have infiltrated powersystems and ports in India ina "show of force" and theyhave the ability to create dis-ruptions. The company,Recorded Future, warned, "Asbilateral tensions continue torise, we expect to see a con-tinued increase in cyber op-erations being conducted byChina-linked groups such asRedEcho in line with nationalstrategic interests."

In the report made avail-able to IANS, Recorded Futuresaid that the intrusions "posesignificant concerns over po-

tential pre-positioning of net-work access to support Chinesestrategic objectives".

The incursions could also be"a precursor to kinetic esca-lation" -- that is, preparing forpossible cyberattacks on in-frastructure by planting mal-ware. The report said that theintruders into the Indian net-works used a malware calledShadowPad to set up a back-door for them to enter the sys-tem, which was also used byother Chinese espionageteams. The RedEcho grouplinked to the intrusions intoIndia shared characteristicswith Chinese g roupsAPT41/Barium and TontoTeam, the report noted.

It said that in September

the US government filedcharges against five ChineseAPT41 and linked it to thefront company Chengdu 404Network Technology. The re-port said, "One of the accusedpreviously claimed to be 'veryclose' to the MSS (ChineseMinistry of State Security),continuing an establishedtrend of Chinese private con-tractors and front companiesconducting cyber espionageactivity on behalf of the MSS.Conversely, Tonto Team hasbeen linked to the PLA (PeoplesLiberation Army), specificallythe Shenyang Military RegionTechnical ReconnaissanceBureau." Recorded Futurelinked the intrusions to the re-cent border tension.

China hacks India’s power sector

New Delhi: Cooking gas LPGprice was Monday hiked by `25per cylinder across allcategories, includingsubsidised fuel and thoseavailed by Ujjwala schemebeneficiaries - the fourthincrease in rates in a month'stime. LPG prices have gone upby `125 per 14.2-kg cylindersince the beginning ofFebruary, price data fromstate-owned oil marketingcompanies showed. Also, jetfuel prices were hiked by asteep 6.5 per cent.

LPG price goesup by `25 again

2.67 lakh acres govtland encroached

OBC survey from May 1

Serum ‘n’ BharatBiotech targetedNEW DELHI: A Chinese state-backed hacking group has tar-geted the IT systems of twoIndian vaccine makers whosecoronavirus shots are beingused in the country’s immunisa-tion campaign, cyber intelli-gence firm Cyfirma toldReuters. Rivals China and Indiahave both sold or gifted COVID-19 shots to many countries.India produces more than 60%of all vaccines sold in the world.Goldman Sachs-backedCyfirma, based in Singapore andTokyo, said Chinese hackers.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATION SURVEY OF BACKWARD CLASS PEOPLE WILL TAKE PLACE AT FAIR PRICE SHOPS

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1: Vaccination forsenior citizens and people between 45 and59 with comorbidities started in the state,Monday. On the first day, about 11,589 peo-ple took the first dose of the vaccine acrossthe state.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took thejab here at Assembly dispensary and urgedall eligible people to go for it. “Happy to sharethat I took my first dose of #COVID19 vac-cine today. Grateful to our scientists, healthworkers for their race against time to de-liver the vaccines to people. Appeal to all el-igible people to come forward and get vac-cinated for a #CovidFreeOdisha,” Naveentweeted. Following Naveen, AssemblySpeaker SN Parto, Deputy SpeakerRajanikant Singh and a few senior MLAsincluding Bhupinder Singh and Jitu Mitratook first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.Patro appealed all eligible people to getvaccinated to make the state Covid-19 free.

Capital Hospital staff nurse SmaranikaRansingh, who injected the vaccine to theChief Minister and the Speaker, said, “It’san extremely lucky day for me as I got theopportunity to administer the vaccine to theChief Minister Sir followed by the SpeakerSir. I’m immensely happy today.” The ChiefMinister repeatedly thanked her, she said.

Though the second phase vaccinationdrive was supposed to start at 9 am, it wasdelayed due to technical glitches, said healthand family welfare director Bijay Panigrahi.

CM, SPEAKER TAKE1ST DOSE OF VACCINE

Modi takes Covid jab at AIIMSNEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday took his firstdose of the COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS here and appealed to allthose who are eligible to get inoculated. Nurse P Niveda, who hailsfrom Puducherry, administered Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN to theprime minister, sources said. "Took my first dose of the COVID-19vaccine at AIIMS. Remarkable how our doctors and scientists haveworked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19," Modi tweeted after taking thevaccine shot. "I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make IndiaCOVID-19 free!" he said. The PM also posted a picture of himself taking the first dose of the vaccine.He is seen sporting an Assamese 'gamocha' and getting inoculated with a smile. MORE P9

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1:Over 2.67 lakh acres of gov-ernment land have been en-croached in 15 districts ofthe state from 2010 to 2020.

Revenue minister SudamMarndi said, 6,38,128 per-sons have encroached upon2,67,211 acres of govern-ment land in 15 districts in-cluding in Khurda over last10 years. The governmenthad registered 5,96,590 casesunder the Orissa Preventionof Land EncroachmentAct,1972 and OrissaPrevention of LandEncroachment Rules, 1985against the encroachers, hesaid.

The 15 districts includedKeonjhar, Angul, Bargarh,Gajapati, Jagatsinghpur,Jajpur, Kendrapara,

Koraput, Nayag arh,Sonepur, Ganjam, Puri,Kalahandi, Khorda andDhenkanal.

Out of a total cases, ver-dict of 5,52,422 cases hasbeen given and the govern-ment has been able to make2,49,331 acres encroachment-free from 5,59,448 persons.

Replying to an un-staredquestion of BJP legislatorMohan Charan Majhi, theminister said the govern-ment has set a target to re-move encroachments on26,728 acres by March thisyear. The government willremove encroachments on9648 acres in Bargarh, 2886acres in Kalahandi, 2357acres in Ganjam, 2113 acresin Koraput, 1526 acres inJajpur, 1497 acres inKeonjhar, 1390 acres in Puriand 932 acres in Dhenkanal.

Anganwadi workers will beengaged for the survey; Statesplit into 10 zones

Draft list of the OBC people islikely to be out June 1; final listby June 11

Opposition BJP, Congress seevote bank politics behind themove

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar: PurbaRanga, a five-day NationalTheatre Festival, beganhere at Rabindra Mandap,Monday. The event is beingjointly organised by theState Culture Departmentin collaboration withEastern Zonal Cultural

Centre, Kolkata andOdisha Natya Sangh,

a confederation ofhundreds of the-atre troupes fromthe state.

City-basedJeevan RekhaTheatre troupe pre-sented Odia play

Seeta on the firstday of the festi-

val. Written bylate

Ratiranjan Mishra, the playwas designed and directedby Abhinna Routray.

The central character ofthe play was Seeta but shewas not the one from epicRamayan. As the play pro-gresses, she became thereason behind conflicts be-tween four friends who haddiscovered her in the deadof night. But at the end,none of them succeeded towin her heart.

The moral of the storywas every woman should betreated with respect, notlike an object.

“Apart from sending amessage to the audience,the play has a style of itsown. While we have pre-sented it in Geetinatya for-mat, the viewers can enjoyChhau dance and folk musicat various points duringthe narration. However, theactors deliver contempo-rary dialogues,” said theplay director Routray.

Four Hindi plays will bestaged over the next fourdays of the festival, addedRoutray.

The dignitaries presentduring the inaugurationincluded CultureDepartment DirectorRanjan Kumar Das,Odisha Sangeet NatakAkademi PresidentRamakrushna Sahoo,Secretary Prabodh

Kumar Rath and emi-nent theatre practi-

tioner PrasannaMishra.

Los Angeles: Borat SubsequentMoviefilm and Nomadland were thebig winners of the 78th Golden GlobeAwards. The Crown and late starChadwick Boseman were among win-ners, too, while veteran Jane Fondawas feted with the lifetime achieve-ment award.

The ceremony was held virtuallyand the live audience consisted of front-line workers and first responders of theCovid-19 pandemic.

Actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehlerreturned to hosting duties this year, butthey were in New York and Los Angelesrespectively, marking the first timethe Golden Globes have been bicoastal.The best drama film went to Nomadlandstarring Frances McDormand as ahomeless woman travelling through

the AmericanWest.

Schitt’sCreek was

named Best Comedy series. ActressCatherine O’Hara, who plays the roleof Moira Rose in the show, was fetedwith best comedy actress honour.

Chloe Zhao took home the awardfor best Motion Picture Director forNomadland. She became the second fe-male winner of the category in Globeshistory, after Barbara Streisand in1983, reports bbc.com. The Sacha BaronCohen-starrer Borat SubsequentMoviefilm, the sequel to 2006’s hugelysuccessful Borat, was named best mu-sical or comedy film.

Other winners included RosamundPike, who was named best actress ina musical or comedy film for I Care ALot. The best supporting actor went

to Daniel Kaluuya for hisperformance in JudasAnd the Black Messiah.

A ‘shocked’ John Boyegawas named best supportingactor in a limited series forhis role in Small Axe. “I’m soshocked. I’ve got trackie bottoms on andI’m comfortable but this is exciting,”Boyega quipped. The Crown won fourhonours including best drama series.Josh O'Connor and Emma Corrin bothwon for their performances as PrinceCharles and Princess Diana respec-tively.

Actress

Gillian Anderson was named in thebest supporting category in the seriesfor her portrayal of former prime min-ister Margaret Thatcher. Late starChadwick Boseman was posthumouslynamed best actor in a drama film forhis performance in Ma Rainy’s BlackBottom. His wife, Taylor SimoneLedward, accepted the award on his be-half. Boseman passed away last sum-

mer after quietly battling coloncancer for years.

Actress-singer AndraDay won in the best ac-tress in a motion pic-ture (drama) categoryfor her performancein the OTT film The

United States vs. BillieHoliday. Day is only the

second Black woman towin at the Globes after Whoopi

Goldberg, who won 35 years ago forThe Color Purple, according to Variety.The Queen’s Gambit was named bestlimited series and its star Anya Taylor-Joy, was named best actress in a lim-ited series.

Veteran actress and activist JaneFonda was feted with the Cecil BDeMille Award for lifetime achieve-ment and used her acceptance speech

to call for greater diversity in theindustry. IANS

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar: Popular Odiacine actors Sabyasachi Mishra and

Archita Sahu tied the knot Mondayat Jodhpur, Rajasthan in an intimateceremony. The couple shared the pho-tos from their captioning “Today on-wards all your Joys & sorrows, pleas-ures & pains are mine. #Sabyarchita.”

Earlier, they shared the news on theirrespective social media handles. They wrote“With the blessings of Lord Jagannatha &our families it gives us immense happinessin sharing that our wedding is happeningtomorrow...” The post was flooded by con-gratulatory messages from fans and sev-eral film celebrities.

The two were spotted in royal looks in theimages shared by them. While Architasported a wine-coloured lehenga, Sabyaopted for a pastel white sherwani with em-broidery works. He wore a pink head gearto complete the look.

The two had worked opposite each otherin a series of films including Pagala KarichiPaunji Tora, Mu Eka Tumara, Smile Pleaseand Abhiman.

Sabyasachi and Archita have now joinedthe elite club of star couples like RanveerSingh-Deepika Padukone, AbhishekBachchan-Aishwarya Rai, Ajay Devgn-Kajoland Uttam Mohanty-Aparajita Mohanty.

Sabya, an engineer-turned-actor had

arranged the arrival of hundreds ofOdias in around 35 buses, and manymore by special trains, from states likeRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujaratand Kerala earning goodwill frompeople. He also had arranged achartered flight from the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) to helpthe migrant workers.

“I am a bank of positivityand want to be rememberedas a good human being,” thephilanthropic artiste oncesaid.

No wonder, heis often ad-dressed inmedia as the‘Sonu Sood’of Odisha.

P2 FARROW ENCOURAGED DAUGHTER SOON-YI TO BOND WITH ALLEN

leisure American actress Mia Farrow, in a documentaryseries Allen Vs Farrow, has revealed that sheencouraged her adopted daughter Soon-Yi to ‘bondwith’ Farrow’s ex-husband, actor-filmmaker WoodyAllen, before she discovered about the affair betweenthe two. Later, Soon-Yi went on to marry Allen.

Singer Ellie Goulding reveals she used her husbandCasper Jopling’s coat to hide her pregnancy for thefirst six months, to keep the news private. Askedon a show how she hid the news, the soon-to-bemother revealed “It’s different. I stole myhusband’s coat for about six months.”

TUESDAY | MARCH 2 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

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AQUARIUSToday is a day for creativeexpression! Sing away toglory, for you may discov-er you have a wonderfulvoice. Focus and precision are your besttools today, says Ganesha. But someevent may cast a shadow over your clari-ty in the evening.

PISCESYou will take up a lot ofwork today. Try to workwell in the office as well asin your team. Apart fromthin you will also be involved in differenttasks. You will also try to do things formaking a name for yourself. Ganeshaadvices you to only take up tasks youare capable of.

SAGITTARIUSCash transactions will'flow' your way. Moneycomes easy to itchingpalms, says Ganesha,and you will enjoy the green scene as youtake stock of your finances with preci-sion. Beware of people with a negativeattitude as it might inflict worry on yourfortunes, says Ganesha.

LIBRAToday, it is rather unlike-ly that you will get what-ever you wish for.Internal strife with peo-ple around you may dominate your work-place, but you shall be able to negotiatethis tough state of affairs with deftness,predicts Ganesha. Patience is your key toget over psychological turmoil.

SCORPIOThe day will usherrefreshing changes intoyour personal life, fore-sees Ganesha. No matterwhich side of the bed you woke up on, theday promises to present itself in a cheer-ful light. You will build and enjoy harmo-nious and cordial relations with yourpeers at work. Intimacy and pleasure inlove relations at night will be the perfectending for a delightful day.

LEOYou are destined to playthe superhero, at leastas far as trade and com-merce are concerned.Ganesha feels that today, you shall bemore tied up in your daily work than isusual. But the upshot of it all is that allyour actions seem to get the desiredapproval as the day progresses.

VIRGOGanesha predicts animaginative and fruit-ful day for you at theworkplace. You willfeel your professional best in the after-noon. With your elegance, you will man-age to put your ideas across the tableand win the approval of your boss.

GEMINIA great evening with yoursweetheart will be thehighlight of the day. It willbe one of the better days in business; youwill be able to earn enough money to savefor the future. In the evening, you mayhave to spend a little extra, says Ganesha.

CANCERToday, you will showothers, literally, how tobe successful in life,feels Ganesha. Theexample that you will set here is likely tobecome a benchmark for your company.Despite your tendency of getting intoconfrontations with your seniors, youare likely to be compliant and coopera-tive at work.

ARIESToday, you may receivesome kind of materialsupport from family. It isprobably for a wisecause, so be sure to use it accordingly,says Ganesha. You may spend theevening with those very loved ones whohave supported you.

FORTUNE FORECAST

TAURUSYou are likely to remainunconquerable and unas-sailable throughout theday. Caution: Stayfocussed and avoid frittering away yourtime and energy. You may face stress atwork or in some ongoing project. Expect arelatively serene evening with yourbeloved, says Ganesha.

CAPRICORNYou will be brimmingover with power andenergy, so much so thatyou may go head firstinto a new business ven-ture, something that can match yourability and bring you the desired satis-faction. Pending work will be done awaywith, leaving you more time for recre-ation, says Ganesha.

BREVITY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS CROSSWORDSUDOKU

SOLUTIONS

CRO

SSW

ORD

SUD

OKU

CHECK FOR SOLUTIONS OF THE PUZZLES TOMORROW

post To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to E.

GOULDING USED HUBBY’S COAT TO HIDE PREGNANCY

Nomadland, Borat share top honours

Image from Sabyasachi’s Twitter handle

National TheatreFest kicks off with

Odia play SeetaPURBA RANGA - 2021

Actors enact a scene from the play Seeta at Rabindra Mandap, Monday

Late star ChadwickBoseman was

posthumously named bestactor for his performance

in ‘Ma Rainy’s BlackBottom’

Sabyasachi and Architahad worked together

in a series of hitmovies including

‘Pagala KarichiPaunji Tora’, ‘Mu

Eka Tumara’,‘Smile Please’ and

‘Abhiman’

‘Sabyarchita’gets hitched

P3

downtown

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TUESDAY | MARCH 2 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

RABINDRA KUMAR LENKA

Jayram Lenka is a leading business in thereadymade garment retail sector in thestate. Despite the boom in online shopping, it has garnered the trust andlove of its customers for its quality products. Excerpt from the interview with JRF Fashion Managing DirectorRabindra Kumar Lenka:

n What impact did COVID-19 haveon your business?

n We continuously face ups anddowns in our business. But abusiness people always preferto be alerted to carry forwardtheir business. Yes, the pan-demic was a major crisis for usfor a awhile. But we took it asa challenge and stood firm.Nevertheless, it impacted usfor a period of time. We didnot fight it alone, but everyonetogether. We remained calmand alerted and faced the chal-lenge wisely.

n Was there any change in con-sumer behavior post lockdown?

n First of all, we focused on cre-ating awareness among ourcustomers and encouragedthem not to panic. Though theimpact of COVID-19 was se-vere in the market, it did havea major affect on business. Nowwe are again seeing normalbusiness in the market. Everysector will grow again, evenJayram Lenka industry.

n Did you receive any supportfrom the government?

n The pandemic was a disaster notonly to individuals but also tothe state, country and world.However, Odisha governmentalong with the Union govern-ment worked hard to contain theoutbreak. Lockdowns and shut-downs at the right time helpedto contain the virus from spread-ing. The governments are doingtheir best to keep us safe.

n How does Jayram Lenka seecompetition in the market?

n We have been satisfying ourcustomers since its inception.In fact, we have set an examplein the market. Our industryhas grown because of cus-tomers’ love and affection.Jayram Lenka aims to be pres-ent in every corner of the stateto offer our services.

n Do you have any expansionplan?

n We aim be present everywhere.Our target is to be at the serv-ice of our customers alwaysand at all times. We are opti-

mistic about the future.

n E-commerce is becoming pop-ular. What would you say tocustomers buying from brick-and-mortar stores?

n There is a big difference be-tween buying online and of-fline. Customers always be-lieve in touch-and-feel factor.Many have regretted buy-ing online as they didn’t getsame quality product thatthey saw on their mobilephone or computer screen.Customers trust and believeus. There is a lot of confi-dence in the touch-and-feelmedium.

WE TOOK THE PANDEMIC AS ACHALLENGE: RK LENKA

GYAN RANJAN MOHAPATRA, OP

Bhubaneswar, March 1: Foodadulteration is a heinous criminaloffence since it is not only cheatingthe consumers, but also poses serioushealth hazards to them. Despitethis, rising cases of food adulterationhas turned out to be a major causeof concern, especially in the ab-sence of any exemplary actionagainst the unscrupulous busi-nessmen involved in it.

Data available from the OdishaState Food Safety Department in-dicate that the conviction rate infood adulteration cases in the stateis extremely low and this is largelyresponsible for such menace toflourish.

A total of 61 cases were regis-tered against people involved inadulteration of food items in Odishaduring the 2016-17 fiscal. The de-partment registered 19 criminalcases and 42 civil cases against theaccused in 2016-17.

However, only four accused wereheld guilty for food adulterationby the courts, while the remain-ing people were either acquittedor are still awaiting completion oftheir trial. Moreover, those con-victed were also let off after payingfines worth `50,000.

Similarly, the department regis-tered 42 cases, including 13 criminaland 29 civil cases, in connectionwith adulteration of food items in2017-18. In this year too, only four ac-cused were convicted and they werepenalised a total sum of `43,000.

In the subsequent year, 2018-19,as many as 47 cases, including 14

criminal and 33 civil cases, were reg-istered against the traders involvedin adulteration of food items.However, only two accused wereconvicted. The convicts had to payfines worth `1.10 lakh.

As many as 73 cases, including12 criminal and 61 civil cases, wereregistered against traders across thestate in the 2019-20 fiscal and ofthese, only five were convicted.

During the last four years, 15

traders were convicted for food adul-teration. The authorities managedto collect ̀ 4.24 lakh from these con-victs during the period. From the dataavailable from the Odisha State

Food Safety Department it is clearthat the conviction rate for adul-terating food items has been verypoor over the years.

Speaking on the condition ofanonymity, a top food safety officer,said, “After collecting all the sam-ples, we send them for testing. Thereare two ways of dealing with suchcases. One is adjudication, whichis disposed of at the ADM level,and in the second case, the traders

are let-off after paying a penalty.”Exposing the loopholes in system

that leads to the acquittal in mostof the cases, Supreme Court lawyerShilpi Chouhan said, “Any con-viction is dependent upon whetherthe prescribed procedure for col-lecting samples was followed ornot. Second, whether or not thesample was tested at any approvedlab. What is important is whetherthe procedure as regards to search,seizure and investigation was ad-hered to by the food safety officer.”

Chouhan further said, “Foodsafety officers and food analystshave to be trained in the legal andtechnical procedures to stand legalscrutiny in a court of law. So, tech-nical and institutional capacity isa huge issue in this field.”

Interestingly, National CrimeRecords Bureau data reveals thatOdisha Police have not registereda single case under Sections 272and 273 of the IPC, The Preventionof Food Adulteration Act, 1954 andthe Food Safety & Standards Act,2006 dealing exclusively with foodadulterations issue between period2017 and 2019.

Speaking on the role of police,DCP Umashankar Dash said, “Wehave been taking food adulter-ations complaints seriously. Weimmediately carry out raids aftercoming across reliable inputs inthis regard.”

Poor rate of convictionbehind growing menace

HEALTH CONCERN: A Malgodownpolice official disposing of a hugeamount of adulterated spice packetsnear Sikharpur area in Cuttack,Monday OP PHOTO

FOOD ADULTERATION

The convictionrate in food

adulterationcases in the state

is extremely lowand this is

largelyresponsible for

such menace toflourish

While majorityof the accusedare let offwithout anyaction, othersare allowed toresumebusiness afterpaying apenalty

NEED FOR FOOD SAFETY OFFICERSAND FOOD ANALYSTS TO BE TRAINED

IN THE LEGAL AND TECHNICAL PROCEDURES TO STAND LEGALSCRUTINY IN A COURT OF LAW

Satyajit Mohantytakes charge asOPSC chairmanPOST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, March 1:A day after tak-ing voluntary retirement from theservice, 1988-batch IPS officerSatyajit Mohanty assumed chargeas the chairman of Odisha PublicService Commission (OPSC),Monday.

Mohanty was serving as theDirector General of Fire Servicesprior to opting for voluntary re-tirement. He was given a farewellby Odisha Fire Service in Cuttack,Sunday.

Mohanty will hold the post ofOPSC chairman till he attains theage of 62, according to a notifica-tion of the General Administrationand Public Grievance department.

“Conducting regular exami-nations will be our priority. We’lltry our best to conduct all the ex-aminations in a transparent man-ner with the help of top and ex-perienced bureaucrats andeducationists in the board,” saidMohanty.

In a career spanning for a pe-riod of 33 years, Mohanty had ear-lier served many key positions inthe state police. He worked assuperintendent of police (SP) ofKoraput, Rourkela, Cuttack andBalasore districts. Besides,Mohanty had served as theAdditional SP of Puri.

In July 2018, Mohanty was ap-pointed as the twin city policecommissioner and later Directorof Intelligence before assuming theoffice of the DG of Fire Services.

He is a recipient of Police(Antrik Suraksha Seva) Medal,Police Medal for MeritoriousService and President’s PoliceMedal for Distinguished Service.

Financial Year Criminal Civil Convictions/penalties Penalty Amount In `

2016-17 19 42 4 51,000

2017-18 13 29 4 43,000

2018-19 14 33 2 1,10,000

2019-20 12 61 5 2,20,000

TOTAL CASES REGISTERED

Mohanty will hold the post of OPSC chairman till he attainsthe age of 62

BEATING THE HEAT

A woman agitating near the Cuttack Collector’s officedrinks water under a scorching sun, Monday. Meanwhile,the MD said heat-wave condition will prevail in 9 districts of Odisha, Tuesday. The condition will continuefor the next 4-5 days. Maximum temperature is very likely to be above normal by 3-4 degrees Celsius at manyplaces during next 2-3 days. Talcher and BaripadaMonday recorded a highest maximum temperature of39.8 degrees

College issued showcause notice forsubmitting fake docuPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1: Thestate Higher Education depart-ment has issued a show cause no-tice to Khunta Degree College inMayurbhanj district for submit-ting forged documents for sanctionof block grant.

As per reports, the college re-cently had submitted the PG mark-sheet of Aveepsa Patnaik, a lec-turer in English, which showsthat she had secured 472 marks outof 800. But on verification by theController of Examination, UtkalUniversity, it was found out thatshe had actually secured 412 marksout of 800.

This clearly shows that the col-lege had forwarded a forged mark-sheet for sanction of block grantin favour of Patnaik. The collegehad also submitted a false affi-davit stating that the documentsare true.

The Higher Education depart-ment director Ashwini KumarMishra has now asked the prin-cipal of the college to showcausewhy disciplinary action will notbe taken against the college for sub-mitting forged documents to thedepartment for the sanction ofblock grant.

The college has been directedto submit its response by March10, 2021.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1: The EastCoast railway (ECoR) has decidedto extend the services ofBhubaneswar-Bangiriposi-Bhubaneswar Special w.e.f. fromMarch 1, 2021 till further notice.

“The Bhubaneswar-Bangiriposi-Bhubaneswar Special fromBhubaneswar w.e.f. 1st March andfrom Bangiriposi in Mayurbhajdistrict w.e.f. 2nd March, 2021 willrun till further advice,” an ECoR of-ficial said.

This train leaves Bhubaneswarat 1730hrs and arrives at Bangiriposiat 2305hrs. On its return journey, thetrain from Bangiriposi will leave at0420hrs and will ar rive atBhubaneswar at 1000hrs.

This train comprises one sec-ond class chair car, nine secondclass seating and two guard-cum-sec-ond class seating. The stoppagesof the train are at Cuttack, JajpurKeonjhar Road, Bhadrak, Markona,Soro, Balasore, Rupsa, Thakurtota,Jugpura, Jo g al , Betonati ,Krishnachandrapur, Baripada andRajaluka between Bhubaneswarand Bangiriposi from both the di-rections.

Meanwhile, the ECoR has de-cided to have temporary stoppageof the Rourkela-Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Special at Bamra from

March 1 to March 31, 2021. Stoppagesfor this train at scheduled stationswill remain unchanged.

Earlier, the ECoR revised thetimings of 13 pairs of special trains.The trains are Puri-Ahmedabad-Puri Special, Puri-Mumbai LTT-Puri Special, LTT-Bhubaneswar-Mumbai LTT Special ,Puri-Durg-Puri Special, Puri-Jodhpur-Puei Special, Valsad-Puri-Valsad Special , Rourkela-Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Special,Puri-Surat-Puri Special, Puri-Ajmer-Puri Special, Bhubaneswar-AnandVihar-Bhubaneswar Special,Bhubaneswar-New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Special Rajdhani,Bhubaneswar-Balangir-Bhubaneswar Special , andSambalpur-Howrah-Sambalpur viaBhadrak.

Trickster held forlifting motorcyclesBhubaneswar: A special squad ofCommissionerate Police has arrested avehicle lifter who reportedly decampedwith several motorcycles of prospectivesellers on the pretext of test driving.The accused has been identified asAmit Kumar Patra alias Jitu ofBhanjagar area in Ganjam. According to sources, Patra used to col-lect the contact numbers of prospectivesellers from OLX site, popular onlinemarketplace. He would contact the sell-ers expressing his interest to buy theirold bikes. Subsequently, he would askthe victims to give their keys for testriding to check the vehicle condition.However, he would run away with thevehicle while the victims return afterwaiting for several hours at the spot.Patra was Monday produced before thecourt and later sent to judicial custody.

Khunta Degree College,Mayurbhanj, submittedfake marksheet of a lecturer for block grant

POST NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi, March 1:Citing the pro-visions of the Medical Terminationof Pregnancy (MTP) Act, the OrissaHigh Court has granted bail to a doc-tor, who was arrested for termi-nating pregnancy of rape survivor,on the good faith doctrine.

A bench of Justice SK Panigrahiobserved that ‘only a prima facieview needs to be formed as towhether the doctor has acted ingood faith or not.’

Justice Panigrahi referred toSection 3 of the MTP Act and heldthat the Act prescribes that no reg-istered medical practitioner shallbe held guilty of an offence underthe IPC or any other law, if preg-

nancy is terminated by him in ac-cordance with the provisions ofthis Act.

“Explanation 1 of Section 3 ofthe MTP Act states that when anypregnancy is alleged by the pregnantwoman to have been caused by rape,the anguish caused by such preg-nancy shall be presumed to con-stitute a grave injury to the mentalhealth of the pregnant woman,”the bench noted in the judgment.

Referring to various judgmentsof the Supreme Court and highcourts, Justice Panigrahi observedthat the right approach in view ofthe statutory framework under theAct, which specifically providesthat there is a presumption thatany pregnancy caused on account

of rape of the victim shall be pre-sumed a grave injury to the mentalhealth of the victim. The HighCourt noted that the Legislaturebeing cognisant of the malady ex-isting in society has carved out an

exception for such circumstances.“What has also weighed in favour

of the petitioner is the fact that theenquiry conducted by a board ofdoctors has rendered a finding thatthe doctor has acted in good faith,”the HC said.

The bench observed that the doc-tor followed the provisions of MTPAct while terminating the preg-nancy of the minor rape victim.The bench noted that the doctorterminated the pregnancy of the vic-tim in a hospital maintained bythe government and the doctoracted in good faith having believedthat the consent of the lady con-stable who was taking care of thevictim girl which sufficiently com-plied with the law.

Doc gets bail on ‘good faith doctrine’THE SAID DOCTOR HAD TERMINATED THE PREGNANCY OF A RAPE VICTIM

Services of Bhubaneswar-Bangiriposi Special extended Temporary stoppage forRourkela-Bhubaneswar

special at Bamra extendedup to March end

GIVING WAY

Radhaballav Mutt nearSrimandir being demolished to give way for the ambitiousheritage corridor project in Puri, Monday

INFECTED RECOVERED DEAD

World 11,47,89,853 9,03,30,506 25,44,822

India 1,10,63,140 1,07,48,907 1,56,863

Odisha 3,37,277 3,34,647 1,916

COVID-19 TRACKER

OP PHOTO

POST NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi, March 1:The SupremeCourt Monday issued a notice to thestate government on a petition filedby the Association of Odisha ICSESchools challenging the state gov-ernment’s notification regarding feewaiver in private un-aided schools.

A two-judge bench of the apexcourt comprising Justices AMKhanwilkar and DineshMaheshwari issued the notice to thegovernment returnable in twoweeks in the petition filed againstthe order of the Orissa High Courtthat dismissed a writ petition by theassociation challenging a state gov-ernment notification January 19regarding the fee waiver.

The Association of Odisha ICSESchools challenged the state gov-ernment’s January 19 notification,issued in compliance to the orderof Orissa High court January 7that taken on record the memo-randum of understanding datedSeptember 10, 2020 where govern-ment and several other parties wereagreed to fee waiver in a flat rate andprepared a slab of fees to be waivedby private Un-aided institutions.

The petitioner contended in thepetition that MoU was contradic-torily taken support of by the state

government despite its clear sub-mission before the High Court thatthere is no provision under theOrissa Education Act, 1969 for fix-ation of fee structure of differentPrivate Un-Aided schools.

“Contrary to the above stand,the High Court erroneously placedits reliance upon a government res-olution dated September 23, 1996which does not hold any force pur-suant to the coming into force of theRight of Children to Free andCompulsory Education Act, 2009,”

The petitioner also contendedthat the high court completely lostsight of the fact that the FeeStructure of Private Un-AidedSchools is governed by a report ofthe Fee Structure Committee (FSC),Odisha headed by Justice KPMohapatra constituted by the apexcourt in a civil appeal.

“The impugned order precari-ously violates the rights of the pe-titioner association under the prin-ciples of natural justice as thepetitioner association was neverallowed to participate in the de-liberations leading to MoU despitebeing a necessary party to that de-liberation,” the petitioner con-tended.

Petitioner submitted that thehigh court failed to appreciate thatduring the lockdown almost allschools are conducting online classesand teachers are discharging theirduties by imparting course workover online system and supervisingthe students to complete the worktask given.

“There is also a burden on theschool to pay their salary duringthese months,” the petitioner con-tended.

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SC notice to Odisha govt onplea challenging fee waiver

A TWO-JUDGE BENCH OF THE APEX COURT ISSUED THE NOTICE

TO THE GOVERNMENT RETURNABLEIN TWO WEEKS IN THE PETITION

FILED AGAINST THE ORDER OF THEORISSA HIGH COURT THAT

DISMISSED A WRIT PETITION BY THE ASSOCIATION

CHALLENGING A STATE GOVERNMENT

NOTIFICATION JANUARY 19

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1: Amidstconcerns of rise in COVID cases, theBhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation (BMC) Monday al-lowed Maha Shivratri celebrationsat Lingaraj Temple in state capitalon March 11 with strict adherenceto COVID-19 guidelines.

Ahead of the festival, the civic au-thority Monday held a preparatorymeet with the representatives ofthe sevayat groups and trust bod-ies of the 11th century shrine todiscuss the arrangements for the fes-tival both within and outside the tem-ple in view of the pandemic re-strictions. The meeting was chairedby the BMC Commissioner PremChandra Chaudhary.

“It has been decided that thoseabove 60 years and younger than 10years will not be allowed into thetemple for darshan as they havebeen categorised as the most vul-nerable section of people. Moreover,no devotee will be allowed inside thesanctum sanctorum (Garbha Gruha)of the shrine. However, they will be

allowed to see the rituals of theLord at the Adakatha (outside thesanctum). There will be barricadesto ensure social distancing as perCOVID-19 norms,” Chaudhary in-formed.

The BMC Commissioner addedthat arrangements for sanitation and

thermal screening will be made atthe entrance of the temple. Whiledevotees will be allowed entry fromSinghdwara they will exit throughDakshinadwara and Uttaradwaraof the shrine. “In case, a devotee isfound down with any symptom ofCOVID-19, he/she will be taken for

antigen test at the camps installedoutside the temple,” he said.

Keeping in view of rise in the mer-cury, drinking water and shadeswill be made available for the devo-tees. Lighting of earthen lampswill be allowed inside and outsidethe temple. However, people willbe allowed to sit with ‘diyas’ insidethe shrine keeping in view the avail-ability to space and adherence toCOVID-19 protocols.

It is worth mentioning here thatearlier state government had in-structed for seven-day mandatoryhome isolation for people comingfrom 12 high-risk states by planesand trains.

It had asked all district Collectors,municipal commissioners, direc-tors of Bhubaneswar andJharsuguda airports and the gen-eral manager (operation) of EastCoast Railways to increase sur-veillance and testing on people com-ing from Maharashtra, Kerala,Telangana, Chhattisgarh, WestBengal, Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh,Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

BMC allows Shivratri fest at Lingaraj TempleIN A NUTSHELL

• Devotees will not be allowed insidethe sanctum sanctorum of the shrine

• Lighting of earthen lamps will beallowed inside and outside thetemple

• Devotees will enter through‘Singhadwara’ and exit through‘Dakshinadwara’ and ‘Uttaradwara’of the shrine

• There will be barricades to ensuresocial distancing. Arrangements forsanitation and thermal screening willbe made at the entrance of thetemple

MORNING CLASSES

With the daytime temperature soaring, students of Capital Girls’ High School at Unit-II in Bhubaneswar walkhome after attending morning classes, Monday OP PHOTO

HITTING THE STREETS

NSUI activists demonstrate at Rajmahal Square in Bhubaneswar, Monday, condemning the rising fuel prices andunemployment in the state OP PHOTO

Fraudsters dupeman of `13.20LPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1:Fraudsterstargeting gullible job aspirants orpeople desiring to get a seat inprominent educational institutionsare on the prowl in the city. Recently,one such fraudster was arrestedby Dhauli police for duping sev-eral people of lakhs of rupees on thepretext of getting them jobs in theRailways and Police force.

In the latest incident, BudhadebaKumar Singh of Baunsuni area inBaudh alleged that some city-basedmiscreants duped him of Rs 13.20lakh by promising him to get his sonan MBBS seat in a medical college.

Singh has lodged a complaint withSahid Nagar police in this regard.

In his complaint, Singh allegedthat his son Biswajit Singh qualifiedin the NEET entrance exam in 2019and he was trying to get his son ad-mitted in any reputed medical col-lege in Odisha. This is when Singhreceived a call from the miscreants.They asked Singh to meet them attheir office at plot No. 101 in SahidNagar area here. The miscreants as-sured him that they would arrangean MBBS seat for his son in Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospitalon the outskirts of the City.

Accordingly, he met the allegedfraudsters at their office and hewas asked to deposit Rs 10 lakh asdonation and another Rs 6.50 lakh

as admission fee. They also asked Singh to pay Rs

20,000 as first installment in orderto make necessary arrangementsfor the provisional allotment letterfrom OJEE office. He depositedRs 5 lakh as first installment inthe account of one of the accused,Manas Parida, August 22, 2019.

Two days later, he deposited an-other Rs 10 lakh in the account ofone Abinash Purohit. Singh also re-portedly gave the accused over Rs7.50 lakh through various install-ments towards hostel and coursefees. They later demanded and re-ceived another Rs 2 lakh claimingthe amount paid earlier was in-sufficient for admission.

The miscreants allegedly pre-sented Singh with fake allotmentand admission letters. Few dayslater, Singh was shocked when heasked a staff member of Hi TechMedical College and Hospital aboutthe status of his son’s admission tothe MBBS course. The later in-formed Singh that the institutionhad not received any application foradmission in the name of his son.

When contacted, the miscreantsassured to return the money re-ceived from Singh. However, theyreportedly managed to return onlyRs 3 lakh.

Singh who was yet get back hismoney sought the help of SahidNagar police.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1: UnionMinister Dharmendra PradhanMonday sought personal inter-vention of Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik to ensure procedural for-malities so that 40.5 lakh farmerscan get cash transfer under thePM-Kisan scheme.

“I would like to bring to your no-tice the fact that the percentageof farmers receiving the PM-Kisan benefit is significantly lessthan the number of farmers reg-istered under the scheme inOdisha. This is primarily due tonon-compliance to procedural re-

quirements and administrativeoversight by the officials of thestate government,” Pradhan said

in his letter to the CM. Non-disbursement of due ben-

efits under PM Kisan to many ofthe needy farmers of Odisha, es-pecially in the backdrop of COVID-I 9 pandemic, is dishearteningand depriving them of the gov-ernment support when they needit the most, he said.

As per official records, Pradhansaid, a total of 40.5 lakh farmersfrom Odisha are covered under theCentral scheme. However, it wasfound that only 24.7 lakh farm-ers received the payment of Rs2,000 each from the release of theseventh instalment.

“This is not the first time that

this is happening. The same trendof lower fund releases can be no-ticed in previous six instalmentsalso,” he added.

As per Pradhan’s letter, thereare 40.5 lash registered benefi-ciaries of PM-Kisan scheme inthe state. While only 9.73 lakh(24%) received the first instal-ment, 29.92 lakh (74%) receivedthe second instalment, 28.77 lakh(71%) received the 3rd instal-ment, 25.61 lakh (63%) got the4th instalment, 21.55 lakh (53%)benefitted in the 5th instalment,23.38 lakh (58%) got the 6th in-stalment and 24.70 lakh (61%)received the 7th instalment.

HC bail for Pathak,son in fraud casePNN/AGENCIES

Cuttack, March 1: The OrissaHigh Court Monday granted bailto suspended IFS officer AbhayKant Pathak and his son, Akash,in connection with a cheating caseregistered with the Kharvel Nagarpolice in Bhubaneswar.

The father-son duo was grantedbail on a surety of Rs 2 lakh. Thecourt also set certain conditionslike cooperating with the investi-gation and not to intimidate wit-nesses.

A case (CRNo 292/20) wasregisteredagainst thePathaks atKharavel Nagarpolice station forallegedly de-frauding SkyKing, a Bhubaneswar-based travelagency of Rs 65 lakh. The father-son duo had reportedly bookedchartered flights, five-star hotels andair tickets through the agencywhich amounted to Rs 2.78 crore.Although they paid Rs 2.13 crore,an outstanding bill of Rs 65,16,233is yet to be cleared, the travel agencyclaimed in the complaint filed withthe Commissionerate Police.

On January 27, the Vigilancecourt had granted bail to the father-son duo in connection with a dis-proportionate assets case againstthem. They were granted ‘default’bail after the investigating agencyfailed to file the charge-sheet with60 days.

Notably, the father-son duo wasarrested in November last yearby the anti-corruption wing ofOdisha Police on charges of ac-cumulating massive ‘ill-gotten’wealth.

The HC had February 24 grantedconditional bail to Gopalpur MLAPradeep Panigrahi in connectionwith a fraud case filed by the CrimeBranch.

THOSE BELOW 10 YEARS AND ABOVE 60 WILL NOT BE ALLOWED INTO THETEMPLE FOR DARSHAN AS THEY HAVE BEEN CATEGORISED AS THE

MOST VULNERABLE SECTION OF PEOPLE

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, March 1: Despitepressure from the OdishaUniversity of Agriculture andTechnology (OUAT) and the stategovernment to remove the protest-ing students from their agitationsite, protest by students of Forestrydepartment reached the eighthday, Monday.

On Monday, the students stagedprotests by washing vehicles onthe roads of the university to drawthe attention of government aswell as the varsity authorities.

On Sunday, the protesting stu-dents sold puffed rice and mixturealong the university road as partof their agitation urging the stategovernment to make the four-yearBSc degree in Forestry as mini-mum qualification for recruitmentto key posts like forest range offi-cer, assistant conservator of forests,assistant manager and junior man-ager of Odisha Forest Development

Corporation (OFDC). This apart,they also protested by cleaningshoes and sweeping the roads.

Meanwhile, the university ispressurising the students to end theprotest as they are breaking the

COVID-19 restrictions, thereby,threatening the health of studentsand others. The varsity authoritieshave warned that if the studentsdid not end their protest they wouldbe removed forcibly from the prem-

ises. OUAT Dean KK Rout had in-formed the students that the var-sity had sent their demands to thegovernment and department forreview.

The student are saying that one-third of Odisha’s geographicalarea falls under natural forestsand a huge additional area underplantations by farmers, industries,state Forest departments, OFDCand various other agencies. Thesevast resources and plantations arecontributing immensely to vari-ous forms of goods and services tothe human and animal populationof the state.

In order to enhance the pro-ductivity of such resources andto ensure sustained supply of goodsand services to the ever-increasingpopulation, it is essential to in-duct more technical manpowerhaving forestry background in theforestry sector instead of hiringnon-forestry graduates in somekey posts.

OUAT students’ protest enters 8th dayOn Monday, the stu-

dents staged protestsby washing vehicles on theroads of the university todraw the attention of gov-ernment as well as the var-sity authorities

On Sunday, the studentssold puffed rice and

mixture as part of theiragitation urging the stategovernment to make thefour-year BSc degree inForestry as minimum qual-ification for recruitment tokey posts

MEANWHILE, THE UNIVERSITY IS PRESSURISING THE STUDENTS TO END THEPROTEST AS THEY ARE BREAKING THE COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS, THEREBY,

THREATENING THE HEALTH OF STUDENTS AND OTHERS

Pradhan seeks CM’s intervention to include 40.5L farmers under PM-Kisan

HC closes case filed by AnjanaCuttack: The Orissa High CourtMonday closed a petition filed byBarang gangrape survivor AnjanaMishra. The victim had then allegedthat the investigation being carriedout by the CBI had lapses and that aconspiracy has been hatched todelay the case. According tosources, the HC decision came aftertwo sets of affidavits were filed bythe state government and theinvestigating agency. There was noground for the petition to prolong asthe major parties to the case – theerstwhile Chief Minister JB Patnaikand former Advocate General (AG)Indrajit Ray – are no more. Threepersons including the prime accusedwho were involved in the crime havebeen brought to justice followingtheir arrests, the affidavits stated.

FILE PHOTO

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POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhadrak, March 1: A patient’smother jumped off an ambulancefearing they were being kidnappedafter noticing that the van was head-ing somewhere else instead of theoriginal destination in Cuttack. Theincident occurred on NH-16 nearCharampa in Bhadark district lateSunday night.

Geetanjali Barik’s son fell from atree and suffered injuries at Rambhilaunder Bhadrak rural police limitsSunday. He was first admitted atBhadrak district headquarters hos-pital (DHH). After preliminary treat-ment, he was asked to shift to the SCBMedical College and Hospital inCuttack in a 108 ambulance for bet-

ter treatment. Geetanjali was ac-companying her son.

On the way, she found the ambu-

lance was heading towards Balasoreinstead of Cuttack. She objected andasked the driver the stop the van. But

the driver kept on driving, withoutpaying attention to her cries, she al-leged. There were two other staff aswell. They too chose to remain justmute spectators, she alleged.

With no option left, she openedthe window pane and cried for help.Hearing her distressed cries, peo-ple gave a chase to the van and way-laid it near Canal Chowk inCharampa. Just then, a terriblyfrightened Geetanjali jumped offthe vehicle.

Soon locals gathered at the spot andcaught hold of the driver and two oth-ers. Later, they handed the trio overto Bhadrak town police. Geetanjalihas lodged a report at the police sta-tion accusing the trio of kidnappingthem. The police arranged anotherambulance and sent Geetanjali andher son to SCB Medical College andHospital in it.

A detailed investigation was un-derway.

Fearing kidnap bid, woman jumps off ambulance THE DRIVER AND OTHER STAFF WERE NABBED AND HANDED OVER TO THE POLICE

GEETANJALI WITH HER INJURED SONWAS TO GO TO THE SCB MEDICAL

COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL IN CUTTACKIN A 108 AMBULANCE FOR BETTER

TREATMENT

WHEN SHE NOTICED THAT THEVEHICLE WASN’T HEADING TOWARDSCUTTACK, SHE SMELLED SOMETHING

FISHY AND ENQUIRED WITH THEDRIVER AND OTHER MEDICAL STAFF

INSIDE THE VAN BUT IN VAIN

SHE YELLED FOR HELP AND JUMPEDOFF THE VAN

POST NEWS NETWORK

Baripada, March 1: Hundreds ofhectares of forest land in Similipalnational park have been burnt toashes due to wildfires ahead of thesummer season, a report said.

Even as summer season is yetto completely set in, the wildfire isfast spreading inside the sanctu-ary with a sharp rise in temperaturein the state. Fires are raging insidethe sanctuary which includes thetiger conservation project andforested areas under the wildlifedivision.

The wildfire is showing nosign of abetment which is spread-ing from one place to anotherinside the sanctuary causing se-rious loss of vegetation, wildlifeand medicinal plants inside thesanctuary.

As a result, wild animals arestraying into the human habitats tosave their lives. The rush of wild an-imals to human habitat has spreadpanic among the residents. The for-est and fire personnel have triedall tricks in the book to douse thefire but in vain which is spreadingfast in the area.

Reports said that the sanctuaryis spread over 21 forest rangesunder five forest divisions. Thefire has been spreading in seven

patches of reserve forests underChandanchaturi, Digdiga, Dukura,

Podadiha, T hakur munda,Barehipani and Astakuan forest

ranges of the sanctuary. Hundreds of hectare of forest

land have been destroyed in thewildfire in the Anantapur andBalinala jungles under Podadihaforest range to the south of thes a n c t u a r y, M i t u a n i a n dKendumundi jungles underThakurmunda forest range to thenorth, Bahalda jungle underDukura forest range to the eastand Netrapata jungle underBangiriposi forest range to thewest of the sanctuary.

A resident Amar Singh ofPodadiha village alleged that poach-ers are mainly responsible for the

spread of wildfire in the sanctu-ary. He said that poachers set fireto the dry leaves in the forest tocatch animals which then spreadsfrom one place to another causingloss of flora and fauna. Moreover,people collecting Mahua flowersare also responsible as they alsoset fire to the leaves while collect-ing the flowers.

An honorary wildlife wardenBhanumitra Acharya said that wild-fire has become an annual occur-rence as the inferno occurs everyyear after the trees shed their leavesin winter. This has resulted in se-rious loss of flora, fauna and me-dicinal plants inside the sanctuary,he said.

Residents Ramesh Singh,Budhia Hembram, ChaitanyaHansda, Samray Singh andMadhav Hansda alleged that theForest department is making tallclaims of disposing of the dryleaves to check wildfire but it isoccurring every year mainly dueto their negligence.

When contacted, Jagnyadatt Pati,deputy director, Similipal tiger con-servation project, said, “Serious ef-forts are being made to douse the firewith the involvement of forest of-ficials, members of Vana SurakshyaSamiti, villagers and local public rep-resentatives.”

SIMILIPAL IS BURNINGSUMMER HAS JUST STARTED BUT THE MERCURY LEVELS MAKE US FEEL THAT IT IS ALREADY MAY! ALREADY

SEVEN— CHANDANCHATURI, DIGDIGA, DUKURA, PODADIHA, THAKURMUNDA, BAREHIPANI AND ASTAKUAN— OUT OF 21 FORESTRANGES OF SIMILIPAL ARE REELING UNDER WILDFIRE, WILL IT WORSEN WITH THE TEMPERATURE SOARING AHEAD?

Serious efforts are being made to douse the fire with theinvolvement of forest officials, members of Vana SurakshyaSamiti, villagers and local public representatives JAGNYADATT PATI | DEPUTY DIRECTOR, SIMILIPAL TIGER CONSERVATION PROJECT

Poachers set fire to the dryleaves in the forest to catchanimals which then spreads fromone place to another causingloss of flora and fauna.Moreover, people collectingMahua flowers are alsoresponsible as they also set fireto the leaves while collectingthe flowersAMAR SINGH | RESIDENT, PODADIHA

Wildfire has become anannual occurrence as theinferno occurs every yearafter the trees shed theirleaves in winter. This hasresulted in serious loss offlora, fauna and medicinalplants inside the

sanctuaryBHANUMITRA ACHARYA | HONOURARY WILDLIFE WARDEN

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bargaon, March 1: Miscreantsshot dead the son of a jeweller anddecamped with a bag of ornamentsin front of his shop here, Monday.The shop is about 500 metres fromthe Bargaon police station and isalso next to the post office.

The deceased was identified asRohit Verma, 26, son of the pro-prietor of Maa Mangala Jewelleryin the town.

According to police sources, theshop named Maa Mangala Jewelersis located near Bargaon bus standand a few yards away from thelocal police station. Three armedbike-borne miscreants confrontedRohit when he was about to openthe shutter of the shop.

They opened two rounds of bul-lets at him and decamped with hisbag containing gold ornaments.Meanwhile, a person named SarojDas tried to save Rohit when the rob-bers were trying to flee. One of themiscreants fired at Saroj follow-ing which the bullet hit his thighand rendered him critical.

Verma sustained grievous bul-let injuries in his head and ab-

domen. The youth was rescuedby locals and immediatelyrushed to a private hospital inRourkela.

Later, he succumbed to his in-juries while undergoing treatmentat the hospital, a police officialstated. The injured person has beenadmitted to the hospital and was un-dergoing treatment.

On being informed, Bargaon po-lice reached the spot and started aninvestigation. A gun was seizedfrom the highway where it hadfallen off the hands of the escap-ing miscreants. Police have regis-tered a case in this connection andlaunched a detailed probe to nab theassailants.

The daylight murder of the jew-eller’s son has nevertheless cre-ated unrest in the locality, tradersin particular who are demandingthe immediate arrest of the cul-prits involved in the incident.

Notably, five months back mis-creants decamped with Rs 5 lakhgold ornaments from the shop ofVerma after demolishing a por-tion of the wall of his store. Policelaunched an investigation then butare yet to arrest the culprits.

Jeweller shot dead, gold ornaments robbed in Bargaon

The deceasedwas identifiedas Rohit Verma, 26, son of theproprietor ofMaa MangalaJewellery in the town

POST NEWS NETWORK

Kesinga, March 1: The seeminglyeternal wait for a railway underpassnear the level crossing in this townof Kalahandi district will finallycome to an end March 4. The un-derpass will be inaugurated forthe public on that day.

The residents have suffered alot due to the level crossing, a re-port said. They have the bad ex-perience of getting stuck in trafficsnarls, sometimes for more than anhour. Even ambulances used to getstuck for lengthy periods due tothe level crossing. In one such in-cident, a patient while being shiftedto a hospital in an ambulance suc-cumbed as it got delayed due totraffic congestion.

Demanding an under pass nearthe level crossing, the ‘RailwayKriyanusthan Committee’ hadlaunched a 24-day long demon-stration in Kesinga town inJanuary, 2020. While the resi-dents had extended full supportto it, leaders like former UnionMinister Bhakta Charan Das,Leader of Opposition Pradipta

Ku m a r N a i k , N a rl a M L ABhupinder Singh attended thedharna on different days.

The agitation was withdrawnFebruary 14, 2020 when DistrictCollector Dr Gavali Parag Harshadreached the dharna site with the let-ter from works department andassured them that an under bridgewould soon be constructed.

While the construction of theunder pass was started in March,2020, the facility was scheduled tobe inaugurated March 4, 2021.

When contacted, Kashi Saha, asenior railway of ficial atADAEN/Titlagarh informed thatthe construction work of the underbridge is in its last stage. “It will beinaugurated as per schedule March4,” he informed.

This piece of news has certainlymade the residents of this town avery happy lot.

Wait for rly underpass soon to end in Kesinga

Construction work of theunder bridge is in its last

stage. It will be inauguratedas per schedule March 4 KASHI SAHA | RAILWAY OFFICIAL,ADAEN/TITLAGARH

EVEN AMBULANCES USED TO GET STUCK FORHOURS DUE TO THE LEVEL CROSSING

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhadrak, March 1: The projectdirector, District RuralDevelopment Agency, Bhadrak,was seen working as a labourer ata road construction site in Dhamrapanchayat.

The incident was of Saturdaybut a video showing the admin-istrative officer digging earth andcarrying basket on his head wentviral Sunday. He has since been re-ceiving praises from different sec-tions of society.

Labourers were working onJhadakata village road underDhamra panchayat Saturday. Thework was being done underMahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Scheme. Project director, DRDA,

Madhusudan Das had been in-formed that the road construc-tion work was being done by ma-chines. To find out the veracity in

the allegation, Das along withChandbali BDO Jyotibikash Dashad paid a visit to the work siteSaturday.

There at the work site, he tookall by surprise when he pickedup a spade, dug earth and carriedit in a basket on his head. Seeinghim working like a labourer, BDODas could not hold him back forlonger. He too joined him and theother labourers.

Later Madhusudan Das saidthat he had worked among thelabourers to encourage them,bring transparency in such works,see the labourers get the benefitsof the government schemes andensure fulfillment of the govern-ment’s aims and objectives.

BHADRAK PROJECT DIRECTOR DONSLABOURER’S HAT, VIDEO GOES VIRAL

Man rapes minorniece; arrested in Kalahandi dist Bhawanipatna: A three-year-oldgirl was raped by her uncle afterhe took her out under the pretextof buying her chocolates at avillage under Lanjigarh policelimits in Kalahandi district, policesaid Monday. The accused wasidentified as Kunu Majhi ofShantapur village under Narlapolice limits in the district. Theincident occurred when the girlaccompanied by her mother wasvisiting her maternal grandfather’shouse to witness a fair in the area.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Jaleswar, March 1: Revenue offi-cials and scientists of Odisha andWest Bengal met at the disputedsite of Subarnarekha river here inBalasore district and conducted ameasurement of the reference pointson the eve of the Tuesday-meetingbetween the two states on interstateborder dispute.

The points of contention betweenthe two states are at Jaleswar inBalasore district and in Dantun areaof West Midnapore district of neigh-bouring West Bengal.

The officials while measuring thereference points also identified theplaces which have been in contentionbetween the two states. Jaleswartehsildar Dillip Chand, revenue of-ficials Manas Behera, Gourang Jenaand Pradip Bhanja, and five officialsof West Bengal were present duringthe measurement of the referencepoints.

The development comes after theNational Green Tribunal directedthe authorities of the two states to re-solve the dispute relating to border.

Notably, several cases have been filedbefore the NGT with regard to sandmining and environmental pollu-tion.

Reports said that the dispute beganon the jurisdiction of theSubarnarekha river which is flowingfor about 10 km on the borders ofthe two states. Earlier, the officials oftwo states met at the Circuit Houseof West Midnapore to resolve theborder dispute, February 15. The of-ficials of two states had visited thespot after the meeting and conducted

a measurement of South Praharajpurvillage in the state and Sunakania andother places in West Bengal.

According to decision of OdishaSpace Application Centre (ORCAS),36 reference points have been iden-tified in Odisha border and 52 ref-erence points in West Bengal bor-der with the use of GPS and DGPSsystems. Five officials and scientistsof West Bengal and three from Odisharechecked the reference points inGobarghata, Bilaspur, Makidia andRajnagar mouzas in Odisha.

Officials take measurements near Subarnarekha The points of contentionbetween Odishaand Bengal are atJaleswar inBalasore districtand in Dantunarea of WestMidnapore districtof West Bengal

BORDER DISPUTE

WORDSWORTH

power post P6

A s an employee or manager itis becoming increasinglydifficult to express correctly

what you mean without being mis-understood. In today’s workplacemore than 70 per cent of commu-nication is virtual - emails,WhatsApp chats, messaging. Withsuch high percentage of digitalcommunication there is a seem-ingly empathy-deficit at work.

So how to build trust and engagein a healthier relationship in the dig-ital world? What are the new signalsor interpretations of digital lan-guage? How we can be understoodbetter through our digital com-munication? These are the severalchallenges that we encounter inthe work environment be it with ourpeers, customers or bosses.

On an average a managerial levelemployee receives more than 75emails a day and in the quest of re-sponding quickly, we take short-cuts or ignore the context com-pletely. These brief messages cancause confusion or ambiguity lead-ing to a tense working relation-ship. To seek brevity and speed wecompromise on clarity.

In one of my email exchangeswith my ex-boss I enquired “Can Igo upto 15% discount against ad-vance payment or limit to 10%with 30 days credit” for a large in-

stitutional buyer. His response wasjust “Ok”! Now what do I under-stand from this reply? Which optionhe is ok with?

One colleague of mine told methat she received a WhatsApp mes-sage from her CEO seeking a reportin bold capital red letters stating“CAN YOU SEND THIS TODAY?”She was so tensed trying to figureout whether it was a threatening de-mand or anger or just an oversightof mobile settings. The choice ofwords, size, punctuations and emojiwe use including the recipients,has an inflated meaning with muchdeeper ramifications in today’s vir-tual workplace. I remember once Ihad send an in-depth market re-port to my senior product man-ager in an earlier company, work-ing late night, to receive a one-linerreply the next day “What does thismean???” Is it an enquiry, frustra-tion or sarcasm?

A batch mate of mine had nar-rated a similar experience while wewere discussing on this subject.He said that how his name wasmissing from the email recipientlist for a very important policy de-cision meeting conducted by theleadership team. He was later for-warded that mail by one of his jun-ior colleagues. He failed to under-stand whether it was intentional or

a lapse or he was being shown thedoor. This incident prompted himto leave the organisation and joina competitor in a hurry. Just imag-ine how big a loss this is whenyour seasoned employee quits fora flimsy reason with such heartburns which might have happenedpurely due to negligence.

To get the best response coupledwith the desired action from digi-tal communication the simple ruleto follow is “first understand &then seek to be understood.”Elaborating this further theacronym IRCTC should serve asan effective reminder to evoke un-derstanding & empathy in our vir-tual communication:-

Intent: Read the contents thor-oughly to decide on the intent be-hind the communication prior toacting on it. Similarly, proofreadyour mails before sending out to getbest results.

Response: What is the best re-sponse you are seeking? Is it anapproval, opinion or advice? Canthe receiver understand that clearlyfrom the language of your mails?

Context: Set enough context orbackground for the other person tocomprehend. There should be min-imum room for ambiguity other-wise some undesirable action mightfollow.

Tone: Use the right emotionaltone in your communication byusing appropriate words, punctu-ation or font size/colour. Mentionclearly if you are displaying grat-itude, respect, appreciation, dis-appointment or call to action inyour messages. Be aware of theusage and implications of variouspunctuations like Q-marks (?), ex-clamation marks (!) extended dots(……) etc.

Compassion: Show enough com-passion and grace in your com-munication, as much as possible,to see improved collaboration andmutual understanding from therecipients or your team members.

During and post- Covid, work-places have witnessed an expo-nential increase in virtual com-munication which necessitates aproper understanding on the nu-ances of such interactions withthe likely outcomes and the im-pending impact on the morale ofteam members. Without doubt,there is a strong connect betweenthe digital language we adopt andthe resultant relationship that wemake (or break) with one another!

The writer is Country Headof Greenlam Industries Ltd &

a Master NLP coach. Views are personal.

The third-quarter data

on India’s GDP showedthat it has come out ofthe recession. The data

shows a substantial increase inconsumer spending by nearly 18per cent as compared to the pre-vious quarter. This shows positiveconsumer sentiment. GDP growthhas turned positive and the signsare for continued upward mo-mentum during the fourth quar-ter as well. As we look at the nextyear there is understandable op-timism about a sharp V-shaped re-covery and growth of nearly 11 percent. But much of the high growthnext year is a matter of the econ-omy simply recovering groundlost during the pandemic year.As a result, after two years the eco-nomic size of India will be barely2 or 3 per cent above what it wasin 2019. The presentation of theUnion Budget proposals inFebruary has contributed greatlyto reviving both consumer optimism as well as business confidence.

The high growth expected willdepend quite a bit on the lead tobe taken by the private sector, instrong consumer spending as wellin industrial investment. The ratioof investment to GDP has to risefrom the current 28 per cent tonearly 36 per cent for the econ-omy to show a sustained growthrate of 8 per cent. Fortunately,agriculture production is at arecord level of 303 million tonnesthis year. This is almost 10 percent more than the average forthe previous five years. Some res-olution to the impasse in the ne-gotiations between the Centralgovernment and farmers agitatingagainst the new farm laws formore than four months now willgo a long way in reviving growthoptimism. It will also address theshortages that have arisen due tothe blockade, and disruption indelivery of crucial inputs likecoal, fertilizer and even trans-portation fuel to Punjab and ad-joining States.

One of the main reasons for thegrowth optimism of next yearcomes from the fiscally expan-sionary stance adopted by theFinance Minister. Even though

the overall spending is budgeted togo up only by 1 per cent, the ex-penditure on infrastructure will goon by nearly 25 per cent. And theexpenditure on healthcare in-cluding vaccinations and sanitationis up by nearly hundred percent.

Two noteworthy features of theUnion Budget were, firstly thetransparency in disclosing all li-abilities, and secondly, admittinga very large fiscal deficit. Thislarge fiscal deficit of 6.8 per centfor next year, not only is far in ex-cess of what was specified byIndia’s own fiscal responsibility law,but also cocks a snook at inter-national rating agencies. Thereis an irreverent disdain towardsthe fear of a rating downgrade. Afull chapter in the economic sur-vey explains how internationalrating agencies have always beenunfair to India despite the coun-try’s track record of zero defaultand currently a high stock of for-eign exchange.

But this high-risk deficit, whilebold and ambitious should notmake us complacent about thechallenge of financing it. Thegross borrowing requirement bythe Centre alone is more than Rs12 trillion which is Rs 1 trillionevery month. That is just aboutequal to the monthly GST collec-

tion. The total borrowing re-quirement will eat up the entire in-cremental deposit in the bankingsystem, assuming an eight percent growth next year. If the pri-vate sector capacity expansionand investment requires anotherRs 12 trillion, it will put pressureon interest rates, since there isnot enough funding available to ac-commodate this huge borrowingrequirement. Actually, if the bor-rowing requirements of state gov-ernments are factored in, as wellas those of public sector enter-prises, that number is above Rs 23trillion. This huge borrowing can-not simply be met by the avail-able pool of household savings inthe country.

It is here that the Reserve Bankof India has to step in. Of course,it cannot simply print money, be-cause that would be tantamount tomonetisation which is explicitlyprohibited by a 1997 agreementbetween the RBI and the Centre.Besides, direct monetisation couldbe inflationary. The RBI can doan indirect monetisation by buy-ing all the bonds issued by thegovernment of India in the sec-ondary market. Indeed, it has beendoing so for the last two years.When it buys the bonds againstmoney that it has created, the

RBI’s balance sheet expands. Thatbalance sheet has grown by 50 percent in the past two years. And itwill grow even further. But a hugevolume of borrowing through themarket process, i.e. sale of bondscan put upward pressure on in-terest rates, as well as crowd outprivate investments, which tooare seeking to borrow from thesame banking system, and fromcapital markets.

One way to ease this pressureis for the RBI to do a direct dealwith the Centre, and give a fixedterm five-year loan at a low in-terest rate against a pledged asset.That pledged asset could be allthe shares that the government ofIndia owns in public sector en-terprises. The combined value ofall the shares owned by GOI todayis more than Rs 20 trillion thanksto the exuberant stock market.Such a bilateral sweetheart dealis technically not monetisation, out-lawed by the 1997 agreement, nordoes it disrupt the credit markets,and hopefully takes off the pres-sure on interest rates too. Anothersource of financing for GOI is ofcourse foreign funds. Thankfully,the inflow into the rupee denom-inated government debt markethas been quite strong and is ex-pected to remain so next year. Thegovernment may also considerfloating an international dollardenominated

semi-sovereign bond througha proxy such as the State Bank ofIndia. This too can garner fundsequivalent to Rs 1 or 2 trillion.

It is obvious that none of the re-quired financing can depend on in-creasing the level of taxation at thetime when the economy is comingout of recession. Thus, next yearis going to be a difficult balancingtask for the RBI. On one hand, toensure adequate financing for thegovernment, and on the other notletting inflation or interest-ratesget out of hand, while also keep-ing the currency stable. Not an

enviable job at all!

The writer is aneconomist and Senior Fellow,

Takshashila Institution.

©THE BILLION PRESS

LOL

FOCUS

SPECTRUM

This large fiscal deficit of 6.8 per cent for next year, not only is far in excess of what was specified by India’s own fiscal responsibility law, but also cocks a snook at international rating agencies

Lamenting Cylinder

Stop being late

Tom had this problem of gettingup late in the morning and was

always late for work. His boss wasmad at him and threatened to fire himif he didn’t do something about it. SoTom went to his doctor who gave hima pill and told him to take it before hewent to bed. Tom slept well and infact beat the alarm in the morning by

almosttwo

hours.He had a

leisurely breakfastand drove cheerfully

to work.“Boss,” he said, “The pill actuallyworked!”“That’s all fine,” said the boss, “Butwhere were you yesterday?”

TUESDAY | MARCH 2 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

We have every one of us a role tofulfill, a work to do, a place whichwe alone can occupy.

THE MOTHER

COMMUNICATION

ONE OF THEMAIN REASONS

FOR THEGROWTH

OPTIMISM OFNEXT YEAR

COMES FROMTHE FISCALLY

EXPANSIONARYSTANCE

ADOPTED BYTHE FINANCE

MINISTER

Ajit Ranade

WISDOM CORNERIn the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.

DEEPAK CHOPRA

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.NAPOLEON HILL

Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions,never know too much to learn something new.

OG MANDINO

ECONOMY

Readers of Orissa POSTare most welcome to contribute letters(200 words), articles andcolumns (between 750-1250words). Contributors arerequested to send theircontact numbers and fullpostal address/email ID. They may alsosend in their valuable comments, opinionand suggestions, preferably by email, to: edit@orissapost.com

B-15, Rasulgarh Industrial Estate,Bhubaneswar-751010

LettersTO THE EDITOR

THERE IS ASTRONG CONNECT

BETWEEN THE DIGITAL LANGUAGE

WE ADOPT ANDTHE RESULTANT

RELATIONSHIPTHAT WE MAKE

(OR BREAK) WITHONE ANOTHER

Shivaji Mohinta

Bowlers’ paradise

Sir, When cricket matches like T-20s and ODIsare making life hell for bowlers with battingfriendly surfaces, Test matches of late, especiallyPink Ball D/N Test matches have come like a whiffof fresh air for bowlers. We have seen bowlers toilon flat batting pitches and batsmen making merryon these surfaces. However, in case of Pink ballpitches batsmen not having sound technique ap-pear like deer in front of head lights. To emergechampions on such surfaces batsmen have to usetechniques like taking off-stump guard, and tryingto play off-breaks outside the line of off-stump inorder to take LBW out of equation against spinningballs and have to use their feet to smother thespinning ball and also use back foot game allow-ing a bit of extra time to adjust to the turn andbounce. In Pink ball D/N Test twilight is the cru-cial period for the batsmen to bat on.

V Nagendra Kumar, HYDERABAD

Ban cola-drinks

Sir, Superstar Amitabh Bachchan once disclosed at IIM Ahmadabad about hisnot advertising for cola-drinks after a school-student at Jaipur drew his attentionabout harmful ingredients in cola-drinks. Even cola-companies voluntarilystopped selling cola-drinks in schools worldwide in view of increasing obe-sity in children. The Indian government should not only ban advertisementsbut even sale of cola-drinks in the country. Earlier also, soft-drink manufac-turers were asked to remove an oil from their products which was found tobe harmful for health. It is noteworthy that cola-drinks are prohibited evenin Parliamentary canteens. It is time that Union government, Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute (IARI) and soft-drink manufacturers should revive drinkslike old and famous rose-flavoured ones, which can not only replace cola-drinks in India but even dominate global markets by breaking the monopolyof harmful cola-drinks in tune with ambitious - Make in India - concept of PrimeMinister Modi. It will rather earn foreign exchange for the country rather thanIndian money being drained out to multinational cola-manufacturers. It maybe recalled that almost half-a-century back, a famous rose-drink manufacturedby a famous private confectionary company registered at Gwalior was a pop-ular drink for persons of all ages.

Madhu Agrawal, DELHI

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cmyk

Mathom

This word is hardly new, since it was used by JRR Tolkien at the beginningof the first volume of the Lord of the Rings, published in 1954. As with so

many unfamiliar words in his works, he derived it from Old English, in thiscase the one usually written maðm, “a precious thing, treasure, valuablegift,” that was current in about the year 1000. Following Tolkien, it has gainedsignificant currency online and in a few printed sources. To define themodern meaning, one may quote Professor Tolkien’s own words: “Anythingthat Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away,they called a mathom. Their dwellings were apt to become rather crowdedwith mathoms, and many of the presents that passed from hand to handwere of that sort.” It’s a useful little word for which there seems no simplealternative and now that we have come across it, mathom will no doubtbecome part of our family’s standard vocabulary, since we have an attic fullof the stuff.

Mattoid

The definition given this word by its inventor, the nineteenth-centuryItalian criminologist Cesare Lombroso was “semi-insane”. He believed

that criminality was inherited and that a criminal was born with physicaldefects identifying him as a degenerate human being, an atavism. Hecreated mattoid from the Italian matto, insane, plus the ending -oid for somelikeness or resemblance (from Greek eidos, form). He used it for whatpsychiatrists call “borderline dwellers,” those who exist on the marginsbetween reason and madness — in everyday speech we might call themcranks, eccentrics, or misfits. The word came into English in 1891 through atranslation of his work Man of Genius and became popular for a while. HGWells used it in several of his books, most notably in Mankind in the Makingof 1903, in which he derides the theories of Lombroso and the Victorianphrenologists: “Among such theorists none at present are in quite suchurgent need of polemical suppression as those who would persuade theheedless general reader that every social failure is necessarily a‘degenerate,’ and who claim boldly that they can trace a distinctly evil andmischievous strain in that unfortunate miscellany which constitutes ‘thecriminal class’... These mattoid scientists make a direct and disastrousattack upon the latent self-respect of criminals.”

FISCAL DEFICIT CHALLENGE

Digital language & relationship in workspace

LPG cylinder price has shot up by Rs 100 within a month, touching Rs845 in the East Zone, with the last hike of Rs 25 taking effect on March1. This increase, if considered from December 2020 has been to the tune

of Rs 225. This has been one of the steepest increases in any essential com-modity that virtually touches the very existence of every family. Those whocare to remember will remember that many households in this countrywere used to depending on different kinds of cooking fuel earlier. From coaland wood to dried cow dung, Indian homes had a variety of sources of fuelfor their kitchens. This government went on an overdrive with its PradhanMantri Ujjwala Scheme prior to the 2019 general elections. Billboards andtelevision promos, meant to promote this scheme, projected the multiple illeffects of conventional fuels on the health of women in the kitchens. Thedrive to draw in households of every economic bracket into this scheme wasa great success and it also resulted in a thumping electoral victory for theparty in power. In retrospect, this scheme became the flag bearer of allother schemes of the time. Pictures of a Moslem woman accepting a cylin-der from the Prime Minister was plastered across the country. There is nodoubt the older fuels used earlier were, indeed, damaging the health ofwomen cooking at home. That part of the publicity blitz cannot be faulted.However, the convenience and cleanliness of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)was too attractive to pass up. Although the subsequent cylinders had to bepaid for, most families retained the connections because they did not haveto gather wood or source coal on a daily basis.

The criticism at that time was that the government’s huge spend on build-ing up an imported source of conventional energy was unjustified. Thecritics had said the same energy and resources should have been utilized forpromoting indigenous and renewable energy sources that households couldacquire at reasonable costs. Most of us had ignored this point of view sinceall of us use LPG for cooking at home. On hindsight, the critics sound real-istic. The scheme had successfully mopped up the poorest of families whowould be the hardest hit today with the current price surge. Convenienceof LPG has also made people incapable of sourcing their old energy elements.Also, overdependence on these imported conventional fuels is a major rea-son for the increase in prices. While the world was going green, theGovernment of India was consciously encouraging further dependence onconventional energy sources.

The hike in prices is not limited to cooking gas alone. Costs of petrol anddiesel have skyrocketed in the recent past. Government spokespersonsclaim that these fuels are being heavily taxed because the coffers need re-filling. Now, why have the coffers been emptied? The citizen is being toldthe coffers became empty since government had to invest heavily to reen-ergize industries and the market which have been badly affected by theCoronavirus lockdowns. There is probably no individual citizen of this coun-try, be it a student, self employed person, entrepreneur or even a retired em-ployee or a factory worker who can claim to have received a single rupeeout of the billions spent as impetus funds. The multiple announcements ofmind boggling amounts getting injected into the nation’s economy seem tobe like the morning mist. When the light of reality rose, every pie seemsto have vanished.

According to some political observers, the government may play smartand decrease prices of fuel and cooking gas just before the state electionsthat are to take place next month. They also forecast that the lowering of priceswill be for a short while and increase will re-start once polling is complete.Bihar can be considered as déjà vu for this school of thinking.

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cmyk

JAMMU &KASHMIR

TUESDAY | MARCH 2 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARP7 TA

MIL

NAD

UAGENCIES

Kanyakumari (TN), March 1:Tamil Nadu should show the wayto India in keeping away forces thatare inimical to language and cultureand those projecting “one culture,one nation and one history” concept,Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saidMonday.

The Lok Sabha MP participatedin multiple engagements in thisdistrict as part of his three-daytour of Tamil Nadu, ahead of theApril 6 Assembly polls in the statewhich his party is facing in alliancewith the MK Stalin-led DMK.

If he were to interview PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, Gandhisaid he would ask “why are youconvinced that all answers shouldcome from you.”

He also said the NEET, stronglyopposed to by Tamil Nadu politicalparties, was a "big issue" and "notbeneficial" for students.

The Wayanad MP displayed his

fitness when he effortlessly didmultiple pushups, including one-handed, while he shook a leg withthe students he interacted with, asaccompanying Congress leadersDinesh Gundu Rao and KS Alagirijoined him.

At a public address in Nagercoilin the district, Gandhi said historyhas shown nobody can rule TamilNadu other than the Tamil people.

“This election will show the samething that only a person who truly

represents the Tamil people can bea Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,”he said.

“Tamil Nadu chief minister (KPalaniswami) who bows to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi will neverbe able to do this. The chief ministershould bow to the people of thestate,” he said.

The RSS and Modi “insult Tamillanguage and culture,” he said,adding the people should not toallow them to gain a foothold in

the state. Gandhi further said “Moditalks about one culture, one nation,one history and one leader.”

“Is Tamil not an Indian language?Is Bengali not an Indian language?Is Tamil culture not Indian cul-ture? This is the battle that is beingfought in this election,” he said asthe crowd cheered.

He accused the BJP-led govern-ment at the Centre as well as thePalaniswami government of notrespecting Tamil language, culture

or tradition. Recalling the yeomanservice of late Congress MP HVasantha Kumar, Gandhi said he al-ways stood by the party values. Helaid a wreath at Kumar's memorialat Kanyakumari.

During his interaction with stu-dents of St. Joseph's Matric HigherSecondary School, Mulagumoodu inthe district, he said NEET is a 'big'issue in the state. "NEET is a big issuehere. It is stopping many young-sters from pursuing their dreams.It is not beneficial," he claimed.

Asked why youngsters don't wantto make politics a career, Gandhisaid it could be so because "there aresome politicians who steal from peo-ple." "There are good political lead-ers who work for the people, try tounderstand people and empowerthem. Draw inspiration from suchleaders who help people," he said.Asked what he would ask PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, if he wereto interview him, he shot back, "youhave asked me a tricky question,"evoking laughter from the audience.

"I would ask, why are you con-vinced that all answers should comefrom you. Why don't you listen towhat the people of the country feelor want to say," he said.

Later, at a roadshow, he lashed outat the Centre over demonetisationand Goods and Services Tax (GST),saying they "destroyed" many smalland medium businesses.

"The new farm laws are goingto destroy the lives of our farm-ers," he said.

TN should show the way in keeping out BJP: Rahul

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Jammu, March 1: The recoveryof ‘sticky bombs’ from Samba sec-tor in this region last month hasset alarm bells ringing within the se-curity establishment in Jammu andKashmir as this indicates initiationof a new phase of terrorism in theunion territory, officials said Monday.

The BSF had recovered thebombs dropped by a drone alongthe international border in theSamba sector of Jammu regionFebruary 14, putting security agen-cies on high alert with an as-sumption that some of the IEDscould have already found theirway to the Kashmir valley, the of-ficials said.

According to the officials, thedrone-dropped consignment hadsix pistols and 14 ImprovisedExplosive Devices (IEDs) with in-built magnets, which could be usedas 'sticky bombs' by sticking themon vehicles and controlling themusing a timer and a remotely-helddevice.

The consignment was meant forThe Resistance Force (TRF), be-lieved to be a shadow outfit ofbanned Lashker-e-Taiba terrorgroup, they said.

This definitely was the first suchrecovery of 'sticky bombs' whichhave found much use in Afghanistanand Iraq. In India, it was used bysuspected Iranian terrorists inFebruary 2012 by sticking a bombon the car of an Israeli diplomat re-sulting in injury to his wife.

The recovery is a cause of con-cern in Kashmir and the standardoperating procedures for the move-ment of security forces' convoysneed to be revised to eliminatethis kind of a threat, a senior of-ficial said.

The development comes twoyears after a Jaish-e-Mohammed ter-rorist carried out a sensational at-tack when he rammed an explo-sive-laden vehicle into a buscarrying security forces that left 40CRPF personnel dead in 2019.

In response, India had carried out

an air strike on terror camps locatedacross the border.

Sticky bombs, which were alsoused by the British forces duringWorld War II, can be put on any ve-hicle and detonated through a re-mote control or an in-built timer,the officials said.

This is yet another significant re-covery after security forces hadfound three Point Detonating (PD)fuzes, used by the Pakistani armyin their 82 mm mortar shells, froma terrorist in North Kashmir.

The three PDs were recovered bythe Baramulla Police on the eve ofNew Year when the force inter-cepted a vehicle. Unaware of the ma-terial recovered, the police had de-clared it "unique grenade" whichwas later found to be the PD, usedby the Pakistani army for the 82 MMmortar shells, they said.

The PD could be used duringthe fabrication (manufacture) ofan Improvised Explosive Device(IED) to increase its impact. It helpsin super-quick detonation of ex-plosives or at times can delay theimpact mode for a bigger damage,the officials said.

The December seizure of PDswas also meant for the TRF groupand one terrorist, identified as AsifGul, was arrested.

‘Sticky bombs’ indicate new phase of terrorism

ALARMINGSITUATION

STICKY BOMBS, WHICH WEREALSO USED BY THE BRITISH

FORCES DURING WORLD WAR II,CAN BE PUT ON ANY VEHICLEAND DETONATED THROUGH AREMOTE CONTROL OR AN IN-BUILT TIMER

THE EXPLOSIVES HAVEFOUND MUCH USE IN

AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ. ININDIA, SUSPECTED IRANIANTERRORISTS IN FEBRUARY 2012 STUCK A BOMB ON THECAR OF AN ISRAELI DIPLOMATRESULTING IN INJURY TO HIS WIFE

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Chennai, March 1: The rulingAIADMK which is aiming to re-tain Tamil Nadu in the Assemblyelections on April 6, is playing allthe cards up its sleeve.

The AIADMK-led governmenthad signed an order providing 10 per-cent reservation under extremebackward class category to theVanniyar community following therecommendation from PattaliMakkal Katchi (PMK), the politicalarm of the Vanniyyars, half anhour before the election notificationwas announced by the ChiefElection Commissioner in NewDelhi. This is significant as theVanniyar community and its po-litical party, PMK is highly cadrebased and generally vote in totalityfor the party or front it supports.

In the 2016 assembly elections,the PMK had contested alone and hadgarnered close to 25 percent votes inconstituencies of North Tamil Naduwhere it has a sizeable presence.This includes Edappadi, the homeconstituency of Chief MinisterEdappady K Palaniswami. The PMKgot 5.3% votes in total across thestate in the 2016 elections.

In the by-elections held in 22 as-sembly constituencies along withthe 2019 general elections, theAIADMK and specifically ChiefMinister Edappady Palaniswamiwere fighting with their back tothe wall and had to win at least 9seats to retain power. While the

AIADMK faced a drubbing in theLok Sabha polls with the DMK win-ning 38 out of the 39 seats, in the by-elections the party could win 9 seatsand retain power. Palaniswami hadowed this success to the PMK andthe Vanniyar community.

In addition to its traditionalvoter base of North Tamil Nadu, theVanniyar community has strongpresence in certain places inWestern Tamil Nadu includingSalem district.

In Tamil Nadu politics, NorthernTamil Nadu has a strong presenceof DMK and if the AIADMK wantsto upset that equation it will haveto have a proper political alliancewith the PMK and the Vanniyarcommunity.

Political observer C Rajeev fromthe Centre for Policy andDevelopment Studies, a Think Tankbased in Chennai, told IANS that"AIADMK is forced to have an al-liance with the PMK and theVanniyars and this community hasa track record of properly trans-ferring its votes to the party withwhich it is in alliance and hence theEdappady Palaniswami govern-ment has extended 10% reserva-tion to the community as ExtremelyBackward which will help them tobe included under Special reser-vation category". He added thatwith the solid alliance with thePMK and the Vanniyars, theAIADMK front has gone one stepahead in several constituencies ofNorthern and Western Tamil Nadu.

AIADMK banks on Vanniyarcommunity to romp home

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Chennai, March 1: The BJP inTamil Nadu Monday asserted thatseat-sharing talks with lead alliancepartner AIADMK for the April 6 as-sembly elections were not 'drag-ging' and their aim was to ensurethe victory of the combine.

State BJP President L Muruganrefused to divulge how many seatsthe party has sought from AIADMKand said a clarity on seat alloca-tion might emerge in a day or two.

He, however, maintained the BJPreturn MLAs in "double digit" in theelections to the 234-member as-sembly, to be held in a single phase.

"Our aim is to ensure theAIADMK-led NDA should come topower. For that BJP's Tamil Naduworkers will work hard," he toldreporters here, a day after seniorleader and Union Home MinisterAmit Shah held parleys withAIADMK top leaders, Chief MinisterK Palaniswami and his deputy OPanneerselvam on seat sharing.

Asked if seat-sharing was firmed

up during the late night talks onSunday, he shot back asking "whosaid so? Yesterday, only talks wereheld," he said. Murugan denied thetalks were 'dragging'.

When reporters sought to knowhow many seats the party has soughtfrom the AIADMK, Murugan

merely said "our MLAs will be intwo digits... I have been saying thisfor the last many days," he added.

On the possible merger ofAIADMK and TTV Dhinakaran-ledAmma Makkal Munntera Kazhagamin the wake of release of his auntVK Sasikala from prison after serv-ing a four-year term in an assetscase, Murugan said it has to be de-cided by the two respective parties.

He replied in the negative, whena scribe asked if the daily hike ofpetroleum products will affect theparty's poll prospects, saying therates are not permanent and theymight come down.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his election campaign for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, at ChurchRoad in Kanyakumari district, Monday. PTI PHOTO

Modi talks aboutone culture, onenation, onehistory and one

leader...Is Tamil not an Indianlanguage? Is Bengali not anIndian language? Is Tamilculture not Indian culture?This is the battle that is beingfought in this electionRAHUL GANDHI I CONGRESS LEADER

‘VALLEY PEACEFUL AS PEOPLE WANT IT TO BE SO’PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Srinagar, March 1: The past yearhas been one of the most peacefulin Kashmir with all parameters ofviolence on a decline as people wantit to be so, a top army officer saidMonday, rejecting suggestions thatthe COVID-19 pandemic has led tothe ‘quiet’ situation.

General Officer Commanding(GoC) of the Srinagar-based XVCorps, Lt Gen BS Raju also saidthe ceasefire agreement on the LoCwith Pakistan is a conscious call byboth the countries and the task athand is to make it successful.

“The year 2020 has been one ofthe most peaceful times. The situ-ation in the valley remains fairly nor-mal. All the parameters of violence-- be it stone-pelting, agitations or

bandhs -- have shown a dip,” Lt GenRaju told reporters here.

Raju, who will take charge asthe new Director General of MilitaryOperations (DGMO), said whilemany people would want to believethat the situation in the valley was"quiet" due to the COVID pandemic,“it is not (the case)”.

“It is quiet because people wantit to be quiet. If something good ishappening, it is because the peo-ple want it to be,” he said, adding,“We have lots of hopes from theyear 2021”.

Acknowledging that there havebeen isolated incidents, the GoCsaid there were elements who wantto generate violence.

“They get directions from withinand across (the LoC) to attack. Therewas this Krishna Dhaba attack re-

cently. It was only done to convey amessage to the arriving EU dele-gation that the situation is notpeaceful and that things are notnormal. It was terrorism in a clas-sic manner,” he said.

The Army officer was referring tothe February 17 attack on AkashMehra – son of the owner of 'KrishnaDhaba' which is a popular eatery inthe high-security Durganag area.The attack took place on the day a 24-member delegation of envoys had ar-rived on a two-day visit to Jammu andKashmir. Mehra succumbed to in-juries at a hospital here Sunday.

Lt Gen Raju welcomed the reit-eration of the ceasefire agreementbetween India and Pakistan, termingit a positive step and a conscious callby the two nations.

“The ceasefire agreement is a

positive step and a conscious call byboth the countries. The task at handis to make it successful,” he said. He,however, said that infiltration by mil-itants from across the LoC was stilla challenge. “Infiltration is still achallenge, but we are up to it. We will

try to keep things under controland keep the population safe. Wehope the situation along the bor-ders remains calm,” he said.

The GoC of the strategically lo-cated XV Corps added that the cease-fire helps to check infiltration. “Our

ability to check and control infil-tration improves when there is aceasefire,” he said.

Asked as to how the Indian Armywould respond to any ceasefire vi-olation from the Pakistani side, theLt Gen said the Army was not trig-ger happy and would raise the issuethrough a proper mechanism.

“We have an established mech-anism both at the local level as wellas in Delhi.

"Definitely, we will give it thebest shot. We will not be triggerhappy. In case there is some prob-lem, in case there is an incident, wewill tell the other side, we will speakto them,” he said.

He said the ceasefire would haveno major implication in the hin-terland other than by helping checkthe infiltration.

NDA’s seat-sharing talksnot dragging: TN BJP chief

NIA BUSTSNARCO-TERRORRACKET IN JKPRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Srinagar, March 1: The NIAMonday arrested four drug traf-fickers in Kashmir for their al-leged involvement in smugglingheroin in huge quantities fromPakistan and supplying it in Jammuand Kashmir and other parts ofthe country, an official said.

Altaf Ahmed Shah ofGanderbal, Showkat AhmadParray of Bandipora, MudasirAhmad Dar of Shopian and AminAllaie of Anantnag have been ar-rested from Srinagar, he said.

They have been arrested in con-nection with the case pertainingto the seizure of 21 kg heroin andRs 1,35,89,850 cash from the mem-bers of a drug syndicate operatingin Jammu and Kashmir.

The case was registered in Junelast year in Kupwara. During thechecking of vehicles in Kupwara,accused Abdul Momin Peer'sHyundai Creta was interceptedby the police. During a search ofthe vehicle, Rs 20 lakh and two kgheroin were seized. After the NIAtook over the investigation, it fileda charge sheet against the six ac-cused in the special NIA court inJammu in December last year.Besides cross-border smugglingof heroin, the accused were inregular contact with operativesof proscribed terrorist organisa-tions Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) andHizb-ul-Mujahideen through en-crypted chat platforms, the NIA of-ficial said. The proceeds of saleswere being used to finance the ac-tivities of LeT in the KashmirValley, he said.

NEW NORMAL

Students wearingmasks attend a class

after schools resumed for classes

9th to 12th, with COVID-19

safety guidelines, inSrinagar, Monday.

PTI PHOTO

Our aim is to ensurethe AIADMK-ledNDA should come

to power. For that BJP's Tamil Nadu workers will work hardL MURUGAN I TN BJP CHIEF

By taking theindigenouslydeveloped

Covaxin by BharatBiotech, the PrimeMinister haseffectively endedany spread of misinformation and itwould also eliminate hesitancyfrom the minds of people about thevaccine

HARSH VARDHAN | UNION HEALTH MINISTER

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The country'slargest statehad only two

internationalairports earlier –Lucknow andVaranasi. But it willsoon have five internationalairports, including the upcomingones in Jewar, Ayodhya andKushinagar near Gorakhpur

YOGI ADITYANATH | UTTAR PRADESH CHIEF

MINISTER

The Congressgovernmenthas hiked

power tariff by morethan 30 per cent andeven increasedstate share of VATon petroleum productsphenomenally

SUKHBIR BADAL | SHIROMANI AKALI DAL

(SAD) PRESIDENT

Nikita seeksanticipatory bail New Delhi: Mumbai-basedactivist lawyer Nikita Jacobhas moved a Delhi Courtseeking anticipatory bail inthe 'Toolkit' case. The bailplea will come up for hearingbefore Additional SessionsJudge Dharmender Rana onTuesday. Jacob, along withclimate activist Disha Raviand Shantanu Muluk, facecharges of conspiracy andsedition in the 'Toolkit'conspiracy case related tothe farmers' agitation.Jacob's house was raided bythe Delhi Police on February11, after which a non-bailablewarrant was issued againsther. On February 17, theBombay High Court grantedthree weeks transitanticipatory bail to Jacob.

Lalrinenga Sailonew Aizawl mayorAizawl: The 19 newly-electedcouncilors of the AizawlMunicipal Corporation (AMC)were sworn in on Monday.Aizawl district magistrate RLalramnghaka administeredthe oath to the newly electedcouncilors at a function heldat the municipal office.Lalrinenga Sailo, a MizoNational Front (MNF) nomineefrom ward-I, was elected themayor, while ward XIIcouncillor R Thanglura ofMNF was elected the deputymayor. Four councillors --Lalringliana, LaltlanzovaKhiangte, B Lalawmpuii andH Zonunsanga, all from MNF,were nominated as executivecouncillors by the mayor.

13 spas sealed Gurugram: Thirteen spacentres operating in zone-4of the Municipal Corporationof Gurugram (MCG)jurisdiction were sealed by ateam led by the MCG ZonalTaxation Officer Monday.They were allegedly found tobe operating without a validtrade licence, said the MCGofficial. The centres werelocated at the Omex CityCentre mall on Sohna Road.

Elephant dies Udhagamandalam: A 13-year-old male elephant was killedin a fight with another jumboat Nilakottai near Gudalur,about 80 km from here in theNilgiris District. Someworkers noticed twoelephants fighting with eachother in a private tea estateand informed forestdepartment officials whorushed to the spot. Theofficials found the elephantdead with serious injuries allover the body, forestdepartment sources said.

SHORT TAKES

Mansi Sehgal, who won the title of Miss India Delhi 2019,joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Monday. Besides beinga pageant winner, Mansi is a trained engineer, TEDxspeaker and an entrepreneur who has set up her ownstartup. While giving her introduction at the Miss India Delhicompetition, she revealed herself to be a philanthropistand showed a keen interest in organ donation

BEAUTY PAGEANT WINNER MANSI SEHGAL JOINS AAPThe BJP makestall promises

before electionsbut during the next fiveyears, they do nothingto fulfil them andpeople have realised itPRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA |CONGRESS GENERAL SECRETARY

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, March 1: The SupremeCourt Monday asked a 23-year-oldman, who has been accused of rap-ing a minor girl, whether he willmarry the victim.

A bench headed by Chief JusticeS.A. Bobde and comprising JusticesA.S. Bopanna and V.Ramasubramanian asked advocateAnand Dilip Langde, representingthe petitioner, "Will you marry her?"

To this, Langde replied that hewould need to take instructionsfrom his client and asked for a passover, but the court was not inclinedto it. During the course of the ar-guments, Langde submitted before

the bench that his client is a gov-ernment servant, and he will facesuspension due to his arrest in thematter.

The Chief Justice replied: "Youshould have thought before seduc-ing and raping the young girl."

He added that being a govern-ment servant, the petitioner shouldhave thought about the conse-quences.

However, the Chief Justicestressed that the court is not forc-ing the petitioner to marry the girl."We are not forcing you to marry, oth-erwise you will say we are forcingyou to marry," the bench observed.

After a brief hearing in the mat-ter, the bench declined to entertain

the petitioner's plea seeking bailand gave him the liberty to seekregular bail. The top court alsogranted protection from arrest to the

petitioner for four weeks.The girl had alleged that when

she was 16 years old, the petitioner,who was her distant relative, had

raped her. The girl alleged that ini-tially the petitioner's mother hadagreed for the marriage after sheturns major and also executed anotarised undertaking for it. But thepetitioner's mother later refused, she

alleged. On February 5, the BombayHigh Court had allowed the girl's ap-plication, cancelling the anticipatorybail granted to the petitioner.Challenging this order, the peti-tioner had moved the top court.

"The petitioner's advocate in-formed the top court that his clientwas already married. It is furtheralleged that after the execution ofthe notarised undertaking June 2,2018, when the informant turned 18,her mother requested the mother ofthe petitioner to perform the saidpromised marriage, but she refusedthe same and therefore the in-formant lodged the present com-plaint against the petitioner," saidthe petitioner's plea.

SC asks rape accused if he is willing to marry victim

TOGETHER IN JOY

Ducks swim in a pond after reopening of Naxatra Van in Ranchi UNI PHOTO

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, March 1: While ex-amining the issue of consent forsexual relationship between acouple living together, the SupremeCourt Monday queried whethersexual intercourse between themcan be termed as rape.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice SA Bobde and compris-ing Justices AS Bopanna and VRamasubramanian said: “If acouple is living together as manand wife the husband may bebrutal, but could the sexual in-tercourse between the couple,who are living together, can betermed as rape?”

The observations from the topcourt came while hearing a pleaof a person accused of rape bya woman, who had been in a live-in relationship with him for overtwo years. The woman had filedan FIR for rape after the manmarried another woman.

According to the complainant,who was represented by advo-

cate Aditya Vashisth, the cou-ple was in a romantic relation-ship, but she had clearly refusedgetting into a sexual intimacybefore marriage. Vashisth ar-gued that his client's consentwas obtained by fraud.

In 2019, the Allahabad HighCourt had declined to entertaina plea by the petitioner to quashthe FIR against him. The peti-tioner, through advocate FuzailAhmad Ayyubi, moved the topcourt challenging this order. Thewoman's counsel highlightedthat the petitioner had also beatenup his client when they were liv-ing together and emphasisedconsent for the sexual act was ob-tained by fraud, after she wasmade to believe that the mar-riage was real.

The bench observed, "No oneshould falsely promise marriageand break off. But that is differ-ent from saying the act of sexualintercourse is rape." The benchnoted that it had settled this mat-ter in its earlier verdicts.

SC: Can intercoursebetween a live-incouple be called rape?

AGENCIES

New Delhi, March 1: Protestingfarmer leaders in the vulnerable agegroup Monday said they are notafraid of coronavirus and won'ttake vaccine jabs, even as the sec-ond phase of vaccination drive gotunderway to inoculate senior citi-zens and those above 45 with un-derlying medical conditions.

However, they also said they willnot stop any farmer camping at sev-eral Delhi borders from getting vac-cinated as it is an individual choice.

Thousands of farmers, mostlyfrom Punjab, Haryana and west-ern Uttar Pradesh, have been camp-ing at three Delhi border points --Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- forover three months, demanding arepeal of the three agri reformlaws enacted by the Centre inSeptember last year.

The 80-year-old armer leader

Balbir Singh Rajewal, a seniormember of the Samyukta KisanMorcha which is spearheading theagitation, said he will not go to vac-cination centres to receive the jabs.

"I don't need vaccine jabs. Wehave killed corona. Farmers' im-munity level is strong because theywork hard on their fields. Farmersare not afraid of coronavirus,”Rajewal told PTI. Another seniorleader Joginder Singh Ugrahan(75) said the fear of contracting thedisease is "not enough" to distractthem from their fight.

"There is no corona for farmers.I will not get vaccine shots, but we willnot ask anyone to not get the shot,"said the president of Bharatiya KisanUnion (Ekta Ugrahan), which is lead-ing the protest at Delhi's Tikri bor-der. However, Dharmendra Malik,the media in-charge of BharatiyaKisan Union leader Rakesh Tikaitwho is leading the protest at the

Ghazipur border, said if the localadministration makes arrangementsfor protesting farmers, Tikait will nothave any problem getting vaccinated.

The 70-year-old Kulwant SinghSandhu, a member of SamyuktaKisan Morcha, said he will not re-ceive the vaccine shot. "We are notafraid of coronavirus. Thousandsof farmers are staging sit-in protestsat Delhi borders, but not a single caseof coronavirus has been detectedthere," Sandhu said.

NOT AFRAID OF COVID-19, WON’TTAKE JABS: FARMER LEADERS

Tejashwi tells Biharisto vote for Mamata

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Patna, March 1: TMC supremoMamata Banerjee and RJD leaderTejashwi Yadav Monday discussedthe evolving political scenario in poll-bound West Bengal but there wasno clarity yet about seat sharing.

Emerging from a meeting withBanerjee, Tejashwi, the Leader ofthe Opposition in the Bihar as-sembly, saidhis first pri-ority was toprevent theBJP's forwardmarch inWest Bengal.

He ap-pealed toBiharis domi-ciled in thestate to rally behind the West Bengalchief minister in the elections.

He parried questions by jour-nalists after the meeting at thestate secretariat about whether theRJD will be contesting a few seatsin West Bengal in alliance withthe ruling TMC, merely saying"when Mamataji is fighting, it is wewho are fighting. We will put inall efforts to ensure that she wins.Our full support is with her and herparty."Tejashwi urged the peoplefrom Bihar living in West Bengal

to stand with the ruling TMC,which is facing a stiff challengefrom the BJP in its bid for a thirdstraight term in office. Banerjee, onher part, referred to Lalu Prasad,the jailed RJD supremo andTejashwi's father, as a "father fig-ure" to her with whom she shared"mutual respect".

She claimed Prasad, in jail fol-lowing his conviction in fodder

scam cases,was "delib-erately" heldbehind barsas his free-dom wouldhave meantdefeat for hisrivals inBihar, whereassembly

elections were held late last year.She asserted the NDA governmentin Bihar will not last long and thatthe BJP's "dream" of clinchingpower in West Bengal will not cometrue. The Left Front and theCongress have forged an alliancein West Bengal, while they arevying for power in Kerala.

Tejashwi Yadav criticised theCentre for "selling off" public sec-tor undertakings, including therailways and enterprises in the oiland steel sectors.

CICSE announcesboard exams: Class10 exams from May 5PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, March 1: The Councilfor the Indian School CertificateExaminations (CICSE) will conductboard exams for classes 10 and 12from May 5 and April 8 respec-tively, officials said Monday.

"The Indian Certificate ofSecondary Education (ICSE), whichis class 10 exam, will be conductedfrom May 5 to June 7. The IndianSchool Certificate Examination(ISC), which is class 12 exam, willbe conducted from April 8 to June16," said Gerry Arathoon, theCICSE Chief Executive andSecretary.

The board said the class 12 examswill begin on April 8 with ComputerScience (Practical)-PlanningSession, which will be a 90-minutespaper, instead of three hours sched-uled for other subjects startingApril 9. "The results will be issuedthrough the convenors to the headsof schools by July• The resultswill not be available from office ofcouncil in New Delhi and no querieswill be entertained from candi-dates, parents or guardians,"Arathoon added.

Usually, the CICSE board examsare conducted in February-March.However, the exams have been de-layed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Central boardof Secondary Education (CBSE),which conducts board examsaround the same time every year,has also deferred its exams toMay-June this year.

Last year, the CICSE had to can-cel its pending exams because ofthe spike in COVID-19 cases andthe result was declared on thebasis of an alternative assessmentscheme decided by the board.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, March 1: Union min-ister Jitendra Singh Monday dis-cussed with Brazilian Science,Technology and Innovation min-ister Marcos Pontes ways to fur-ther explore space cooperationbetween the two countries, in-cluding India's support in pro-curement of material and sys-tems for Brazil's launch vehicleprogramme, a statement said.

Cooperation possibilities in fu-ture space science missions, utilisingISRO's PS4 orbital platform, spaceweather studies were also discussedin the virtual meeting, it added.

The meeting took place a dayafter the successful launch ofAmazonia-1 satellite of Brazil byIndian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) on Sunday.

"The collaboration between thetwo countries mark a beginningof robust bonding and is a rolemodel for other countries to follow,"Singh said, adding that the launchalso marked the first dedicatedmission of ISRO's commercialarm NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL).

"Brazil has also requested forIndia's support in procurementof material and systems for itslaunch vehicle programme," thestatement said.

Since early 2000s, India andBrazil have signed cooperative in-struments for exploration andpeaceful uses of outer space, bothat the government level (2004) and space agency level (betweenISRO and Brazilian Space Agency AEB in 2002).

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, March 1: Day tem-peratures are likely to be abovenormal in north, northeast, partsof east and west India, the IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD)said Monday in its summer forecastfor March to May.

However, it has forecast a likeli-hood of below normal tempera-tures in south and adjoining centralIndia. "During the upcoming hotweather season (March to May),above normal seasonal maximum(day) temperatures are likely overmost of the subdivisions of north,northwest and northeast India, fewsubdivisions from eastern and west-ern parts of central India and fewcoastal subdivisions of north penin-

sular India," the forecast said.There is a probability forecast for

above maximum temperatures inChhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat,coastal Maharashtra, Goa andcoastal Andhra Pradesh.

"However, below normal sea-sonal maximum temperatures arelikely over most of the subdivi-

sions of south peninsula and ad-joining central India," it added.

It said above normal seasonalminimum (night) temperatures arelikely over most of the of northIndia along the foot hills ofHimalayas, northeast India, west-ern part of central India and south-ern part of peninsular India.

"However, below normal seasonminimum temperatures are likelyover most of the subdivisions ofeastern part of the central India andfew subdivisions of extreme north-ern part of the country," the IMDadded. The IMD added that moderateLa Niña conditions are prevailingover the equatorial Pacific and seasurface temperatures (SSTs) arebelow normal over the central andeastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

THE WEST BENGAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION WILL BEHELD IN 8 PHASES FROM MARCH 27 TO APRIL 29

RACE IN SPACE

BRAZIL SEEKSINDIA’S SUPPORT

The girl lodged an FIRagainst the petitioner in2019 under Sections 376,417, 506 of the IPC andunder various sections ofthe Protection ofChildren from SexualOffences Act, 2012

Above normal summer templikely across country: IMD

Govt’s silence hintsat plan againstfarmers’ stir: TikaitBIJNOR: BKU leader Rakesh Tikaithas claimed that the Centre's"silence" for the past few days indi-cates that it is planning some stepsagainst the farmers' agitation overnewly enacted agriculture laws. Healso stressed that it is the govern-ment that will have to come forwardwith a proposal for talks to resumewith the protesting farmers. Beforeleaving for Uttarakhand's UdhamSingh Nagar on Sunday night, theBharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leadertold reporters in Bijnor's Afzalgarh,"The government's silence for thepast 15-20 days is indicating thatsomething is going to happen. Thegovernment is planning some stepsagainst the agitation."

FILE PHOTO

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Good conversation withFM of Madagascar@Tehindrazanari1. Informedhim that Indian humanitarianassistance would be delivered inthe coming days. Will includefood & medical suppliesS JAISHANKAR | EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER

Former head of the News Services Division ofAll India Radio, Jaideep Bhatnagar, Mondaytook over as Principal Director General of thePress Information Bureau. He will take overfrom Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia, whosuperannuated February 28, 2021

JAIDEEP BHATNAGAR TAKES OVER ASPRINCIPAL DIRECTOR GENERAL OF PIB

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The massivepower outagein Mumbai in

October last yearwas caused by acyber attack and itwas an act ofsabotage

NITIN RAUT | MAHA ENERGY MINISTER

of theday uote

In comparisonto otherstates, Gujarat

was able to controlthe spread of thecoronavirus in amuch better way

ACHARYA DEVVRAT | GUJARAT GOVERNOR

Oppositionshould notmisguide

farmers (on farmlaws)

PIYUSH GOYAL |RAILWAYS MINISTER

JeM associateheld in PulwamaSrinagar: Security forcesMonday arrested a terroristassociate of proscribed outfitJaish-e-Mohammad fromPulwama district of Jammuand Kashmir, police said."Based on specificinformation regarding thepresence of terrorists of JeMin Larow Jagir village in Tralarea (of Pulwama), policealong with 42 Rashtriya Riflesand 180 Bn CRPF launched asearch operation there.During the search, a terroristassociate identified asMuzamil Qadir Bhat wasarrested," a policespokesperson said.

Wild elephantsdestroy crops Koderma: A herd of wildelephants destroyedstanding crops in severalvillages in Jharkhand'sKoderma district, ForestDepartment officials said.The herd of wild elephantsdestroyed standing crops inseveral villages includingKharpoka under Jayanagarblock in the border area ofHazaribagh and Kodermadistrict in the last two days,the officials said. The Forestdepartment is assessing thedamaged caused to thecrops by the elephants,they said.

Fire in residentialbuilding, mill Surat: Fires broke out in aresidential building and atextile mill in a span of lessthan 24 hours in Gujarat'sSurat city, leaving twofiremen injured, officialssaid Monday. An electricmeter board on the groundfloor of the five-storeyresidential building inSagrampura locality caughtfire due to a short-circuitaround Monday noonfollowing which smokespread to its upper floors,causing panic amongresidents.

SHORT TAKES

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, March 1: To counterexpansionist China's habit of creep-ing forward by making small in-cremental moves, the Indian Armyhas planned mountaineering ex-peditions and research studies athigh-altitude areas in the north-ern borders of the country.

The Army is also coming up witha skiing expedition -- ARMEX-21 --covering the distance from theKarakoram Pass to Lipulekh Pass.It will cover areas of Ladakh,Himachal Pradesh, Garhwal andKumaon sectors. The skiing expe-dition will also be carried out at

the high-altitude areas in Jammuand Kashmir.

"Army, civilians and foreign per-sons will also take part in variousupcoming skiing expeditions," saida senior Indian Army officer.

The Army planned the skiingexpedition after India and Chinaagreed for disengagement at thedisputed Pangong Lake in easternLadakh. India and China are en-gaged in a 10-month-long standoffalong the Line of Actual Control(LAC). The confrontations beganon the north bank of Pangong Lake,both in the waters and on the banksas Chinese incursions increased

in early May last year.About the 'salami-slicing' tactics

of China, Indian Army ChiefGeneral Manoj Mukund Naravanehad on 24 had stated that Chinahas the habit of creeping forwardby making very small incremen-tal moves to achieve its objective butthis strategy will not work withIndia.

General Naravane, while speak-ing in a webinar organised by the

Vivekananda Inter nationalFoundation, had said, "China is inthe habit of creeping forward bymaking very small incrementalchanges wherein each change by it-self is not very big or worthy of avery strong reaction. Because ofthe very small incremental moves,which were never contested, Chinahas been able to achieve its aimswithout firing a shot or sans any lossof life."

He had also cited China's ex-pansionist strategy in the SouthChina Sea and asserted that Indiawill not allow this to happen.

Referring to India's resolve inLadakh, he said, "I think more thananything else, what we have achievedis to show that this strategy willnot work with us and every movewill be met resolutely."

Despite the initial disengage-ment, the Army Chief had soundeda warning while dealing with Chinaciting trust deficit.

"In whatever we are doing, wealso keep in mind that we have tobe wary. We will be very cautious andI mentioned in my talk also thatthere is a trust deficit. Unless thattrust deficit is removed, we will ofcourse continue to be very waryand watch whatever movement hap-pens on either side of the LAC. ButI think at the end of day, we haveachieved a lot," the Indian Armychief had said.

High-altitude expeditions to keep an eye on ChinaThose taking part in the skiing expeditionwill negotiate forbidding mountain ridges,

glaciers and multiple passes ranging from aheight of 14,000 feet to 19,000 feet

Flash droughts setto increase in IndiaEXTREME HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS THAT LEAD TO FLASH DROUGHTS

CAN OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, March 1: Climatechange will increase the fre-quency of flash droughts in Indiain the future, which will have anegative impact on crop pro-duction, irrigation demands, andgroundwater abstraction, says astudy by researchers at IndianInstitute of Technology (IIT)Gandhinagar.

According to the researchers,flash droughts occur due to rapiddepletion of soil moisture.

In contrast to the conventionaldroughts, they said, flash droughtscan impact a large region withintwo-three weeks, severely af-fecting crop health and irriga-tion water demands.

However, the occurrence andimpacts of flash droughts in thecurrent and future climate inIndia are not well known.

The study, published in thejour nal npj Climate andAtmospheric Science, examinedthe role of human-caused cli-mate warming and intra-sea-

sonal variability during the sum-mer monsoon season on the flashdrought occurrence over India.

The researchers used soil mois-ture simulations, observationsfrom India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD), and climateprojections to examine the fre-quency of flash droughts in thecountry under the observed andfuture climate scenarios.

The team noted that the worstflash drought in the observedtimeframe from 1951–2016 oc-curred in 1979, when more than40 per cent of the country was af-fected.

The frequency of concurrenthot and dry extremes, the re-searchers explained, is projectedto rise by about five-fold, causingapproximately seven-fold increasein flash droughts like 1979 by theend of the 21st century.

The researchers -- includingSaran Aadhar and ShantiShwarup Mahto -- both from IITGandhinagar, noted that Indiais projected to witness extreme cli-matic conditions in the future.

Hackers hit SBIusers with textphishing scamINDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, March 1: Severalusers of the State Bank of India(SBI) have been targeted with aphishing scam where hackershave flooded them with suspicioustext messages, requesting themto redeem their SBI credit pointsworth Rs 9,870.

The link associated with thetext messages redirects the userto a fake website and on the land-ing page, the user is asked to sub-mit personal information alongwith sensitive financial detailslike card number, expiry date,CVV and Mpin in a 'State Bank ofIndia Fill Your Details' form.

According to the investigationby New Delhi-based think tankCyberPeace Foundation along withAutobot Infosec Private Ltd, thewebsite collects data directly with-out any verification and is regis-tered by a third party instead of hav-ing the registrant organisationname of State Bank of India, mak-ing it all the more suspicious.

"Moreover, according to SBI,

they never communicate with theircustomers via SMS or emails con-taining links with regard to theuser's account. Any reputed bank-ing entity also does not useWordpress like CMS technologieson their official website for secu-rity reasons," the foundation said.The personal information soughton the malicious website is name,registered mobile number, email,email password and date of birth.After the form is submitted, the useris directed to a "thank you" page.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Chandigarh, March 1: PunjabChief Minister Amarinder SinghMonday said poll strategist PrashantKishor has joined him as his prin-cipal advisor.

“Happy to share that@PrashantKishor has joined me asmy Principal Advisor. Look for-ward to working together for the bet-terment of the people of Punjab!,”said Amarinder Singh in a tweet.The development assumes signif-icance as the Punjab Assemblyelections are due early next year.

Currently, Kishor's company,Indian Political Action Committee(I-PAC), is assisting MamataBanerjee's Trinamool Congress(TMC) in the West Bengal elec-tions.

Kishor had handled the Congresspoll campaign in the 2017 PunjabAssembly elections. The Congressin 2017 had stormed to power by bag-

ging 77 seats in the 117-memberassembly. Kishor was the brain be-hind Punjab Congress programmeslike “Coffee with Captain” and“Punjab Da Captain” to drum upsupport for the party.

Last year, the Punjab CM hadsaid Kishor told him that he wouldbe "quite happy" in handling theelection campaign of the Congressin Punjab for the 2022 Assemblypolls. His claims had come amidmedia reports that Kishor had saidno to handling the party's cam-paign in the state.

Prashant Kishor joins PunjabChief Minister as key advisor

Police baton charge a protestor during the Vidhan Sabha march, organised by the mebers of Inqilab Naujawan Sabha& All India Students Association (AISA), against the state government on the issues of education and health, in Patna

PROTEST TURNS UGLY

PTI PHOTO

BSF ADOPTS NEWTRAINING REGIMEINDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, March 1: Amid the on-going ter rorist influx fromPakistan along the InternationalBorder (IB), the BSF, India's firstline of control, has changed itscommando training module.

The Border Security Force(BSF) has adopted a new train-ing regime as Pakistan's pre-mier intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) hasnow started sending terroriststhrough the IB in the Jammuand Rajasthan sectors.

It is happening after the IndianArmy strengthened its securitygrid along the Line of Control(LoC). Pakistan is not just push-ing terrorists but also arms anddrugs in these regions, said asenior IPS officer looking afterthe security apparatus along theWestern Border.

Considering ISI's role in push-ing terrorists as well as smug-gling of arms and drugs in theValley through different wayssuch as underground tunnelsand drones, the BSF has updated

its Battle Obstacle AssaultCourse (BOAC) to boost the train-ing quality of its commandosto the next level.

The commandos will now haveto go through the modified BOACtraining regime that includes 26different battle filed obstacles,which our soldiers may have to ne-gotiate in battle conditions.

Rangers Swing, Spider Web,Parallel Rope, Petroleum Towers,Tiger Leap, Burma Bridge, TarzanSwing and Successive Drop areamong the 26 BOACs that the BSFwill provide to all its comman-dos. Artificial Wall Climbing;Free Fix Knotted Jhumar climb-i n g ; S e at R ap p e l l i n g , F re eRappelling, Casualty EvacuationRappelling and Team Slitheringare among the other obstaclecourses which are designed toenhance the strength of BSF com-mandos, equipping them to dealwith extraordinary circumstancesduring field duty.

The centre also attracts batchesfrom neighbouring countries seek-ing advance training for new re-cruits as well as senior officers.

‘MP records 93 tiger deaths in last 3 yrs’PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Bhopal, March 1: MadhyaPradesh, popularly known as the'tiger state' of India, has lost 93 ofthe big cats due to poaching andother causes in the past threeyears, state forest minister VijayShah told the Assembly Monday.

In a written reply to a query byCongress MLA Satish Sikarwar,the minister said the 93 deaths oc-curred from January 1, 2018 toJanuary 1, 2021, with 25 of them tak-ing place due to poaching, for which77 people had been held, and the restdue to natural causes, diseases,mutual conflict, old age etc.

As per the 2018 tiger population

estimation, Madhya Pradesh has 526tigers, the highest in the country,with Bandhavgarh with 104 bigcats leading the state's tally.According to the forest department,88 tigers were found in KanhaReserve, 61 in Pench Reserve, 25 inPanna Reserve, 40 in SatpuraReserve and five each in SanjayReserve and Nauradehi sanctuary.Besides, 45 tigers are found inRatapani, Singhori and Khivanisanctuaries, which are part of onelandscape.

In the same reply, the ministersaid lions are not found naturallyin the state and the Kuno NationalPark has been developed for rein-troduction of the Asiatic lion.

AGENCIES

New Delhi, March 1: PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, HomeMinister Amit Shah and VicePresident Venkaiah Naidu wereamong the host of top leaders whotook the first dose of the coron-avirus vaccine Monday with thestart of the next phase of the in-oculation drive.

Nitish Kumar, External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar and NCPpresident Sharad Pawar also tookthe jab. Governors Kalraj Mishra ofRajasthan and Banwarilal Purohitof Tamil Nadu also received theshot, as well as Union ministerJitendra Singh as the country fur-ther opened its vaccination pro-gramme that started on January 16for healthcare and sanitary work-ers. Though the registration openedat 9 am, the prime minister wasthe first off the block. He visited theAll India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) in Delhi early inthe morning to take his first doseand appeal to everyone eligible toget themselves inoculated.

"Took my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS. Remarkable

how our doctors and scientists haveworked in quick time to strengthenthe global fight against COVID-19,"Modi tweeted at 7.06 am.

"I appeal to all those who are el-igible to take the vaccine. Together,let us make India COVID-19 free!"he said. Shah, who had earlier testedpositive for the virus, also took thefirst dose, officials said.

Doctors from the MedantaHospital in Delhi administered thevaccine to Shah, a Home Ministryofficial said. The Vice President

took his first dose of the vaccine atGovernment Medical College,Chennai.

Jaishankar got a dose of the in-digenously-developed Covaxin. "Feltsecure, will travel safely," he added.

Kumar was administered thedose at the IGIMS hospital in Patnain presence of Bihar Health MinisterMangal Pandey and appealed tothe people that they do not let theirguard down in the wake of COVID-19 active cases coming down dras-tically in the state.

Pawar, his wife Pratibha Pawar,and daughter and MP Supriya Sule,received the f irst dose ofAstraZeneca- Oxford's Covishieldvaccine at a civic hospital inMaharashtra.

Rajasthan Governor KalrajMishra took the first dose at RajBhawan in Jaipur, while TamilNadu Governor Banwarilal Purohitin Chennai.

Prominent leaders take COVID vaxCo-WIN app not for publicAs the registration on thewww.Cowin.Gov.In opened up at 9 amon Monday, people took to social mediato flag glitches in the registration sys-tem. The ministry in the afternoon alsoclarified that the Co-WIN app on PlayStore is meant for use only by theadministrators, and that registrationand booking for appointment for COVID-19 vaccination has to be done throughthe portal www.Cowin.Gov.In."Registration and booking for appoint-ment for #COVID19 vaccination is to bedone through #CoWINPortal:www.Cowin.Gov.In. "There is no#CoWIN App for beneficiary registra-tion. The App on Play Store is for admin-istrators only," the ministry tweeted.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGEREPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dhaka, March 1: About 300 studentactivists rallied in Bangladesh’scapital Monday to denounce thedeath in prison of a writer and com-mentator who was arrested lastyear on charges of violating a sweep-ing digital security law that criticssay chokes freedom of expression.

The protesters marched throughthe Dhaka University campus andDhaka’s streets toward the coun-try’s Home Ministry to also demandthe annulment of the digital securitylaw and the release of seven studentactivists arrested during recentprotests denouncing the death of 53-year-old Mushtaq Ahmed. Theybroke a barricade by removingbarbed wire fences on the way tothe ministry, but were intercepted bya few hundred police officers out-side the ministry in downtown Dhaka.

“The state must take responsi-bility. He has been killed; it wasnot a natural death. How come hewas held for nine months in jailwithout any justice” said one pro-tester, Mahfuza Akhter.

“We want justice,” she said. There were no immediate re-

ports of any violence.Ahmed’s death Thursday night

sparked protests on streets and onsocial media, and prompted globalhuman rights groups, includingHuman Rights Watch and AmnestyInternational, to urge Bangladesh’sgovernment to conduct a thoroughinvestigation. The New York-basedCommittee to Protect Journalists,or CPJ, demanded that the gov-ernment cancel the security act.

Ahmed was arrested in DhakaMay last year for making com-ments on social media that criticisedthe government’s handling of thecoronavirus pandemic. He was de-nied bail at least six times. At least10 other people were charged withsedition under the digital securitylaw in the same case Ahmed faced.

The CPJ has demanded the re-lease from prison of political car-toonist Kabir Kishore, who was ar-rested in the case last year. Kishore’slawyers said during previous courtproceedings that he was “merci-lessly tortured” in custody.

P10TUESDAY | MARCH 2 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

internationalWe have the cleanest airand cleanest water… and

what good does it do when we’reclean, but China is not and Russia isnot and India is not, so they arepouring fumes... You know the worldis a small piece of the universe andwe’re trying to protect everythingDONALD TRUMP | FORMER US PRESIDENT

The Gurudarbar SindhiTemple in Dubai willvirtually celebrate theupcoming Maha Shivratrifestival in the wake of theCovid-19 pandemic

VIRTUAL SHIVRATRI INDUBAI TEMPLE

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU | ISRAELI PRIME

MINISTER

Philippines beginsvax campaignManila: The Philippineslaunched a vaccinationcampaign Monday to containone of Southeast Asia’s worstcoronavirus outbreaks butfaces supply problems andpublic resistance, which ithopes to ease by inoculatingtop officials. Cabinet officials,along with health workersand military and policepersonnel, were among thefirst to be vaccinated in sixhospitals in MetropolitanManila, after PresidentRodrigo Duterte and other topofficials received 600,000doses Sunday of COVID-19vaccine donated by China.

Europeans get‘right to repair’Berlin: Companies that sellrefrigerators, washers,hairdryers or TVs in theEuropean Union will need toensure those appliances canbe repaired for up to 10 years,to help reduce the vastmountain of electrical wastethat piles up each year on thecontinent. The “right torepair,” as it is sometimescalled, comes into forceacross the 27-nation blocMonday. It is part of abroader effort to cut theenvironmental footprint ofmanufactured goods bymaking them more durableand energy efficient.

UK finds Brazilianvirus variantsLondon: Health officials inBritain have identified sixcases of a highly contagiouscoronavirus strain firstidentified in the Brazilian cityof Manaus - including one in aperson who has not beentraced. Scientists say thevariant is more transmissibleand may be more resistant toexisting vaccines than theoriginal virus, and may beable to infect people whohave previously had Covid-19.Direct flights from Brazil tothe UK have been halted.

Biden to meetMexican PrezWilmington: President JoeBiden is planning a virtualmeeting Monday withMexican President AndresManuel Lopez Obrador - achance for the pair to talkmore fully about migration,confronting the coronavirusand cooperating on economicand national security issues.Mexico’s president has saidhe intends during the meetingto propose to Biden a newBracero-style immigrant laborprogram that could bring600,000 to 800,000 Mexicanand Central Americanimmigrants a year to worklegally in the United States.

SHORT TAKES

FROZEN FALLS

Ice sits at the base of the American Falls due to cold temperatures in Niagara Falls, New York REUTERS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paris, March 1: In an industrialneighborhood on the outskirts ofBangladesh’s largest city lies a fac-tory with gleaming new equipmentimported from Germany, its im-maculate hallways lined with her-metically sealed rooms. It is oper-ating at just a quarter of its capacity.

It is one of three factories that TheAssociated Press found on threecontinents whose owners say theycould start producing hundreds ofmillions of Covid-19 vaccines onshort notice if only they had theblueprints and technical know-how. But that knowledge belongs tothe large pharmaceutical companieswho produce the first three vac-cines authorized by countries in-cluding Britain, the European Unionand the US — Pfizer, Moderna andAstraZeneca. The factories are allstill awaiting responses.

Across Africa and Southeast Asia,governments and aid groups, aswell as the World HealthOrganisation, are calling on phar-maceutical companies to share theirpatent information more broadly tomeet a yawning global shortfall ina pandemic that already has claimedover 2.5 million lives. Pharmaceuticalcompanies that took taxpayer moneyfrom the US or Europe to develop in-oculations at unprecedented speedsay they are negotiating contractsand exclusive licensing deals withproducers on a case-by-case basis be-cause they need to protect their in-tellectual property and ensure safety.

Critics say this piecemeal approachis just too slow at a time of urgent needto stop the virus before it mutatesinto even deadlier forms. WHO calledfor vaccine manufacturers to sharetheir know-how to “dramatically in-crease the global supply.”

“If that can be done, then im-mediately overnight every conti-nent will have dozens of compa-nies who would be able to producethese vaccines,” said AbdulMuktadir, whose Incepta plant inBangladesh already makes vac-cines against hepatitis, flu, menin-gitis, rabies, tetanus and measles.

All over the world, the supply ofcoronavirus vaccines is falling farshort of demand, and the limitedamount available is going to richcountries. Nearly 80% of the vac-cines so far have been adminis-tered in just 10 countries, accord-ing to WHO. More than 210 countriesand territories with a collective

population of 2.5 billion hadn’t re-ceived a single shot as of last week.

The deal-by-deal approach alsomeans that some poorer countriesend up paying more for the same vac-cine than richer countries. SouthAfrica, Mexico, Brazil and Ugandaall pay different amounts per dosefor the AstraZeneca vaccine —more than governments in theEuropean Union, according to stud-ies and publicly available docu-ments. AstraZeneca said the priceof the vaccine will differ depend-ing on factors such as productioncosts, where the shots are madeand how much countries order.

“What we see today is a stam-pede, a survival of the fittest ap-proach, where those with the deep-est pockets, with the sharpest elbowsare grabbing what is there and leav-ing others to die,” said WinnieByanyima, executive director ofUNAIDS.

Drug companies askedto share vax know-how

WHO CALLED FOR VACCINE MANUFACTURERS TO SHARE THEIRKNOW-HOW TO “DRAMATICALLY INCREASE THE GLOBAL SUPPLY”

Nearly 80% of the vaccines so farhave been administered in just 10

countries

More than 210 countries and territories with a collective

population of 2.5 billion hadn’treceived a single shot as of last week

What we see today is a stampede, a survival ofthe fittest approach, where those with thedeepest pockets, with the sharpest elbows aregrabbing what is there and leaving others to dieWINNIE BYANYIMA I EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNAIDS

Activists rally in B’deshto protest prison death

‘Perseverance rover’s exciting work to happen in weeks to come’ PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Houston, March 1: Vishnu Sridhar,a 27-year-old Indian-American leadsystem engineer with NASA’sPerseverance rover, has said that themost exciting work on the awe-in-spiring Mars mission will happenin the coming weeks.

“We’re going to be taking more im-ages of Mars, we’re going to be shoot-ing lasers with the SuperCam in-strument, we’re going to be recordingaudio with our microphone, andeventually, soon in near future, weare going to deploy our helicopter,and do the first powered flight on

Mars,” Sridhar told ABC7 channel.SuperCam is a remote-sensing

instrument that will use laser spec-troscopy to analyse the chemicalcomposition of rocks on the Martiansurface. It analyses terrain that therover cannot reach. It is an instru-ment designed to scan rocks andminerals—from up to 20 feet away—to determine their chemical makeup.

The Perseverance rover waslaunched July 30 last year and suc-cessfully landed on Mars February18 this year. The rover, theSuperCam, and its other devicestogether will help scientists searchfor clues of past life on Mars. Its pred-

ecessor Curiosity is still function-ing eight years after landing onMars. The two-year Perseverance

mission is NASA’s latest and mostadvanced mission to find evidenceof past life on Mars. Sridhar said it

was important that the missionwas happening despite the ongo-ing COVID-19 pandemic.

“NASA missions are clearly try-ing to explore and answer the basicquestion. Perseverance is also tryingto seek that, and eventually answerthe question that was there life onMars, was there life outside Earth,and it was definitely a tough periodfor us during Covid-19 and for every-one else around the globe,” he said.

“And that’s why I love the nameof Perseverance because we per-severed through the pandemic andthere was a paradigm shift, welearned a lot about how to do engi-

neering remotely. And we wentthrough all that we learned andnow we are successful on Mars andit's a great achievement for hu-mankind,” he said.

The US space agency Monday re-leased the first audio from Mars, afaint recording of a gust of windcaptured by the Perseverance rover.Perseverance will attempt to collect30 rock and soil samples in sealedtubes to be sent back to Earth some-time in the 2030s for lab analysis.

The rover is only the fifth to setits wheels down on Mars. The featwas first accomplished in 1997, andall of them have been American.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, March 1: China ap-pears to be moving faster towarda capability to launch its newernuclear missiles from undergroundsilos, possibly to improve its abil-ity to respond promptly to a nu-clear attack, according to anAmerican expert who analyzedsatellite images of recent con-struction at a missile training area.

Hans Kristensen, a longtimewatcher of US, Russian and Chinesenuclear forces, said the imagerysuggests that China is seeking tocounter what it may view as a grow-ing threat from the United States.The US in recent years has pointedto China’s nuclear modernizationas a key justification for investinghundreds of billions of dollars inthe coming two decades to build anall-new US nuclear arsenal.

There’s no indication the UnitedStates and China are headed to-ward armed conflict, let alone anuclear one. But the Kristensen re-port comes at a time of heightenedUS-China tensions across a broadspectrum, from trade to national se-curity. A stronger Chinese nuclearforce could factor into US calcula-tions for a military response to ag-gressive Chinese actions, such as inTaiwan or the South China Sea.

The Pentagon declined to com-ment on Kristensen’s analysis ofthe satellite imagery, but it saidlast summer in its annual report onChinese military developmentsthat Beijing intends to increase thepeacetime readiness of its nuclearforces by putting more of them inunderground silos and operating ona higher level of alert in which itcould launch missiles upon warn-ing of being under attack.

‘DRAGON UPPINGITS N-ARSENAL’Hans Kristensen, a longtime watcher of US, Russian and

Chinese nuclear forces, said the satellite imagery sug-gests that China is seeking to counter what it may view

as a growing threat from the US

REUTERS

Yangon, March 1: Myanmar’sousted leader Aung San Suu Kyiappeared at a court hearing viavideo conferencing Monday as sup-porters marched in several townsand cities in defiance of a crackdownafter the bloodiest day since theFeb 1 military coup.

Police fired tear gas and stungrenades to disperse hundreds ofprotesters in the main city of YangonMonday, witnesses said. They latercombed through side streets firingrubber bullets and at least one per-son was hurt, media reported.

Suu Kyi, aged 75, looked in good

health during her appearance be-fore a court in the capital Naypyidaw,one of her lawyers said. Two morecharges were added to those filedagainst her after the coup, she said.

“I saw Amay on the video, shelooks healthy,” lawyer Min Min Soetold Reuters, using an affectionateterm meaning “mother” to referto Suu Kyi. The Nobel Peace laure-

ate, who leads the National Leaguefor Democracy (NLD), has not beenseen in public since her governmentwas ousted and she was detainedalong with other party leaders.

She was initially charged with il-legally importing six walkie-talkieradios. Later, a charge of violatinga natural disaster law by breachingcoronavirus protocols was added.

Two more charges were addedMonday, one under a section of acolonial-era penal code prohibit-ing publication of information thatmay “cause fear or alarm”, and theother under a telecommunicationslaw stipulating licences for equip-ment, the lawyer said.

The next hearing will be on March15. Critics of the coup say thecharges were trumped up.

Sunday, police fired on crowds inseveral places killing 18 people, theUnited Nations human rights of-fice said. A committee representinglawmakers elected last year said26 people were killed but Reuters wasunable to verify that.

The military has not commentedon Sunday’s violence and policeand military spokesmen did notanswer calls. The state-run GlobalNew Light of Myanmar newspa-per warned that “severe action willbe inevitably taken” against “an-archic mobs”.

THE ROVER, THE SUPERCAM AND ITS OTHER DEVICES TOGETHER WILL HELP SCIENTISTS SEARCH FOR CLUES OF PAST LIFE ON MARS

AGENCIES

Paris, March 1: A Paris courtMonday found French formerPresident Nicolas Sarkozy guiltyof corruption and influence ped-dling and sentenced him to oneyear in prison and a two-year sus-pended sentence.

The 66-year-old politician, whowas president from 2007 to 2012, wasconvicted for having tried to ille-gally obtain information from a sen-ior magistrate in 2014 about a legalaction in which he was involved.

The court said Sarkozy will beentitled to request to be detainedat home with an electronic bracelet.

The court said the facts were“particularly serious” given thatthey were committed by a formerpresident who used his status to helpa magistrate who had served his per-sonal interest. In addition, as a for-mer lawyer, he was “perfectly in-formed” about committing anillegal action, the court said.

Sarkozy’s two co-defendantswere also found guilty and giventhe same sentence as Sarkozy.

Sarkozy will face another triallater this month along with 13other people on charges of ille-gal financing of his 2012 presi-dential campaign.

France’s Sarkozy convicted of corruption,sentenced to jail

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Kathmandu, March 1: NepalPresident Bidya Devi BhandariMonday summoned a session ofthe House of RepresentativesMarch 7, days after the apex courtreinstated the lower house in alandmark verdict that annulledembattled Prime Minister K PSharma Oli’s unconstitutional de-cision to dissolve it.

President Bhandari called for thecommencement of House on rec-ommendation of Government ofNepal, in accordance with Article93 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal,according to a notice issued bythe President’s Office Monday.

As per the notice, the 275-mem-ber lower house will begin at 4pmon the slated date.

The presidential order to sum-mon the House meeting followsthe Supreme Court’s decision tooverturn Prime Minister Oli’smove to dissolve the HouseDecember 20.

Nepal Prez summonslower house session

More charges against Suu Kyi, protests continue

P11

businessTUESDAY | MARCH 2 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

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Gold prices Monday rose by `241 to `45,520per 10 grams in New Delhi in line with thestrong global bullion market trend,according to HDFC Securities. The preciousmetal had closed at `45,279 per 10 grams inthe previous trading session

GOLD PRICE RISES BY `241

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Siemens’ majoracquisition New Delhi: Siemens LtdMonday said it hascompleted the acquisition of99.22% equity shares in C&SElectric Ltd from thecompany’s promoters for`2,100 crore. The CompetitionCommission of India (CCI)had given its approval for thedeal August 20, 2020,Siemens Ltd said in a BSEfiling. According to thecompany, it has “acquired99.22% (approximately)equity shares of C&S ElectricLtd from its promoters, for anaggregate consideration ofINR 21,000,000,000 on a cash-free/ debt-free basis.”

Royal Enfield salesup 10% in FebruaryNew Delhi: Motorcycle makerRoyal Enfield Mondayreported a 10 per centincrease in total sales at69,659 units in February. Thecompany had sold 63,536units in the same month lastyear, Royal Enfield said in astatement. Domestic saleslast month were at 65,114units as against 61,188 unitsin February 2020, a growth of6 per cent, it added. Exportswitnessed a jump of 94 percent last month at 4,545 unitsas compared to 2,348 units inthe year-ago month, thecompany said.

BPCL to sellRefinery stakeNew Delhi: Privatisation-bound Bharat PetroleumCorporation Ltd (BPCL)Monday said it will exitNumaligarh refinery inAssam by selling its entirestake to a consortium of OilIndia Ltd and Engineers IndiaLtd for `9,876 crore. The saleof Numaligarh Refinery Ltdclears the way forprivatisation of India'ssecond-largest fuel retailer.In keeping with the AssamPeace Accord, thegovernment had decided tokeep Numaligarh Refinery Ltd(NRL) in the public sector.

Maruti Suzuki’sFeb sales up 11.8%New Delhi: Automobile majorMaruti Suzuki Mondayreported a growth of 11.8% inits overall sales duringFebruary 2021 on a y-o-ybasis. The company sold1,64,469 units of vehicles lastmonth, against 1,47,110 unitssold in February 2020. On asequential basis, thecompany sold 1,60,752 unitsof vehicles in January 2021.

SHORT TAKES

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, March 1: Leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundaiand Tata Motors reported robustsales growth in the domestic mar-ket in February as the demand forpersonal mobility amid Covid-19pandemic continues to drive themarket.

Others, including ToyotaKirloskar Motor (TKM), Mahindra& Mahindra, and Honda Cars India,also reported strong wholesale dis-patches to dealers last month.

The country's largest carmakerMaruti Suzuki India (MSI) said itsdomestic sales increased 11.8 per centto 1,52,983 units last month, asagainst 1,36,849 units in February2020. The company's sales during the

month were driven by compact andutility vehicle segments.

Last month, sales company's com-pact segment models, includingSwift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno andDzire, increased by 15.3 per cent to80,517 units, as against 69,828 carsin February last year.

Similarly, utility vehicle dis-patches to dealers, including VitaraBrezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, rose18.9 per cent to 26,884 units, as com-pared to 22,604 units in the year-ago month. Sales of mini cars, com-prising Alto and S-Presso, howeverdeclined by 12.9 per cent to 23,959units, as compared to 27,499 in thesame month last year.

Rival Hyundai Motor India re-ported a 29 per cent increase in itsdomestic sales at 51,600 units as

against 40,010 units in February2020. "The company has been con-sistently striving to drive a resur-gence in sales, thereby contributingtowards economic recovery andbringing the industry closer to pre-Covid level sales," HMIL Director(Sales, Marketing & Service) TarunGarg said. Both domestic and exportdemand have recorded healthy dou-

ble digit growth last month, re-flecting an all-round improvementin buyer sentiment, he added.

Tata Motors saw its passengervehicle sales surging over two-foldsto 27,225 units in the domestic mar-ket last month. Similarly, Mahindra& Mahindra reported a 41 per centincrease in its passenger vehicledispatches to dealers last month. The

company sold 15,391 units lastmonth, as compared with 10,938units in the year-ago period.

"Demand continues to remainbuoyant for our range of SUVs andPick-ups and we have a robust orderpipeline. However, supply of semi-conductors, as we all know, is a globalissue and it is likely to continue foranother 3 to 4 months," M&M ChiefExecutive Officer AutomotiveDivision Veejay Nakra said. Goingforward, the company will continueto monitor the situation and closelywork with its suppliers to minimisethis supply risk, he added. Japaneseautomaker TKM posted a 36 percent increase in domestic sales at14,075 units in February. The com-pany had clocked domestic sales of10,352 units in February last year.

Automakers report double digit sales growth in FebBoth domestic andexport demand haverecorded healthy doubledigit growth last month,reflecting an all-roundimprovement in buyer sentiment

AGENCIES

New Delhi, March 1: India’s man-ufacturing sector growth remainedflat-to-positive in February, as im-proving business environmentpushed order flow. Accordingly,the headline seasonally adjusted IHSMarkit India ManufacturingPurchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)stood at 57.5 (index reading) inFebruary easing a bit from 57.7 inJanuary.

However, the index remainedabove its long-run average of 53.6.The PMI ranges between 0 and 100,with a reading above 50 indicat-ing an overall increase comparedto the previous month.

"Better demand conditions andsuccessful marketing campaignsreportedly underpinned a furtherincrease in new orders duringFebruary," said IHS Markit in theFebruary PMI report. "Althougheasing from January, the pace ofgrowth remained sharp in the con-text of historical data."

Besides, new export orders rosehalfway through the final quarterof fiscal year 2020-21, albeit at amodest rate that was softer than inJanuary. According to panel mem-bers, the Covid-19 pandemic re-stricted international demand forIndian goods.

"In response to another robustincrease in total new orders, pro-duction was raised again inFebruary. The pace of expansioneased from January, but was nev-ertheless sharp and among thequickest seen over the past nineyears." "February data pointed to

the strongest increase in inputinventories in the survey historyas firms reacted to rising pro-duction needs by lifting purchas-ing activity. The expansion ininput buying was the fastest inalmost a decade."

Furthermore, survey membersnoted greater prices for a numberof items such as chemicals, metals,plastics and textiles. As per the re-port, the overall rate of cost infla-tion hit a 32-month high.

Although factory gate chargesincreased in February, the rate ofinflation was modest and easedfrom January's 13-month high.

"Indian goods producers re-ported a healthy inflow of neworders in February, that under-pinned a further upturn in outputand quantity of purchases,"saidPollyanna De Lima, an economist.

‘Feb manufacturinggrowth remains flat’

IHS Markit IndiaManufacturing PMI stood at

57.5 in February easing a bitfrom 57.7 in January

New export orders rosehalfway through the final

quarter of fiscal year 2020-21,albeit at a modest rate that wassofter than in January

REUTERS

Frankfurt, March 1: The world’sbiggest central banks will happilylive with higher inflation and in-vestors now aggressively bettingon a quicker end to monetary stim-

ulus are all but certain to be provedwrong. After a decade of underes-timating inflation, central bankersin the United States, Europe andJapan have every reason keep moneytaps open and policymakers are

even rewriting their own rules sothey can let price growth overshoottheir targets.

If anything, central banks aremore likely to nudge up stimulus, par-ticularly in the euro zone, keeping

borrowing costs depressed and ig-noring the inflation hawks at leastuntil growth is back to pre-pandemiclevels -- and not just fleetingly.

The Reserve Bank of Australiaalready launched a surprise bondbuying operation while theEuropean Central Bank has re-peatedly warned investors not topush yields too high, unless theywant to fight its 1 trillion euro warchest. The argument behind the in-flation war ning is that onceeconomies reopen, massive gov-ernment stimulus will combinewith pent up consumer demand,unleashing spending-fuelled pricepressures unseen for decades.

Although top economists areweighing in on both sides of thedebate, the voices that really countall seem to be downplaying the

threat. “Inflation dynamics dochange over time but they don’tchange on a dime,” Federal ReserveChair Jerome Powell said.

“We don’t really see how a burstof fiscal support or spending ... thatdoesn’t last for many years, wouldactually change those inflation dy-namics.” Even if inflation accel-erates, a big if given that big cen-tral banks are all undershootingtheir 2% goal, tightening policy toohastily is seen as a bigger evil thanmoving too slowly.

First off, much of the inflation riseis temporary, driven by the reboundin oil, one-off stimulus measures andthe base effect of tanking prices ayear ago. So this is not the sort ofsustained inflation policymakersare looking for.

Tighter policy could also choke

off growth - a costly blunder withtens of millions still out of work afterthe biggest peacetime economiccrisis in a century. In the worstcase, higher borrowing costs wouldeven raise debt sustainability con-cerns, particularly in heavily in-debted southern Europe and acrossemerging markets.

And lastly, the Fed and EuropeanCentral Bank both tightened policytoo quickly in the past decade, forc-ing them into the type of credibil-ity-damaging reversal they are nowkeen to avoid.

The message from the Fed hasbeen uniform and emphatic: its$120 billion monthly bond purchaseswill not change until the economyhas more fully recovered, and anyactual interest rate increase is evenfurther into the future.

Analysis: Central banks will happily ignore inflation-mongersThe argument behind

the inflation warning isthat once economies

reopen, massive govt stimulus will combine

with pent up consumerdemand, unleashing

spending-fuelled pricepressures unseen

for decades

AGENCIES

New Delhi, March 1: The firstday of the much anticipated tele-com auctions attracted ̀ 77,146 croreof bids, said Telecom Minister RaviShankar Prasad. Bidding took placefor spectrum in 800 MHz, 900 Mhz,1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz and 2,300MHz bands. However, the partici-pants did not bid in 700 MHz abd2,500 MHz bands.

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel andVodafone Idea were the biddersin the latest auction againstseven bidders in the previousauctions in 2016.

Reliance Jio had submitted anearnest money deposit (EMD) of`10,000 crore for the auctions, thehighest among the three privatetelecom operators. Bharti Airtel,

on the other hand submitted anEMD of ̀ 3,000 crore and VodafoneIdea submitted EMD of ̀ 475 crore.

A statement said that bidder-

wise details of quanity won andamount payable will be availableonly after conclusion of the auction.

A total of 2,308.80 MHz spectrumis being put to auction, our of whichthere have been bids for 849.20 MHzso far. According to the govern-ment, excluding spectrum in 700MHz and 2,500 MHz bands, bidshave been received for almost 60per cent of the spectrum. The auc-tion is likely to conclude Tuesday.

Four rounds of bidding took placetill 6 p.m. Monday, another two roundsare expected on Tuesday. The e-auc-tion is based on SimultaneousMultiple Round Ascending Auction(SMRA) methodology.

The ongoing auction does notinclude frequencies in 3,300-3,600MHz bands that were identified for5G services.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, March 1: The grossGST revenue collected in February2021 increased 7 per cent on a year-on-year basis to over `1.13 lakhcrore.

Out of the total good and serv-ice tax collection of ̀ 1,13,143 crore,CGST was `21,092 crore, SGSTwas ̀ 27,273 crore, IGST was v55,253crore, including ̀ 24,382 crore col-lected on import of goods and cesswas `9,525 crore, including `660crore collected on import of goods,said an official statement.

The government has settled`22,398 crore to CGST and ̀ 17,534crore to SGST from IGST as reg-ular settlement.

In addition, the central gov-ernment has also settled ̀ 48,000crore as IGST ad-hoc settlementin the ratio of 50:50 betweenCentre and States or UnionTerritories.

The total revenue of Centre andthe states after regular settlementand ad-hoc settlement in the monthof February 2021 is `67,490 crorefor CGST and ̀ 68,807 crore for theSGST. The GST revenues crossed`1 lakh fifth time in a row andcrossed ̀ 1.1 lakh crore third timein a row post pandemic despitethis being revenue collection ofthe month of February.

This is a clear indication of theeconomic recovery and the im-pact of various measures taken bytax administration to improvecompliance, said the FinanceMinistry statement.

FEBRUARY GST COLLECTION STANDS AT `1.13 LAKH CR

SPECTRUM AUCTION

BIDS WORTH `77,146 CRMADE ON DAY 1: PRASAD

AGENCIES

Mumbai, March 1: On the back oftimely government and regulatorymeasures this fiscal, which helpedthe economy to recover faster thanexpected, bank credit is seen grow-ing 400-500 bps to 9-10 per cent in thenext financial year, according to areport.

In the current fiscal, bank creditis expected to rise 4-5 per cent de-spite the sharpest contraction in theeconomy since Independence.

As per the Crisil report, the econ-omy is likely to grow at 11 per centin FY22.

While bank credit growth hadcontracted 0.8 per cent in the firsthalf of this fiscal, it recoveredsharply in the third quarter bygrowing 3 per cent sequentially. Inthe fourth quarter, too, it shouldclock 3 per cent sequential growth,Krishnan Sitaraman, a senior di-rector at Crisil said Monday.

In June 2020, Crisil had peggedbank credit growth to be at 0-1 percent this fiscal.

The government measures, in-cluding the `3 lakh crore emer-gency credit line guarantee scheme(ECLGS), have been supportive, headded.

In the first half of this fiscal,the pandemic forced borrowersand lenders to tread cautiously,leading to a contraction in credit

pick up. But a faster-than-expecteduptick in economic activity sincethe relaxation of lockdowns, andpent-up and festive season demandhelped thereafter.

In absolute terms, net credit roseto `2.3 lakh crore in the first ninemonths of FY21, of which dis-bursements under ECLGS was ̀ 1.6lakh crore in this period.

Banks also deployed `1.4 lakhcrore via targeted long-term repooperation and partial credit guar-

antee scheme, serving as creditsubstitutes.

Growth in corporate credit, whichis 49 per cent of overall bank credit,is expected to contract this fiscal ascompanies have put Capex on thebackburner but will change next fis-cal when corporate credit is ex-pected to grow 5-6% on a likely re-vival in demand.

But the share of corporate loansin the overall credit pie will continueto shrink with faster growth ofother segments.

Retail lending is likely to slowdown to 9-10% this fiscal before re-turning to the mid-teens growthof the past couple of years.

Banks are expected to benefitfrom the lower competition as non-banks see tepid growth. With depositgrowth outstripping credit growthso far, banks would use the sur-plus liquidity to wrench credit mar-ket share,” said, an agency director.

‘Credit demand may almostdouble to 9-10% in FY22’

While bank creditgrowth had contracted 0.8%in the first half of this fiscal,it recovered sharply in thethird quarter by growing 3%sequentially. In the fourthquarter, too, it should clock3% sequential growthKRISHNAN SITARAMAN I SENIOR DIRECTOR, CRISIL

BIZ BUZZ Skechers launches Arch Fit collection Bhubaneswar: Skechers India launched the Arch Fit Range which offers new and innovativetechnology to improve the comfort and support for the feet. The Arch Fit Insole is resilient,provides better foot guidance, and patented shape retention capabilities. By distributing archpressure, Arch Fit offers more balance and stability and it comes in easy, washable styles sothat one can look and feel great for a longer period of time. The collection, synonymous tocomfort is developed using over 20 years of data, is certified to offer arch support for men and women and foreveryone who’s always on the move. When it comes to more comfort for your feet, take it from a podiatrist.

Sonalika crosses 1 lakh domestic tractor sales Bhubaneswar: Sonalika Tractors has created a new record of excellence by clocking itshighest-ever cumulative domestic sales of 1,06,432 tractors in just 11 months, registeringgrowth of 35.5% as compared to same period last year. With this, it has achieved asignificant landmark for the fastest-ever 1 lakh domestic tractor sales by any tractorbrand in the Indian market since its inception. The country’s fastest growing tractor manufacturer, Sonalika hasoverall sold 11,821 tractors in February as compared to 9,650 during the same period last year. Raman Mittal,Executive Director, Sonalika Group, said, “We crossed our highest-ever cumulative domestic sales of 1,06,432tractors in just 11 months (April’20-Feb’21), registering a growth of 35.5% as compared to same period last year.Notably, it is also the fastest-ever 1 lakh domestic tractor sales by any tractor brand in the Indian market.”

Printed and published by Tathagata Satpathy on behalf of Navajat Printers and Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Navajat Printers, B-15 Industrial Estate, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar -751010, Odisha;Phone:7894447142(Marketing). Editor: Tathagata Satpathy, RNI No. ORIENG/2011/37159

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sportsTUESDAY | MARCH 2 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARP12

ASSOCIATED PRESS

London, March 1: Gareth Baleturned back time for Tottenham,while Chelsea and Manchester Unitedseemed happy just to play out time.

Bale looked like the star playerwho left Tottenham for Real Madridin 2013 as he scored twice in theclub’s 4-0 win over Burnley, prompt-ing Spurs manager Jose Mourinhoto pronounce him ‘better than ever’though still not suitable to startweek-in, week-out.

While Bale found his form,Harvey Barnes had his good run cutshort by a knee injury in Leicester’s1-3 loss to Arsenal. He is likely to needan operation and miss six weeks.

Chelsea kept their unbeatenrecord under manager ThomasTuchel in a 0-0 draw with ManUnited as both teams appeared re-luctant to risk losing one point inthe hope of getting three.

Liverpool put a stop to the run offour straight league defeats whicheffectively finished off its titlechances, but a 2-0 win over last-place Sheffield United was stillshort of Liverpool’s best.

Bale opened the scoring after 68seconds and the Welsh forwardadded another early in the secondhalf, both off assists from SonHeung-min. Back on loan fromSpain, it was his first two-goal gamesince 2019. However, Mourinhowarned that Bale would still haveto rest for some upcoming games tomanage his form and fitness.

Harry Kane and Lucas Mouraalso scored for the hosts, and itcould have been more if not forsome good saves from Nick Popewhen Burnley was already fourgoals down.

Chelsea’s new identity underTuchel is taking shape. There’s in-tense, German-style pressing, butalso a newfound compactness andsolidity in the defense at StamfordBridge, compared to former man-ager Frank Lampard’s open but de-fensively vulnerable style.

Against United’s counterattack-ing specialists, both teams seemedrisk-averse, even in the final min-utes. The upshot was a ninth gameunbeaten in all competitions forTuchel at Chelsea, seven of themwithout conceding a goal, but italso meant that Chelsea missed anopportunity to overtake West Hamfor fourth in the table.

The draw also highlightedUnited’s inability to mount an un-likely challenge to cross-city rivalManchester City for the title. Cityleads by 12 points from second-placeUnited.

United were left grumbling aboutthe refereeing at Chelsea after notbeing awarded a penalty in the firsthalf for what looked like handballby Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The first goal against SheffieldUnited was made in Liverpool'sacademy as Trent Alexander-Arnoldhit a deflected cross for fellow acad-emy graduate Curtis Jones to sendpast the otherwise impressiveShef field goalkeeper AaronRamsdale.

In the 64th, Roberto Firminothought he’d ended his run of sixgames without a goal in all com-petitions when his deflected shotwent in but the Premier Leagueruled it was an own-goal forSheffield’s Kean Bryan.

Arsenal returned to form andthe top half of the table with a 3-1win over Leicester, with Nicolas

Pepe scoring one goal and winninga penalty when Wilfred Ndidiblocked his shot with an arm.

However, the game was over-shadowed by an injury likely tokeep Leicester’s in-form midfielderBarnes out until April. He hadscored six goals and assisted three

more in his team’s previous 10league games. Manager BrendanRodgers said Barnes will likelyneed an operation and will be on thesidelines for at least six weeks. Itcomes as Leicester is already with-out the injured James Maddison.

Fulham missed a chance for a

win in a 0-0 draw with a CrystalPalace team which rarely presentedany sort of attacking threat. Thedraw left Scott Parker’s team un-beaten in five league games, withonly one goal conceded during thattime, but still 18th and three pointsadrift of safety.

Bale turnsback time

Atletico seal win to rebuild 5-point leadASSOCIATED PRESS

Madrid, March 1: Atletico Madridgot back to winning, beatingVillarreal 2-0 to halt their slump andrestore a five-point lead at the topof the Spanish league.

An own-goal by Alfonso Pedrazain the first half Sunday and a goalby forward Joao Felix in the secondhelped Atlético end a three-gamewinless streak and rebuild theirlead over second-place Barcelona,who won 2-0 at fourth-placed SevillaSaturday. Atletico has a game inhand compared to the Catalan club.

Third-place Real Madrid can getback to within three points ofAtletico Monday with a win againstfifth-place Real Sociedad at home.Madrid will have played one moregame more than Atletico. Atleticowill host Real Madrid in the cityderby next Sunday.

Diego Simeone’s team were com-ing off a 0-1 loss to Chelsea in thefirst leg of the round of 16 of theChampions League Tuesday. Theyalso lost 0-2 to Levante at home inthe Spanish league, and had pre-viously drawn with Levante in a

league match postponed from thesecond round because of the coro-navirus pandemic.

It was Atletico’s first clean sheetafter eight matches, which hadmarked the team’s worst streakconceding goals since Simeone ar-rived in late 2011. Unai Emery’sVillarreal, winless in six consecu-tive Spanish league games, droppedto seventh place.

Atletico went ahead in the 25thminute after Savic’s header wassaved by Villarreal goalkeeperSergio Asenjo but the ball rico-cheted off Pedraza and went in.The goal was initially disallowedfor offside but later confirmed byvideo review.

Felix, who recently was side-lined for testing positive for COVID-19, scored his first goal sinceJanuary with a low shot from in-side the area in the 69th. ThePortugal forward, who came offthe bench after halftime, celebratedprofusely and put a finger to hismouth, as if asking someone to bequiet. It wasn’t clear to whom he wassending a message.

Joao Felix reacts after scoring against Villarreal, Sunday

Welsh forward scores brace in Spurs’ 4-0 win overBurnley; Liverpool, Arsenal back to winning ways, while

Chelsea, Manchester United play out goalless stalemate

Gareth Bale (R) celebrates one of his goals with a teammate during Spurs’ win over Burnley, Sunday

Lukaku 32-second goal lifts InterASSOCIATED PRESS

Milan, March 1: Romelu Lukakuscored after just 32 seconds andhelped to set up two goals as leagueleader Inter Milan beat Genoa 3-0in Serie A.

Inter dominated but took until the69th minute to double its lead,through Matteo Darmian. SubstituteAlexis Sanchez sealed the win to en-sure Antonio Conte's side remainedfour points above second-place ACMilan, who won 2-1 at Roma.

It was Genoa’s first league de-feat since early January and left it13th, eight points above the dropzone. Inter were bidding for a fifthstraight league win and it got off tothe perfect start when Nicolo Barellasent a ball through to Lukaku, whoplayed a quick one-two with LautaroMartinez before drilling into the bot-tom left corner.

The Nerazzurri wasted a numberof chances and Barella also hit along-range stunner off the crossbarin the 17th. Inter finally doubledtheir lead when Lukaku drew de-fenders toward him before settingup an unmarked Darmian.

Sanchez was brought on in the76th and the Inter forward imme-diately scored as he turned in therebound after Genoa goalkeeperMattia Perin parried Lukaku’s ef-fort. The goal was originally ruled

out for offside but was awarded onvideo review.

AC Milan kept up the pressureon city rival Inter despite havinggoals ruled out and hitting thewoodwork. Fikayo Tomori andZlatan Ibrahimovic both had goalsruled out for offside for Milan andSimon Kjær hit the crossbar be-fore the visitors broke the dead-lock three minutes from halftime

when Franck Kessie converted apenalty after Federico Fazio hadfouled Davide Calabria.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan had a goalruled out for Roma, which leveledfive minutes after the break thanksto Jordan Veretout’s curled effort.But Ante Rebic restored Milan’slead in the 58th with an impres-sive swiveling effort into the farbottom corner.

Police raids Barcelona’s Camp Nou ASSOCIATED PRESS

Madrid, March 1: Spanish policedetained several people after raid-ing Barcelona’s stadium Monday ina search and seizure operation.

The operation was related to lastyear’s ‘Barcagate,’ in which clubofficials were accused of launchinga smear campaign against currentand former players who were crit-ical of the club and then-presidentJosep Maria Bartomeu.

Police said detentions were madebut did not say who or how manypeople were taken into custody. Theclub said authorities were at theteam’s headquarters but did notprovide any more detail.

Spanish media said Bartomeuand other former club officials wereamong those detained. A text mes-sage sent to Bartomeu was not im-mediately answered.

The detentions come less than aweek before presidential electionsare to be held at the club. One of thethree presidential candidates, JoanLaporta, told Lleida Radio that whathappened Monday ‘was a conse-quence of the bad management bythe previous administration’.

He said the news of Bartomeu’sreported detention was ‘shocking’and ‘not good’ for the club, but notedthat the former president deserved

the “presumption of innocence.”Court officials said a judge ordered

the search and seize operation but thedetentions had been made at the dis-cretion of the police agents involved.Authorities said the operation wasbeing carried out by the police’s fi-nancial crimes department.

Barcelona had denied accusationsthat it hired — and overpaid — acompany to make negative commentsabout its own players and opponentson social media in order to boost theimage of senior club officials.

The company was accused of

using fake social media accounts todiscredit opposition figures whenthey expressed views that wentagainst the club. Some of the figuressupposedly included players suchLionel Messi and Gerard Piqué, aswell as former coach Pep Guardiola.

The club later released an inde-pendent audit report showing thatthere was no wrongdoing. Bartomeuand his board of directors resignedlast year amid fallout from the con-troversy surrounding Messi. Theclub has been mired in politicalturmoil and debt prompted by the

coronavirus pandemic.The club has been managed by a

caretaker board since Bartomeuleft in October while facing a no-con-fidence motion supported by thou-sands of club members furious atthe team’s poor performances andthe club's financial situation.

The club’s struggles began tosurface after the team’s embar-rassing 2-8 loss to Bayern Munichin the quar terfinals of theChampions League last season,which was the first without a titlefor the Spanish club since 2007-08.

Viv slams critics of Indian pitches PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, March 1: West Indianbatting legend Viv Richards is notamused with past and presentEnglish cricketers ‘moaning andgroaning’ about the spin-friendlypitches in India and said the visi-tors did not prepare well for thechallenge.

The newly-laid Motera track inAhmedabad became a subject ofdebate after India crushed Englandinside two days in the third Test. Thesevere criticism came from formerEngland captains like MichaelVaughan and a section of the Britishmedia.

“I’ve been asked questions re-cently about the Test match that wasplayed in India, the second andthird Test match against England.And I am a little confused aboutthe question really because thereseems to be a lot of moaning andgroaning about the wicket that theywere playing on,” Richards said ina video posted on his Facebookpage.

“I just felt that the ones who aremoaning, in my opinion, should

realise that there are times thatyou’re going to get a seaming track,a ball that is basically jumping offa good length and everyone thinksthat’s a problem for batters,” hereasoned.

Weighing in on the debate, the bat-ting great said, “But now you’veseen the other side, and this is whyI think it was given the name Testmatch cricket, because of the testof the mind and will and every-thing else that goes with it whenyou’re competing.

“And the complaints have beenthat the wicket is spinning toomuch and all that sorts of stuff.This is another side of the coinguys. People seem to forget that if

you’re going to India, you should ex-pect that. You are going to spinland. You should basically prepareyourself to know what you’re goingto encounter.”

Richards said that India havepushed England out of their com-fort zone, weeks after the visitorsstarted the series with a big win.

“Ever since that first Test match,England were in their comfort zone.They have now been taken out oftheir comfort zone at present andthey have got to find ways andmeans to cope with what they aregoing to encounter.

“Spin is also a part of the game,this is what a Test match brings. TheIndian pacers have been brilliantover the past few years in terms ofsubstance, the wicket-taking abil-ity and stuff like that.”

The legend urged the Englishteam to work harder and face thechallenge resolutely. “Now thatyou’re in India, you are going toencounter things and have got to finda way. You’re going to get dirty.There is nothing in the rule bookthat says I’ve got to score my runsin pretty, classical ways,” he said.

Indian top guns go full throttle at netsPRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Ahmedabad, March 1: Big gunsVirat Kohli, Rohit Sharma andAjinkya Rahane went full throttleat the nets as the Indian cricketMonday trained in earnest for theupcoming fourth and final Testagainst England. The fourth Teststarts here, Thursday.

Captain Kohli, his deputy Rahaneand senior opener Rohit were seenbatting at the nets in a video postedby the BCCI on Twitter. The threesenior players drove, pulled andflicked against the fast bowlersand spinners at the Narendra ModiStadium here.

Head coach Ravi Shastri wasseen interacting with Rohit andKohli before the two star batsmensat together for a discussion. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who bagged11 wickets in India’s thumping winin the pink ball third Test at thesame venue, was seen rolling hisarms over at the nets against some

of the world’s best batsmen.They were also seen fielding

with Rahane, standing next to Rohitin the second slip position, takinga one-handed diving catch to hisright. The Indian team had a full-fledged practice session here Sundayas well.

Virat Kohliat the nets

Paddlers Desai, Batraoff to winning starts

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Doha, March 1: Ace Indian paddlersManika Batra and Harmeet Desaimade an impressive return to the in-ternational circuit by registeringstraight-game victories in their re-spective qualifying round-2 matchesat the World Table Tennis (WTT)Contender series here Monday.

Batra, the 2018 CommonwealthGames gold-medallist, registereda 12-10, 14-12, 11-8 victory over Spain’sSofia-Xuan Zhang in women’s sin-gles, while World No.73 Desainotched up an easy 11-5 12-10 11-6 winover compatriot Anthony Amalrajto progress to the third round of the

men’s singles qualifiers.The season-opener is also the first

international tournament Indianplayers are participating in afterthe long coronavirus-forced break.

However, Sutirtha Mukherjee,Mudit Dani and Diya Chitale suf-fered defeats in their respectivesingles qualifying round matches.

Two-time national championMukherjee failed to get the betterof Ukraine’s Tetyana Bilenko 5-11, 3-11, 12-10, 9-11 while Dani, whois ranked 200, went down 8-11, 6-1111-8, 6-11 against World No.85 OlahBenedek of Finland.

Chitale started off well againstRomania’s Irina Ciobanu with agame’s lead, but she couldn’t cap-italise on the momentum and lostthe match 11-8, 9-11, 3-11, 8-11 againstthe World No.98.

Achanta Sharath Kamal andSathiyan Gnanasekaran have re-ceived direct entries into the men’ssingles main draw, while 10 otherIndians are playing in the qualifiersat the event.

MANIKABATRA