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Caught off guard after six
people tested positive for
the super-infectious UK strain
of the coronavirus on Tuesday,
the Government has now
decided to conduct genome
sequencing on all internation-
al passengers who were symp-
tomatic and tested positive for
coronavirus in the last 14 days.
The Union Health
Ministry has already decided to
conduct genome sequencing
on 5 per cent of the total
Covid positive cases detected
daily to check for new variants.
Experts feel that the
response is too late as it will not
be an easy task to trace the
33,000 flyers from the UK who
had returned to India during
the last one month.
“Many of them must have
come into contact with their
relatives and others. The con-
tact tracing is going to be a dif-
ficult task,” they said amid
reports that many UK
returnees in India have either
switched off their phone num-
bers or are not available at their
residences.
However, the Government
assured that the vaccines under
development would also work
against the mutated pathogen
first reported in the UK.
“No need to worry about
vaccines. Vaccines will work
against the variants detected in
the UK and South Africa.
There is no evidence that cur-
rent vaccines will fail to protect
against the new mutant strains,”
said Principal Scientific Adviser
K VijayRaghavan at a presser
here.
At the same time, he said,
there is a need to reduce trans-
mission through physical dis-
tancing, follow all public health
measures scrupulously, wear
masks, follow hand-washing,
Covid appropriate behaviour,
infection control, amplify test,
track, isolate efforts.”
The Ministry has so far
carried out genome testing of
144 positive Covid samples of
which six have been found to
be carrying the new variant
reported in the UK.
Three samples in
NIMHANS of Bengaluru, 2 in
CCMB, Hyderabad and 1 in
NIV, Pune have been detected
out of all the 144 samples test-
ed.
The new variant of the
coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that
causes Covid-19 is believed to
be 71 per cent more transmit-
table than the other variants,
the Hyderabad-based Centre
for Cellular and Molecular
Biology (CCMB) said on
Tuesday when India confirmed
six cases of the new strain.
The leading research insti-
tute has underlined the impor-
tance to launch an extensive
genome surveillance of the
virus to assess the extent of the
spread of the new virus.
“We should also keep an
eye on other variants that
might emerge independently,
as India houses the second
largest population infected with
this virus, at present,” CCMB
Director Dr Rakesh Mishra
said as per a news agency.
The presence of the new
UK variant of the coronavirus
has already been reported by
Denmark, the Netherlands,
Australia, Italy, Sweden, France,
Spain, Switzerland, Germany,
Canada, Japan, Lebanon and
Singapore so far.
“The Government was well
aware of the mutated virus
doing the rounds in several
countries. It should have start-
ed genome testing of the flyers
returning from these mutated
affected countries as was being
done by other nations. But the
Government was either apa-
thetic or negligent towards this
important measures which it
has now decided,” said a doc-
tor from a Government hospi-
tal who refused to be
named.
The Government said that
all the persons with the new
variant have been kept in sin-
gle room isolation in designat-
ed healthcare facilities by
respective State Governments.
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The temporary suspension of
India-UK flights is likely to
be extended beyond December
31. Union Civil Aviation
Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
on Tuesday said he expected a
slight extension of temporary
suspension of passenger flights
between India and the UK
where a new variant of coron-
avirus has been detected.
“I foresee a slight extension
of temporary suspension of
India-UK flights. In the next
day or two, we will find out if
any additional steps need to be
taken, or when we can start eas-
ing the current temporary sus-
pension,” Puri said while
addressing a Press conference.
India had last week sus-
pended passenger flights to
and from the UK between
December 23 and 31, after a
growing list of countries like
Canada, Germany, France,
Netherlands, Belgium,
Denmark and Italy did the
same due to a more infectious
coronavirus variant there. The
presence of the new UK vari-
ant has already been reported
by Denmark, the Netherlands,
Australia, Italy, Sweden, and
other countries.
India, UK have 67 weekly
flights operated by four airlines
— Air India, Vistara, British
Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
Almost 2,000-2,500 passen-
gers fly in daily on these
flights.
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Afew hours ahead of the
talks between farmers and
Government scheduled for
Wednesday, protesting farm
unions on Tuesday wrote to the
Centre, saying the discussion
will only be on the modalities
of repealing the three legisla-
tions, giving a legal guarantee
on the MSP, and on two other
issues they proposed earlier this
week for a resumption of the
dialogue.
The Government has invit-
ed the protesting farmers for
the sixth round of talks on
Wednesday.
In its letter on Tuesday, the
Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which
represents 40 farm unions, said
the modalities for repealing the
three contentious laws and a
legal guarantee on the mini-
mum support price (MSP)
must be part of the agenda for
the talks.
The Morcha further said
the agenda of the meeting
should also include amend-
ments to be made and notified
in the Commission for the Air
Quality Management in
National Capital Region and
Adjoining Areas Ordinance,
2020 to exclude farmers from
its penal provisions.
Through the letter, the
Morcha also formally accepted
the Government’s invitation
for the dialogue.
The letter also stated that
withdrawal of the Electricity
Amendment Bill 2020 to pro-
tect the interests of farmers
should also be part of the
agenda for the dialogue.
The farmers had also writ-
ten to the Government on
December 26 listing the agen-
da for talks.
In the letter, the Morcha
said that in its December 26
communication to the
Government, it had mentioned
“changes” by mistakes instead
of “withdrawal” of the
Electricity Amendment Bill.
Meanwhile, also on
Tuesday the unions deferred to
Thursday their proposed trac-
tor march against the con-
tentious agriculture laws, so
that the rally does not clash
with their talks with the
Government.
Thousands of protesting
farmers, mostly from Punjab
and Haryana, have been camp-
ing at three Delhi border points
— Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri
— for the past 31 days,
demanding a repeal of three
farm laws and legal guarantee
for minimum support price.
On Monday, farmer lead-
ers agreed to the government
proposal for holding the next
round of talks on the new
agricultural laws on December
30, but remained firm on their
agenda of scrapping the
laws.
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The India Meteorological
Department (IMD) will
now provide localised weather
forecasts, issue warnings for
adverse weather conditions for
traffic movement on highways,
agriculture, and defence per-
sonnel, from its meteorological
centre, Leh in Ladakh, having
extreme wide-ranging climate
and topography.
The centre was virtually
inaugurated by Minister for
Earth Sciences (MoES) Dr
Harsh Vardhan. After Itanagar
in Arunachal Pradesh, the Leh
centre is the second meteoro-
logical centre located in the
Himalayas.
This will also help the
defence personnel which have
been guarding the frontiers of
the entire Ladakh region assid-
uously for the last 70 years, to
get better prepared to cope with
adverse weather conditions
amid China standoff at the Line
of Control on western
sector.
Located at 3,500 metres
above sea level in Leh, it will be
the highest meteorological cen-
tre in India. It will forecast the
weather conditions such as
cloud bursts, flash floods,
glacial lake outbursts (GLOFs),
avalanche, pressure, humidity,
temperature, snowfall of the
Ladakh region.
“Ladakh remains vulner-
able to erratic weather and
changing climate that have
adverse effects on the lives of
the locals. The region is unique
in terms of weather, climate,
culture, topography with
extreme temperatures, ranging
from minus 40 degrees Celsius
in Drass to scanty average pre-
cipitation of 10 centimetres
annually, which makes the
region a distinct cold desert. In
addition, the UT is a geostrate-
gic location from the security
point of view. All of these
together, the Government of
India decided to establish an
MC in Leh,” said Dr Harsh
Vardhan.
Ladakh experiences vari-
ous kinds of extreme weather
events like cloud bursts, flash
floods, glacial lake outbursts,
avalanches and drought.
The meteorological centre
will provide short-range (three
days,) medium range (12 days)
and long-range (one month)
forecast for the two districts —
Leh and Kargil — of the Union
Territory. Besides, it will also
provide some important ser-
vices are highway forecast,
forecast for mountaineering,
trekking, agriculture, flash
flood warning, information on
gusty winds and low and high
temperatures.
According to the IMD, the
decision to establish an mete-
orological centre in Ladakh was
taken following the Union
Government’s decision to abro-
gate Article 370 in August
2019, whereby the Ladakh UT
was constituted.
Lucknow: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit
out at previous Governments
for delaying the Dedicated
Freight Corridor project and
ignoring modernisation of rail-
ways, and said his Government
engaged with stakeholders to
speed up works and carried out
reforms at all levels.
Inaugurating the New
Bhaupur-New Khurja section
of the Eastern Dedicated
Freight Corridor (EDFC) via
video conferencing, Modi said
the “vibration” and “roar” of
Bharat and “Aatmanirbhar
Bharat” were clearly heard as
the first freight train ran on the
Khurja-Bhaupur freight corri-
dor.
Attacking previous
Government, the Prime
Minister said the project was
given permission in 2006 but it
was only on paper as the then
Government lacked the seri-
ousness and urgency with
which it had to take it up with
the states.
Till 2014 not a single km
track of the project was laid and
the funds sanctioned could
not be spent properly. PTI
Detailed report on P5
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The Centre on Tuesday said
it has proposed to make
airbag mandatory for the pas-
senger in the front seat of a
vehicle. The step is aimed at
improving passenger safety in
case of accidents.
The Road Transport
Ministry has issued a draft
notification. The proposed
timelines for the implementa-
tion of the move is April 1,
2021, for new models and June
1, 2021, for existing models.
“In a significant measure to
boost passenger safety, the
Ministry of Road Transport
and Highways (MoRTH) pro-
poses to make it mandatory
that an airbag be provided for
the passenger seated on the
front seat of a vehicle, next to
the driver,” the Ministry said in
a statement.
The addition of a dual
front airbags would spell an
increase of roughly between Rs
10,000 to Rs 20,000 in the
prices of entry-level versions of
the car models.
The MoRTH has planned
to implement this norm for all
new models of cars which are
manufactured from April 1,
2021, onwards. For the existing
units, the date for complying
with the new rule is proposed
to be June 1, 2021.
Previously, the
Government had made having
an airbag mandatory for the
driver’s seat in all cars which
came into effect from July 1,
2019.
“Comments/ suggestions
are solicited from all stake-
holders within a month time,”
the draft notification by the
MoRTH said.
The draft notification fur-
ther reads, “Vehicles manufac-
tured on and after 1st Day of
April 2021, in the case of new
models, and 1st day of June
2021, in the case of existing
models, shall be fitted with
airbag for the person occupy-
ing the front seat, other than
the driver. The requirement for
such airbag shall be as per AIS
145...under the Bureau of
Indian Standards act,
2016.”
“As of now, only the driver’s
seat airbag is mandatory for all
cars. However, this leaves the
passenger in the front seat
completely vulnerable to severe
injury or even death in case of
accidents as they are not pro-
tected by the airbag,” said a
senior MoRTH official.
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Poet Laureate Rabindranath
Tagore’s Shantiniketan
(abode of peace) once again
turned into a political theatre
less than 10 days after the
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah held a massive parade at
Bolpur in Birbhum district.
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday
led an equally impressive road-
show attacking Shah and the
BJP for importing “fake politics
and hate politics” in the
State.
Calling upon the people to
“oust the Bargis (Maratha
invaders of 18th century were
called thus in Bengal) who have
come here to generate fake pol-
itics, spread hatred and spark
riots,” Mamata said, adding,
“they have not only smeared
the Viswa Bharati campus
which was scarcely politicised
in the past but they have also
not spared even a Nobel laure-
ate and a son of the soil like
Amartya Sen.”
A time has come when the
people of Bengal were tasked
with a duty to “oust the Bargis
who are soiling our culture and
spoiling our lives by splurging
money in order to buy not only
the people’s representatives but
also the voters,” Mamata said.
She asked the people to
accept the cash offered but not
vote for their symbol (lotus) as
they are masters of fake and
hate politics whose duty is only
to spread hatred and ignite
riots.
Referring to Shah’s rally
Mamata said, “There are some
parties that organise roadshows
where you will find more ban-
ners and flags than the people.”
“Hours after the Chief
Minister’s roadshow TMC
strongman and district party
president Anubrata Mondal
said at least three lakh people
had gathered at the Bolpur
rally.”
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Actor Rajinikanth, who had
declared early this month
that he would announce the
details of his political party on
the New Year eve, made a
quick volte-face on Tuesday by
announcing through social
media that he was not launch-
ing any political outfit.
This means that Tamil
Nadu may have to wait for long
to see an effective and viable
third front to take on the DMK
and the AIADMK, the tradi-
tional rivals of the State politics
for the last 35 years. The State’s
thirst to see the emergence of
a charismatic leader too
remains unquenched.
“With a heavy heart, I
announce this: Due to health
reasons I am not able to enter
politics by launching a politi-
cal party. Only I know the pain
with which I make this
announcement,” Rajinikanth
said in the statement.
“I will continue to serve
people without coming to elec-
toral politics. I will never hes-
itate to speak the truth. I appeal
to all my fans and people of
Tamil Nadu to accept my deci-
sion. Rajini Makkal Mandram
will continue to function,” the
actor said.
He stated that it would not
be fair to campaign through
social media. If I develop health
complications during my cam-
paign, it would severely affect
those who accompany me in
politics, he
said.
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Pierre Cardin, the French
designer whose famous
name embossed everything
from wristwatches to bedsheets
after his iconic Space Age styles
shot him into the fashion
stratosphere in the 1960s, has
died, the French Academy of
Fine Arts said on Tuesday. He
was 98.
A licensing maverick,
Cardin’s name went on thou-
sands of products and in the
brands heyday in the 1970s and
80s, while goods bearing his
fancy cursive signature were
sold at some 100,000 outlets
worldwide.
That number dwindled
dramatically in later years, as
his products were increasing-
ly regarded as cheaply made
and his clothing — which,
decades later, remained virtu-
ally unchanged from its 60s-era
styles — felt laughably
dated.
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The Municipal Corporation
of Dehradun (MCD) will
commence the installation of
65,000 LED street lights in the
new wards from January 15
onwards.
However, the corporation
will first begin the installation
of 1000 LED lights timers from
January 1. Informing this, the
municipal light inspector (LI)
Ranjeet Rana stated that
besides installing 1000 timers
in the new 32 wards from
Friday, the MCD will also
install electric meters on the
electric poles. He said that the
survey conducted by the EESL
Company for the installation of
65,000 LED streets lights is
almost finished and the instal-
lation will start from January 15
onwards.
The officials also said that
the corporation will erect new
poles in some of the old wards
too to install over 2,000 LED
street lights. In order to decide
from which ward the installa-
tion of street lights should
start, the corporation is con-
sidering trying the lottery sys-
tem, as per the officials. It is
noteworthy to mention here
that the municipal corporation
has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with
EESL Company for the instal-
lation and maintenance of
65,000 LED streets lights for the
next seven years in the new
wards.
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The state minister for high-
er education and
Cooperatives, Dhan Singh
Rawat released ‘Baramas-2021’
the calendar of Pen India
Foundation (PIF) on Tuesday.
The calendar this year is dedi-
cated to eminent personalities
of Uttarakhand. Speaking on
the occasion, Rawat said that
including great personalities
of Uttarakhand in the calendar
is an appreciable effort. He
said that the students and youth
would be able to know about
these personalities. The patron
of the foundation, Dr Prakash
Keshaviah said that the Pen
India Foundation is providing
free and quality education to
the poor children. He said that
the objective of the foundation
is to provide activity based
education. The founder of PIF,
Anoop Rawat and cofounder
Santosh Budakoti said that the
content of the calendar has been
prepared after a lot of discus-
sions with experts of media,
culture and history. The PIF has
included pictures and brief
accounts on Bhakt Darshan
Singh Rawat, Sundarlal
Bahuguna, Swami Ved Bharti,
Liladhar Jagudi, IPS Anil
Dhasmana, Col ( retd) Ajay
Kothiyal, Major General Smita
Devrani, IAS Rajendra Bhushan
Benjwal, folk singer Narendra
Singh Negi, Sudha Painyuli, IAS
Mangesh Ghildiyal and crick-
eter Ekta Bist.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Hundreds of farmers have
stayed put at National
Capital’s borders demanding
the Centre to repeal the new
farm laws. The farmers and
Government are expected to
meet at 2 pm on Wednesday for
talks. However, All India Kisan
Sangharsh Coordination
Committee (AIKSCC) has
refuted any possibility of any
discussion in tomorrow’s talks
until the agenda of repeal of the
three farm acts and EB 2020 is
taken up first. Meanwhile,
security remained tight at the
Delhi borders with hundreds of
personnel deployed at Singhu,
Ghazipur and Tikri where the
farmers have been camping.
AIKSCC said it is illogical
for the government to assert
that these acts are for benefit to
farmers. “Crores of farmers
who know the reality of com-
panies better than him are sit-
ting at his doorstep for more
than a month. The acts, which
legally establish corporate, both
Indian and Foreign, will under-
mine government mandis and
help bind farmers in contracts.
They will input costs, reduce
prices, raise farmer debts and
lead both to increased alien-
ation from land and suicides,”
alleged AIKSCC.
AIKSCC asserted that the
farmer under contract will have
to borrow and the Contract
Acts provides for such bor-
rowing by mortgaging and for
recovery of dues from land.
The farmer unions have
deferred to Thursday their
proposed tractor march against
the contentious agriculture
laws, so that the rally does not
clash with their talks with the
government on Wednesday.
The unions have agreed to
hold the next round of talks
with the Central government
on Wednesday, but insist the
agenda of the meeting should
include discussing modalities
for repealing the three legisla-
tions.
Earlier this week, Samyukt
Kisan Morcha -- an umbrella
body of 40 unions leading
protests at Delhi border points
— had announced a tractor
march from the Singhu and the
Tikri borders to the Kundli-
Manesar-Palwal (KMP)
Highway on December 30.
Meanwhile, the farmers
demonstrating against the
Centre's new agri laws on
Monday performed yoga on
the Delhi-Noida Link Road at
the Chilla border where they
have been camping for 28 days
now.
The road remained closed
for Noida to Delhi movement
but was open for commuters
travelling from Delhi to Noida.
While the traffic movement at
Singhu and Tikri borders
remained closed.
BC055A4?AC4AQ
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Aretired clerk of the elec-
tricity department alleged-
ly committed suicide on
Monday by hanging himself
from a ceiling fan at his home.
The police have registered
a case of abetment of suicide
against a SDO of the electrici-
ty department after a complaint
filed by the victim's family, the
police said on Tuesday.
The deceased was identi-
fied as Devki Nandan (58), of
Jacobpura in Gurugram. He
used to be a clerk in the elec-
tricity corporation. He had
retired on 31 August.
The victim's family told the
police that Devki Nandan was
under stress for almost five
months before his retirement.
Son of the victim, Dheeraj
told the police that his father
had given Rs 18.42 lakh of the
Electricity Department to
Deepak, an employee of
Radiant Cash Collection
Agency. He had taken the
receipt of this amount from
Deepak and deposited it in the
records of the office.
It is alleged that even after
the amount was deposited in
the bank account of the office,
SDO Gaurav Chaudhary and
other staff were continuously
pressurising Devaki Nandan.
They were threatening to file a
case against him for not giving
the money, Dheeraj told the
police.
The victim was in acute
pressure due to the harassment
by SDO Gaurav Chaudhary
and hanged himself, Dheeraj
alleged.
Meanwhile, Chaudhary has
denied the allegations.
The autopsy will be con-
ducted on Tuesday, the police
said.
A case has been registered
against the SDO under sections
of the IPC at the city police sta-
tion in Gurugram.
Further probe is under-
way, said Subhash Boken,
spokesperson of the Gurugram
police.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal on Tuesday said
that his Government has
passed orders to waive off
penalty on late submission of
road taxes.
Kejriwal said the Delhi
government provided Rs 5000
each to construction workers
for their livelihood and trans-
ferred Rs 5000 each to the bank
accounts of taxi and auto dri-
vers every month till the lock-
down got opened, and all this
work is reaching Goa.
I passed orders to waive
off penalty on late submission
of road taxes and it happened
because the Aam Aadmi Party
( AAP ) is of common people
and is committed to finding
solutions to their problems,
CM said.
Kejriwal said that the lock-
down was an extremely diffi-
cult phase because the incomes
of the people, their shops, busi-
nesses, industries, taxis, autos,
and markets, etc, were shut
down. It was extremely difficult
for a daily wage laborer to
afford food.
He said that it was a test-
ing period for all the govern-
ments to show how responsi-
ble they are. We tried our best
to provide food to all during
the lockdown. The Delhi gov-
ernment provided food to 10
lakh people every day, and all
these arrangements were made
in all the schools across Delhi
including Central govt and
MCD schools. Around 10 lakh
people were provided lunch
and dinner every day, and we
used to serve them as we were
serving langars since we had
our religious sentiments. We
continued the distribution till
people stopped coming for
food and till the time the
queues were over.
The Delhi government
provided dry ration, consisting
of wheat, rice, pulses, oil, and
spices, to 1 crore people, i.e., 50
percent of Delhi's population
every day for 3 months. We
doubled the pensions of elders
and widows to Rs 5000.
“ We provided Rs 5000
each to construction workers
for their livelihood and trans-
ferred Rs 5000 each to the bank
accounts taxi and auto drivers
every month till the lockdown
got opened, he added.
He further said, “Recently,
some taxi drivers from Goa
were in Delhi and wanted to
meet me. Whenever some-
body comes to Delhi, they
want to meet me and
appreciate the works done in
Delhi.
“I told them that this was
not only limited to Corona
lockdown. The taxi and auto
drivers need the help of the
governments. We have changed
all rules and regulations, and so
our drivers do not need to pay
bribes to get their works done
because of an honest govern-
ment in Delhi. A
round 4-5 days back, I
received a message from a taxi
driver in Delhi, who said that
he could not submit road tax
during Corona lockdown
because of no income and
wanted a penalty waive-off.
We passed an order in 24
hours and waived off the penal-
ty on late road tax, he added.
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=4F34;78
The Delhi Government will
provide dry ration to stu-
dents of its schools under the
mid-day meal scheme for six
months, Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal announced
it, on Tuesday during a dry
ration distribution event at a
government school in
Mandawali area.
The move comes in view
of continued closure of
schools since March due to
the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When schools were
closed, we decided to send the
money for mid-day meals to
parents' account, but now, it
has been decided that we will
give dry rations for six
months, Kejriwal said.
“This is a very difficult
phase especially for the chil-
dren, please take care of them,
ensure they attend all online
classes, and please take care of
their nutrition. I hope that the
vaccine comes and ends our
difficulty as soon as possible,”
he said.
Deputy CM Manish
Sisodia said that even if the
Covid-19 vaccine is available,
it will be difficult to compen-
sate for the learning loss due
to Covid-19.
“Every day, we pray for
the schools to reopen and get
re-energized like pre-Covid
times. God is testing our
patience in these challenging
times. But I am proud that
despite these challenges our
Team Education has been
persistent with its efforts.
Everyone has worked really
hard to reach to 94 per cent of
the students through online
and semi online teaching,”
said Sisodia.
Schools across the coun-
try were closed in March to
contain the spread of Covid-
19. They were partially
reopened in some States from
October 15.
However, the Delhi
Government has announced
that schools will not reopen in
the national Capital till a vac-
cine for the coronavirus is
available.
6^ecc^_a^eXSTSahaPcX^]c^
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BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Senior Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) leader and the
Municipal Corporation Delhi
(MCD) in-charge Durgesh
Pathak on Tuesday alleged that
the top brass of the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) has lost all
hope on the BJP ruled MCD.
Hitting hard on BJP Pathak
said that on October 19 the
North MCD mayor Jai Prakash
met Union Minister of State
(Finance) Anurag Thakur;
despite the request of the
mayor, the Center has not pro-
vided any aid to the MCD.
He said that MCD had
asked for Rs 2000 crores from
the Center but they have not
provided any money. Pathak
said that the BJP has no moral
right to stay in power of the
MCD because not only the
people of Delhi but also their
own party leaders do not
believe the BJP ruled MCD.
“All the permanent, as well
as contractual sanitation work-
ers, have not received their
salary for the last 4 months.
Class 4 employees and Health
workers of group C have not
received their salary in the last
5 months. DCB employees
have not received their salary
for the last 3 months,” said
Pathak.
“Nurses, Allopathy doc-
tors, and surgeons have not
received their salary for the last
four months. Teachers who
build our student’s destiny have
not received their salary for the
last six months. Group A and
B employees also have not
received their salary for the last
6 months. It is an
extremely unfortunate situation
that BJP who is ruling the Delhi
MCD for the last 14 years is
unable to pay its employees,”
said Pathak.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
The Economic Offences
Wing (EOW) of Delhi
Police has arrested a man for
allegedly inducing the people to
invest in a real estate company
on a huge return and duped
them to the tune of Rs four
crores.
The accused has been iden-
tified as Nikhil Mishra. Police
said that he along with his asso-
ciates had cheated around 14
people to the tune of Rs four
crores.
According to Dr O P
Mishra, the Joint
Commissioner of Police, EOW,
a case was registered after a
complaint was received from
Mangat Ram and other victims
against Priya Arora alias Priya
Mishra and others regarding
cheating.
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BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
The Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) leader and MLA
from Rajinder Nagar, Raghav
Chadha on Tuesday said that
free WiFi hotspots will be set
up at Singhu border for the
protesting farmers
“The decision has been
taken by farmers' 'sevadar
Arvind Kejriwal. We want the
farmers to stay in touch with
their family. We have identified
a few spots to install the WiFi
hotspots. This is an initiative of
Arvind Kejriwal and the party,”
said Chadha, while addressing
a press conference.
“We were apprised of the
fact that due to poor reception
at Singhu border, they were
unable to speak with their
family. Each WiFi hotspot will
cover a radius of 100 metres,
and a total area of over 31,000
sq mtr,” said
Chadha.
Farmers from various parts
of the country have been camp-
ing at different border points of
Delhi for over a
month.
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BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice
chairmen Raghav Chadha
on Tuesday said Haryana has
not stopped discharging indus-
trial pollutants into the Yamuna
despite repeated reminders.
Chadha urged the Central
Pollution Control Board
(CPCB) to take immediate
remedial measures.
“Ammonia concentration
in the river at the Wazirabad
barrage has increased to 7 ppm
(parts per million) against the
permissible limit of 0.8 ppm
which is likely to affect the
water supply,” said Chadha.
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“Discharge of industrial
pollutants in Yamuna through
Rohtak X-Regulator and DD6
has not stopped despite repeat-
ed reminders to the Haryana
govt,” Chadha tweeted.
“Such irresponsible behav-
iour of Haryana govt adverse-
ly impacting the water supply
in Delhi must be dealt with
sternly,” he added.
Chadha urged the CPCB
and the Upper Yamuna River
Board to take immediate cog-
nisance of the nonchalant
attitude of the Haryana gov-
ernment and take remedial
measures.
The DJB on Monday said
water supply from Wazirabad,
Chandrawal and Okhla water
treatment plants would remain
affected till the ammonia level
in the river reduces to a treat-
able limit. These plants supply
drinking water to Central,
North, West and South Delhi.
The CPCB had earlier this
month raised concerns over
pollution and frothing in the
river and asked Delhi, Haryana
and Uttar Pradesh to ensure
effective sewage treatment.
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IMD sets up weather forecast centre in Ladakh
- 1. <4A2DAH3A?B14;F 346A44B28=34;78 =Tf3T[WX) 3T[WX aTT[TSd]STaP R^[SfPeT^] CdTbSPhPbXRh fX]SbbfTT_X]V cWa^dVWcWTRXch Qa^dVWccWT X]Xd cT_TaPcdaTS^f]c^% STVaTTb2T[bXdbcWT8]SXP TcT^a^[^VXRP[3T_PacT]cbPXS CWTBPUSPaYd]VQbTaePc^ah fWXRW_a^eXSTbaT_aTbT]cPcXeT SPcPU^acWTRXchaTR^aSTSP X]Xd^U%STVaTTb2T[bXdb P]SPPgXd^U ' STVaTTb 2T[bXdbcf^]^cRWTbQT[^f ]^aP[ 20?BD;4 0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78 Caught off guard after six people tested positive for the super-infectious UK strain of the coronavirus on Tuesday, the Government has now decided to conduct genome sequencing on all internation- al passengers who were symp- tomatic and tested positive for coronavirus in the last 14 days. The Union Health Ministry has already decided to conduct genome sequencing on 5 per cent of the total Covid positive cases detected daily to check for new variants. Experts feel that the response is too late as it will not be an easy task to trace the 33,000 flyers from the UK who had returned to India during the last one month. “Many of them must have come into contact with their relatives and others. The con- tact tracing is going to be a dif- ficult task,” they said amid reports that many UK returnees in India have either switched off their phone num- bers or are not available at their residences. However, the Government assured that the vaccines under development would also work against the mutated pathogen first reported in the UK. “No need to worry about vaccines. Vaccines will work against the variants detected in the UK and South Africa. There is no evidence that cur- rent vaccines will fail to protect against the new mutant strains,” said Principal Scientific Adviser K VijayRaghavan at a presser here. At the same time, he said, there is a need to reduce trans- mission through physical dis- tancing, follow all public health measures scrupulously, wear masks, follow hand-washing, Covid appropriate behaviour, infection control, amplify test, track, isolate efforts.” The Ministry has so far carried out genome testing of 144 positive Covid samples of which six have been found to be carrying the new variant reported in the UK. Three samples in NIMHANS of Bengaluru, 2 in CCMB, Hyderabad and 1 in NIV, Pune have been detected out of all the 144 samples test- ed. The new variant of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19 is believed to be 71 per cent more transmit- table than the other variants, the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) said on Tuesday when India confirmed six cases of the new strain. The leading research insti- tute has underlined the impor- tance to launch an extensive genome surveillance of the virus to assess the extent of the spread of the new virus. “We should also keep an eye on other variants that might emerge independently, as India houses the second largest population infected with this virus, at present,” CCMB Director Dr Rakesh Mishra said as per a news agency. The presence of the new UK variant of the coronavirus has already been reported by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore so far. “The Government was well aware of the mutated virus doing the rounds in several countries. It should have start- ed genome testing of the flyers returning from these mutated affected countries as was being done by other nations. But the Government was either apa- thetic or negligent towards this important measures which it has now decided,” said a doc- tor from a Government hospi- tal who refused to be named. The Government said that all the persons with the new variant have been kept in sin- gle room isolation in designat- ed healthcare facilities by respective State Governments. DecRZ_eVdeW`cR]]gVcVefc_VVd *HQRPH VHTXHQFLQJ FRQILUPV FDVHV *RYW VDV YDFFLQH HIIHFWLYH DJDLQVW DOO VWUDLQV ?=BQ =4F34;78 The temporary suspension of India-UK flights is likely to be extended beyond December 31. Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said he expected a slight extension of temporary suspension of passenger flights between India and the UK where a new variant of coron- avirus has been detected. “I foresee a slight extension of temporary suspension of India-UK flights. In the next day or two, we will find out if any additional steps need to be taken, or when we can start eas- ing the current temporary sus- pension,” Puri said while addressing a Press conference. India had last week sus- pended passenger flights to and from the UK between December 23 and 31, after a growing list of countries like Canada, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Italy did the same due to a more infectious coronavirus variant there. The presence of the new UK vari- ant has already been reported by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, and other countries. India, UK have 67 weekly flights operated by four airlines — Air India, Vistara, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Almost 2,000-2,500 passen- gers fly in daily on these flights. 8. IOLJKWV VXVSHQVLRQ OLNHO WR EH H[WHQGHG BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Afew hours ahead of the talks between farmers and Government scheduled for Wednesday, protesting farm unions on Tuesday wrote to the Centre, saying the discussion will only be on the modalities of repealing the three legisla- tions, giving a legal guarantee on the MSP, and on two other issues they proposed earlier this week for a resumption of the dialogue. The Government has invit- ed the protesting farmers for the sixth round of talks on Wednesday. In its letter on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which represents 40 farm unions, said the modalities for repealing the three contentious laws and a legal guarantee on the mini- mum support price (MSP) must be part of the agenda for the talks. The Morcha further said the agenda of the meeting should also include amend- ments to be made and notified in the Commission for the Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020 to exclude farmers from its penal provisions. Through the letter, the Morcha also formally accepted the Government’s invitation for the dialogue. The letter also stated that withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 to pro- tect the interests of farmers should also be part of the agenda for the dialogue. The farmers had also writ- ten to the Government on December 26 listing the agen- da for talks. In the letter, the Morcha said that in its December 26 communication to the Government, it had mentioned “changes” by mistakes instead of “withdrawal” of the Electricity Amendment Bill. Meanwhile, also on Tuesday the unions deferred to Thursday their proposed trac- tor march against the con- tentious agriculture laws, so that the rally does not clash with their talks with the Government. Thousands of protesting farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been camp- ing at three Delhi border points — Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri — for the past 31 days, demanding a repeal of three farm laws and legal guarantee for minimum support price. On Monday, farmer lead- ers agreed to the government proposal for holding the next round of talks on the new agricultural laws on December 30, but remained firm on their agenda of scrapping the laws. )DUPHUV KDUGHQ VWDQG VHW DJHQGD IRU WRGD¶V WDONV 5PaTab[XbcT]c^1:Db_^ZTb_Tab^]APZTbWCXZPXcd]bTT]SdaX]VcWTXa_a^cTbc PVPX]bccWT]TfUPa[PfbPcCXZaXQ^aSTaX]=Tf3T[WX^]CdTbSPh ?C8 A094B7:D0AQ =4F34;78 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will now provide localised weather forecasts, issue warnings for adverse weather conditions for traffic movement on highways, agriculture, and defence per- sonnel, from its meteorological centre, Leh in Ladakh, having extreme wide-ranging climate and topography. The centre was virtually inaugurated by Minister for Earth Sciences (MoES) Dr Harsh Vardhan. After Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, the Leh centre is the second meteoro- logical centre located in the Himalayas. This will also help the defence personnel which have been guarding the frontiers of the entire Ladakh region assid- uously for the last 70 years, to get better prepared to cope with adverse weather conditions amid China standoff at the Line of Control on western sector. Located at 3,500 metres above sea level in Leh, it will be the highest meteorological cen- tre in India. It will forecast the weather conditions such as cloud bursts, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts (GLOFs), avalanche, pressure, humidity, temperature, snowfall of the Ladakh region. “Ladakh remains vulner- able to erratic weather and changing climate that have adverse effects on the lives of the locals. The region is unique in terms of weather, climate, culture, topography with extreme temperatures, ranging from minus 40 degrees Celsius in Drass to scanty average pre- cipitation of 10 centimetres annually, which makes the region a distinct cold desert. In addition, the UT is a geostrate- gic location from the security point of view. All of these together, the Government of India decided to establish an MC in Leh,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan. Ladakh experiences vari- ous kinds of extreme weather events like cloud bursts, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts, avalanches and drought. The meteorological centre will provide short-range (three days,) medium range (12 days) and long-range (one month) forecast for the two districts — Leh and Kargil — of the Union Territory. Besides, it will also provide some important ser- vices are highway forecast, forecast for mountaineering, trekking, agriculture, flash flood warning, information on gusty winds and low and high temperatures. According to the IMD, the decision to establish an mete- orological centre in Ladakh was taken following the Union Government’s decision to abro- gate Article 370 in August 2019, whereby the Ladakh UT was constituted. Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at previous Governments for delaying the Dedicated Freight Corridor project and ignoring modernisation of rail- ways, and said his Government engaged with stakeholders to speed up works and carried out reforms at all levels. Inaugurating the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) via video conferencing, Modi said the “vibration” and “roar” of Bharat and “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” were clearly heard as the first freight train ran on the Khurja-Bhaupur freight corri- dor. Attacking previous Government, the Prime Minister said the project was given permission in 2006 but it was only on paper as the then Government lacked the seri- ousness and urgency with which it had to take it up with the states. Till 2014 not a single km track of the project was laid and the funds sanctioned could not be spent properly. PTI Detailed report on P5 AZ_RfXfcReVd VRdeVc_WcVZXYe T`ccZU`cdecVeTY 83´bWXVWTbcRT]caTX];TW c^R^TX]WP]ShU^aX[XcPah ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Centre on Tuesday said it has proposed to make airbag mandatory for the pas- senger in the front seat of a vehicle. The step is aimed at improving passenger safety in case of accidents. The Road Transport Ministry has issued a draft notification. The proposed timelines for the implementa- tion of the move is April 1, 2021, for new models and June 1, 2021, for existing models. “In a significant measure to boost passenger safety, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) pro- poses to make it mandatory that an airbag be provided for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver,” the Ministry said in a statement. The addition of a dual front airbags would spell an increase of roughly between Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 in the prices of entry-level versions of the car models. The MoRTH has planned to implement this norm for all new models of cars which are manufactured from April 1, 2021, onwards. For the existing units, the date for complying with the new rule is proposed to be June 1, 2021. Previously, the Government had made having an airbag mandatory for the driver’s seat in all cars which came into effect from July 1, 2019. “Comments/ suggestions are solicited from all stake- holders within a month time,” the draft notification by the MoRTH said. The draft notification fur- ther reads, “Vehicles manufac- tured on and after 1st Day of April 2021, in the case of new models, and 1st day of June 2021, in the case of existing models, shall be fitted with airbag for the person occupy- ing the front seat, other than the driver. The requirement for such airbag shall be as per AIS 145...under the Bureau of Indian Standards act, 2016.” “As of now, only the driver’s seat airbag is mandatory for all cars. However, this leaves the passenger in the front seat completely vulnerable to severe injury or even death in case of accidents as they are not pro- tected by the airbag,” said a senior MoRTH official. $LUEDJ IRU SDVVHQJHU LQ IURQW VHDW WR EH PXVW VRRQ 'UDIW B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q 1;?DA Poet Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan (abode of peace) once again turned into a political theatre less than 10 days after the Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a massive parade at Bolpur in Birbhum district. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday led an equally impressive road- show attacking Shah and the BJP for importing “fake politics and hate politics” in the State. Calling upon the people to “oust the Bargis (Maratha invaders of 18th century were called thus in Bengal) who have come here to generate fake pol- itics, spread hatred and spark riots,” Mamata said, adding, “they have not only smeared the Viswa Bharati campus which was scarcely politicised in the past but they have also not spared even a Nobel laure- ate and a son of the soil like Amartya Sen.” A time has come when the people of Bengal were tasked with a duty to “oust the Bargis who are soiling our culture and spoiling our lives by splurging money in order to buy not only the people’s representatives but also the voters,” Mamata said. She asked the people to accept the cash offered but not vote for their symbol (lotus) as they are masters of fake and hate politics whose duty is only to spread hatred and ignite riots. Referring to Shah’s rally Mamata said, “There are some parties that organise roadshows where you will find more ban- ners and flags than the people.” “Hours after the Chief Minister’s roadshow TMC strongman and district party president Anubrata Mondal said at least three lakh people had gathered at the Bolpur rally.” 5ZUZde`c^d3`]afc! URjdRWeVcDYRYcR]]j 8]SXP]_[PhTabRT[TQaPcTPUcTafX]]X]VcWTbTR^]SRaXRZTccTbcX]T[Q^da]T^]CdTbSPh 1228 :D0A274;;0??0=Q 274==08 Actor Rajinikanth, who had declared early this month that he would announce the details of his political party on the New Year eve, made a quick volte-face on Tuesday by announcing through social media that he was not launch- ing any political outfit. This means that Tamil Nadu may have to wait for long to see an effective and viable third front to take on the DMK and the AIADMK, the tradi- tional rivals of the State politics for the last 35 years. The State’s thirst to see the emergence of a charismatic leader too remains unquenched. “With a heavy heart, I announce this: Due to health reasons I am not able to enter politics by launching a politi- cal party. Only I know the pain with which I make this announcement,” Rajinikanth said in the statement. “I will continue to serve people without coming to elec- toral politics. I will never hes- itate to speak the truth. I appeal to all my fans and people of Tamil Nadu to accept my deci- sion. Rajini Makkal Mandram will continue to function,” the actor said. He stated that it would not be fair to campaign through social media. If I develop health complications during my cam- paign, it would severely affect those who accompany me in politics, he said. :DU RI KHDOWK 5DMLQL VDV QR WR SRO SOXQJH 0?Q ?0A8B Pierre Cardin, the French designer whose famous name embossed everything from wristwatches to bedsheets after his iconic Space Age styles shot him into the fashion stratosphere in the 1960s, has died, the French Academy of Fine Arts said on Tuesday. He was 98. A licensing maverick, Cardin’s name went on thou- sands of products and in the brands heyday in the 1970s and 80s, while goods bearing his fancy cursive signature were sold at some 100,000 outlets worldwide. That number dwindled dramatically in later years, as his products were increasing- ly regarded as cheaply made and his clothing — which, decades later, remained virtu- ally unchanged from its 60s-era styles — felt laughably dated. =VXV_URcj7cV_TY UVdZX_VcAZVccV 4RcUZ_UZVdRe*) ,QGLD JHW HYHQ ZLWK 2] :ULWHV WR HQWUH VDLQJ GLVFXVVLRQ RQO RQ PRGDOLWLHV WR UHSHDO IDUP ODZV /CWT3PX[h?X^]TTa UPRTQ^^ZR^SPX[h_X^]TTa7`]]`hfd`_+ fffSPX[h_X^]TTaR^ X]bcPVaPR^SPX[h_X^]TTa ;PcT2Xch E^[ #8bbdT % 0XaBdaRWPaVT4gcaPXU0__[XRPQ[T ?dQ[XbWTS5a^ 34;78;D2:=F 17?0;17D10=4BF0A A0=278A08?DA 270=3860A7 347A03D= 7H34A0103E890HF030 4bcPQ[XbWTS '%# 51, 1R 5HJQ 877(1* 5(*' 1R 8$'2''1 347A03D=F43=4B30H342414A !!*?064B !C! m @A:?:@?' CAD1;4 8==4?0; H@C=5) 1834=F0A=B5CAD?038=8BCA0C8=³B ²A031;2:B³CCA0=B8C8= m 2G6?F6D! FA0??8=6 D?!! @B?D51C 251DC9 !CDD5CD !C@?BD
- 2. ]PcX^]!347A03D=kF43=4B30H k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·V ZLOO QRW EH KHOG UHVSRQVLEOH IRU DQ NLQG RI FODLP PDGH E WKH DGYHUWLVHUV RI WKH SURGXFWV VHUYLFHV DQG VKDOO QRW EH PDGH UHVSRQVLEOH IRU DQ NLQG RI ORVV FRQVHTXHQFHV DQG IXUWKHU SURGXFWUHODWHG GDPDJHV RQ VXFK DGYHUWLVHPHQWV ?=BQ 347A03D= The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) will commence the installation of 65,000 LED street lights in the new wards from January 15 onwards. However, the corporation will first begin the installation of 1000 LED lights timers from January 1. Informing this, the municipal light inspector (LI) Ranjeet Rana stated that besides installing 1000 timers in the new 32 wards from Friday, the MCD will also install electric meters on the electric poles. He said that the survey conducted by the EESL Company for the installation of 65,000 LED streets lights is almost finished and the instal- lation will start from January 15 onwards. The officials also said that the corporation will erect new poles in some of the old wards too to install over 2,000 LED street lights. In order to decide from which ward the installa- tion of street lights should start, the corporation is con- sidering trying the lottery sys- tem, as per the officials. It is noteworthy to mention here that the municipal corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EESL Company for the instal- lation and maintenance of 65,000 LED streets lights for the next seven years in the new wards. ?=BQ 347A03D= The state minister for high- er education and Cooperatives, Dhan Singh Rawat released ‘Baramas-2021’ the calendar of Pen India Foundation (PIF) on Tuesday. The calendar this year is dedi- cated to eminent personalities of Uttarakhand. Speaking on the occasion, Rawat said that including great personalities of Uttarakhand in the calendar is an appreciable effort. He said that the students and youth would be able to know about these personalities. The patron of the foundation, Dr Prakash Keshaviah said that the Pen India Foundation is providing free and quality education to the poor children. He said that the objective of the foundation is to provide activity based education. The founder of PIF, Anoop Rawat and cofounder Santosh Budakoti said that the content of the calendar has been prepared after a lot of discus- sions with experts of media, culture and history. The PIF has included pictures and brief accounts on Bhakt Darshan Singh Rawat, Sundarlal Bahuguna, Swami Ved Bharti, Liladhar Jagudi, IPS Anil Dhasmana, Col ( retd) Ajay Kothiyal, Major General Smita Devrani, IAS Rajendra Bhushan Benjwal, folk singer Narendra Singh Negi, Sudha Painyuli, IAS Mangesh Ghildiyal and crick- eter Ekta Bist. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Hundreds of farmers have stayed put at National Capital’s borders demanding the Centre to repeal the new farm laws. The farmers and Government are expected to meet at 2 pm on Wednesday for talks. However, All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has refuted any possibility of any discussion in tomorrow’s talks until the agenda of repeal of the three farm acts and EB 2020 is taken up first. Meanwhile, security remained tight at the Delhi borders with hundreds of personnel deployed at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri where the farmers have been camping. AIKSCC said it is illogical for the government to assert that these acts are for benefit to farmers. “Crores of farmers who know the reality of com- panies better than him are sit- ting at his doorstep for more than a month. The acts, which legally establish corporate, both Indian and Foreign, will under- mine government mandis and help bind farmers in contracts. They will input costs, reduce prices, raise farmer debts and lead both to increased alien- ation from land and suicides,” alleged AIKSCC. AIKSCC asserted that the farmer under contract will have to borrow and the Contract Acts provides for such bor- rowing by mortgaging and for recovery of dues from land. The farmer unions have deferred to Thursday their proposed tractor march against the contentious agriculture laws, so that the rally does not clash with their talks with the government on Wednesday. The unions have agreed to hold the next round of talks with the Central government on Wednesday, but insist the agenda of the meeting should include discussing modalities for repealing the three legisla- tions. Earlier this week, Samyukt Kisan Morcha -- an umbrella body of 40 unions leading protests at Delhi border points — had announced a tractor march from the Singhu and the Tikri borders to the Kundli- Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Highway on December 30. Meanwhile, the farmers demonstrating against the Centre's new agri laws on Monday performed yoga on the Delhi-Noida Link Road at the Chilla border where they have been camping for 28 days now. The road remained closed for Noida to Delhi movement but was open for commuters travelling from Delhi to Noida. While the traffic movement at Singhu and Tikri borders remained closed. BC055A4?AC4AQ 6DAD6A0 Aretired clerk of the elec- tricity department alleged- ly committed suicide on Monday by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his home. The police have registered a case of abetment of suicide against a SDO of the electrici- ty department after a complaint filed by the victim's family, the police said on Tuesday. The deceased was identi- fied as Devki Nandan (58), of Jacobpura in Gurugram. He used to be a clerk in the elec- tricity corporation. He had retired on 31 August. The victim's family told the police that Devki Nandan was under stress for almost five months before his retirement. Son of the victim, Dheeraj told the police that his father had given Rs 18.42 lakh of the Electricity Department to Deepak, an employee of Radiant Cash Collection Agency. He had taken the receipt of this amount from Deepak and deposited it in the records of the office. It is alleged that even after the amount was deposited in the bank account of the office, SDO Gaurav Chaudhary and other staff were continuously pressurising Devaki Nandan. They were threatening to file a case against him for not giving the money, Dheeraj told the police. The victim was in acute pressure due to the harassment by SDO Gaurav Chaudhary and hanged himself, Dheeraj alleged. Meanwhile, Chaudhary has denied the allegations. The autopsy will be con- ducted on Tuesday, the police said. A case has been registered against the SDO under sections of the IPC at the city police sta- tion in Gurugram. Further probe is under- way, said Subhash Boken, spokesperson of the Gurugram police. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that his Government has passed orders to waive off penalty on late submission of road taxes. Kejriwal said the Delhi government provided Rs 5000 each to construction workers for their livelihood and trans- ferred Rs 5000 each to the bank accounts of taxi and auto dri- vers every month till the lock- down got opened, and all this work is reaching Goa. I passed orders to waive off penalty on late submission of road taxes and it happened because the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP ) is of common people and is committed to finding solutions to their problems, CM said. Kejriwal said that the lock- down was an extremely diffi- cult phase because the incomes of the people, their shops, busi- nesses, industries, taxis, autos, and markets, etc, were shut down. It was extremely difficult for a daily wage laborer to afford food. He said that it was a test- ing period for all the govern- ments to show how responsi- ble they are. We tried our best to provide food to all during the lockdown. The Delhi gov- ernment provided food to 10 lakh people every day, and all these arrangements were made in all the schools across Delhi including Central govt and MCD schools. Around 10 lakh people were provided lunch and dinner every day, and we used to serve them as we were serving langars since we had our religious sentiments. We continued the distribution till people stopped coming for food and till the time the queues were over. The Delhi government provided dry ration, consisting of wheat, rice, pulses, oil, and spices, to 1 crore people, i.e., 50 percent of Delhi's population every day for 3 months. We doubled the pensions of elders and widows to Rs 5000. “ We provided Rs 5000 each to construction workers for their livelihood and trans- ferred Rs 5000 each to the bank accounts taxi and auto drivers every month till the lockdown got opened, he added. He further said, “Recently, some taxi drivers from Goa were in Delhi and wanted to meet me. Whenever some- body comes to Delhi, they want to meet me and appreciate the works done in Delhi. “I told them that this was not only limited to Corona lockdown. The taxi and auto drivers need the help of the governments. We have changed all rules and regulations, and so our drivers do not need to pay bribes to get their works done because of an honest govern- ment in Delhi. A round 4-5 days back, I received a message from a taxi driver in Delhi, who said that he could not submit road tax during Corona lockdown because of no income and wanted a penalty waive-off. We passed an order in 24 hours and waived off the penal- ty on late road tax, he added. 8`geZdR_^VVeRe #a^e`URj 6^ecfPXeTb^UUUX]T^][PcTbdQXbbX^]^Ua^PScPgTb BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 The Delhi Government will provide dry ration to stu- dents of its schools under the mid-day meal scheme for six months, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced it, on Tuesday during a dry ration distribution event at a government school in Mandawali area. The move comes in view of continued closure of schools since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “When schools were closed, we decided to send the money for mid-day meals to parents' account, but now, it has been decided that we will give dry rations for six months, Kejriwal said. “This is a very difficult phase especially for the chil- dren, please take care of them, ensure they attend all online classes, and please take care of their nutrition. I hope that the vaccine comes and ends our difficulty as soon as possible,” he said. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said that even if the Covid-19 vaccine is available, it will be difficult to compen- sate for the learning loss due to Covid-19. “Every day, we pray for the schools to reopen and get re-energized like pre-Covid times. God is testing our patience in these challenging times. But I am proud that despite these challenges our Team Education has been persistent with its efforts. Everyone has worked really hard to reach to 94 per cent of the students through online and semi online teaching,” said Sisodia. Schools across the coun- try were closed in March to contain the spread of Covid- 19. They were partially reopened in some States from October 15. However, the Delhi Government has announced that schools will not reopen in the national Capital till a vac- cine for the coronavirus is available. 6^ecc^_a^eXSTSahaPcX^]c^ bcdST]cbd]STaXSSPhTP[ ATcXaTST[TRcaXRXchST_cR[TaZR^XcbbdXRXST ),5 ILOHG DJDLQVW 6'2 BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and the Municipal Corporation Delhi (MCD) in-charge Durgesh Pathak on Tuesday alleged that the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost all hope on the BJP ruled MCD. Hitting hard on BJP Pathak said that on October 19 the North MCD mayor Jai Prakash met Union Minister of State (Finance) Anurag Thakur; despite the request of the mayor, the Center has not pro- vided any aid to the MCD. He said that MCD had asked for Rs 2000 crores from the Center but they have not provided any money. Pathak said that the BJP has no moral right to stay in power of the MCD because not only the people of Delhi but also their own party leaders do not believe the BJP ruled MCD. “All the permanent, as well as contractual sanitation work- ers, have not received their salary for the last 4 months. Class 4 employees and Health workers of group C have not received their salary in the last 5 months. DCB employees have not received their salary for the last 3 months,” said Pathak. “Nurses, Allopathy doc- tors, and surgeons have not received their salary for the last four months. Teachers who build our student’s destiny have not received their salary for the last six months. Group A and B employees also have not received their salary for the last 6 months. It is an extremely unfortunate situation that BJP who is ruling the Delhi MCD for the last 14 years is unable to pay its employees,” said Pathak. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has arrested a man for allegedly inducing the people to invest in a real estate company on a huge return and duped them to the tune of Rs four crores. The accused has been iden- tified as Nikhil Mishra. Police said that he along with his asso- ciates had cheated around 14 people to the tune of Rs four crores. According to Dr O P Mishra, the Joint Commissioner of Police, EOW, a case was registered after a complaint was received from Mangat Ram and other victims against Priya Arora alias Priya Mishra and others regarding cheating. P]Sd_Tb W^TQdhTab ^UC#Ra^aT PaaTbcTS BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and MLA from Rajinder Nagar, Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said that free WiFi hotspots will be set up at Singhu border for the protesting farmers “The decision has been taken by farmers' 'sevadar Arvind Kejriwal. We want the farmers to stay in touch with their family. We have identified a few spots to install the WiFi hotspots. This is an initiative of Arvind Kejriwal and the party,” said Chadha, while addressing a press conference. “We were apprised of the fact that due to poor reception at Singhu border, they were unable to speak with their family. Each WiFi hotspot will cover a radius of 100 metres, and a total area of over 31,000 sq mtr,” said Chadha. Farmers from various parts of the country have been camp- ing at different border points of Delhi for over a month. 22A8`gee` dVeHZ7Zda`ed W`cac`eVdeZ_X WRc^Vcd 0RR^aSX]Vc^3a? XbWaPcWT9^X]c 2^XbbX^]Ta^U?^[XRT 4FPRPbTfPb aTVXbcTaTSPUcTaP R^_[PX]cfPbaTRTXeTS Ua^P]VPcAPP]S ^cWTaeXRcXbPVPX]bc ?aXhP0a^aPP[XPb?aXhP XbWaPP]S^cWTab aTVPaSX]VRWTPcX]V BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice chairmen Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said Haryana has not stopped discharging indus- trial pollutants into the Yamuna despite repeated reminders. Chadha urged the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to take immediate remedial measures. “Ammonia concentration in the river at the Wazirabad barrage has increased to 7 ppm (parts per million) against the permissible limit of 0.8 ppm which is likely to affect the water supply,” said Chadha. µ+DUDQD QRW VWRSSHG GLVFKDUJLQJ LQGXVWULDO SROOXWDQWV LQWR DPXQD¶ ;43bcaTTc[XVWcb X]bcP[[PcX^]c^R^T]RT Ua^9P]dPah $ 3WP]BX]VW APfPcd]eTX[b ?852P[T]SPa “Discharge of industrial pollutants in Yamuna through Rohtak X-Regulator and DD6 has not stopped despite repeat- ed reminders to the Haryana govt,” Chadha tweeted. “Such irresponsible behav- iour of Haryana govt adverse- ly impacting the water supply in Delhi must be dealt with sternly,” he added. Chadha urged the CPCB and the Upper Yamuna River Board to take immediate cog- nisance of the nonchalant attitude of the Haryana gov- ernment and take remedial measures. The DJB on Monday said water supply from Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants would remain affected till the ammonia level in the river reduces to a treat- able limit. These plants supply drinking water to Central, North, West and South Delhi. The CPCB had earlier this month raised concerns over pollution and frothing in the river and asked Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to ensure effective sewage treatment. 2:@UQTUbcXY` XQc_cdX_`UY^ =34c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
- 3. RP_XcP[347A03D=kF43=4B30H k342414A!! ?=BQ 347A03D= Following the directions issued by the Central gov- ernment, the State government too has issued guidelines for continuing the unlock provi- sions till January 31, 2021. The guidelines issued on Wednesday by the chief secretary Om Prakash stress on the need for maintaining caution and strict surveillance considering the fresh surge in cases globally and emergence of a new variant of the virus in United Kingdom. Strict vigil is also needed to be maintained to prevent any fresh surge in cases in the wake of the upcoming new year celebrations and ongoing winter season which are favourable for the spread of the virus. With the Government of India starting preparations for administra- tion and roll-out of vaccine for Covid-19, the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 has recommended prioritisation of this vaccine during initial phases to healthcare workers, frontline workers, persons aged 50 years and above and those aged below 50 years with comorbidities. The district mag- istrates may instruct the author- ities concerned for active sup- port to the department of health and family welfare in identifi- cation, preparation of database, vaccine delivery, storage, secu- rity, shipment and vaccination of beneficiaries. The guidelines also draw attention to Supreme Court directions on December 18 to state governments for strict enforcement of guide- lines/SOPs issued by Union/State governments; strict compliance on Covid appro- priate behaviour like wearing masks, keeping social distanc- ing etc, stern action against those violating the guidelines; regulation of gatherings etc, considering imposition of cur- few on weekends/night and enforcement of complete lock- down in containment zones. Based on their assessment of the situation, the districts may impose local restrictions like night curfew to contain the spread of Covid-19. However, there shall be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state move- ment of persons and goods including those for cross land- border trade under treaties with neighbouring countries. DeReVZddfVd4`gZU*XfZUV]Z_Vd BcaTbbTb^] PX]cPX]X]V RPdcX^] bcaXRceXVX[P]RT ?=BQ 347A03D= The number of novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in Uttarakhand crossed the 90 thousand mark on Tuesday with the state health department reporting 317 new cases of the disease. The state now has 90167 patients of Covid-19 disease. It took 19 days for the Covid- 19 count to reach from 80000 to 90000. The fastest increase occurred in September when it took only seven days for the count of patients to reach from 30000 to 40000. The authorities also reported the death of six patients of the disease on the day after which the death toll mounted to 1495 in the state. The health department dis- charged 555 patients from dif- ferent hospitals on Sunday. A total of 82243 patients have recovered from the disease so far in the state. The recovery percentage from the disease is now at 91.21 and the sample positivity rate is 5.15 percent. Two patients of Covid-19 were reported dead at District Hospital Uttarkashi on Tuesday. One patient each was reported dead at Ujala Hospital Kashipur, Udham Singh Nagar, district hospital Pithoragarh, Himalayan hos- pital Dehradun and Sushila Tiwari government hospital Haldwani on Tuesday. The health department reported 128 fresh cases of Covid-19 from Dehradun, 48 from Nainital, 38 from Uttarkashi, 25 from Pithoragarh, 22 from Haridwar, 12 each from Pauri and Tehri, 11 from Champawat, eight from Udham Singh Nagar, six from Almora, five from Chamoli and two from Rudraprayag on Tuesday. Out of 555 patients dis- charged on Tuesday, 138 are from Dehradun, 124 from Nainital, 59 from Almora, 50 from Udham Singh Nagar, 31 from Pithoragarh and 28 from Tehri. Uttarakhand now has 5256 active cases of the dis- ease. Dehradun is at continu- ing to remain at top of the table of active cases with 1634 cases while with 990 active cases Nainital is at second spot. Haridwar is at third spot with 416 active cases. Pithoragarh has 400, Uttarkashi 366, Tehri 270, Almora 222, Pauri 214, Champawat 183, Udham Singh Nagar 171 and Bageshwar 154 and Chamoli 145 active cases of the disease. With 91 active cases of Covid- 19, Rudraprayag is now at the bottom of the table of active cases of Covid-19. RYLG FDVHV EUHDFK . PDUN LQ 8¶NKDQG C^cP[RPbTb ( %*bXg STPcWb UaTbW RPbTbaT_^acTS ^]CdTbSPh 3A1:BB0=90H Happiness is defined in gen- eral as the state of ardour you feel on getting what you desire. Happiness is the state of wellbeing, the feeling of con- tentment and joy or in other words a pleasure with a posi- tive emotional feeling. We all look for happiness in our all daily activities. An American psycholo- gist, professor Daniel Gilbert said that human beings are the only animals which are able to think about their future. He pointed out that happiness is subjective. The brain does not differentiate between virtual and real stimulus to it. In both cases, the brain creates an interpretation of reality, it is so good and realistic that we do not grasp that it is only an interpretation. The emotional reactions are almost the same in both situations. There is a neurological reason for these mistakes in perception. What makes us happy, colours all our perceptions of what happiness is. But even our own perceptions of what hap- piness is will change at differ- ent times in our lives. How do we know what will make us happy after 20 years? Human brain is set up to imagine the future quite well but not per- fectly, and this difference is the one we often experience as what we thought would make us happy and what actually does. What could make happi- ness more reliable? The answer to it is to find out how you will feel about a particular future course of action for example after achieving money, a career, a choice of city, spouse and children is to ask people who have already gone through the process and how they felt about it. As humans are creatures of belief, in our uniqueness we are naturally averse to relying on the experience of others. However, such a strategy, while not particularly exciting is the best available method to deliv- er us satisfaction in life and wellbeing.Whereas the happi- ness from relying purely on ourselves is only able to be stumbled on. Due to the way our brain works, our predic- tions of how we will feel in the future are not always accurate and that includes what will make us happy. It is not only my experi- ence, but I am sure it may be yours experience as well, that in India the health needs of most of the people are com- peting with the basic human needs like food, shelter and education.In India we are still realising the importance of good health, knowing very well that only healthy person can complete any task easily and quickly and the govern- ment is still figuring out how to keep our fellow countrymen healthy. Hence, good health should be the highest priority of all mankind. But, our expe- rience shows that health which is an asset is being pushed to a secondary position on several occasions especially in poor and developing countries like India. Irrespective of caste, creed, region and religion, everybody needs health, education and nutrition. They are interrelat- ed and are the foundation stones for the growth of the individual as well as the nation. A sensible person will never kill the hen which gives him the golden egg but our society and the government is killing it. What is HEN here? H for Health, E for Education and N for Nutrition. The troika of health, education and nutrition is being driven in a haphazard and in an uncoordinated way in our country. The WHO asserts, following countless studies, that nations which invest in universal healthcare, make a sound investment in their human resource. The Ayushman Bharat health scheme 2018 introduced by the Government of India will be a milestone in improving the health care services to the poor and needy. Whatever we achieve whether natural or manmade can be used and enjoyed only when we are healthy. Hence everybody should strive to remain as healthy as possible during their lifetime. How can we achieve good health is the important and pertinent ques- tion. We can be healthy only when we eat nutritious food. For better health, we should eat only when we are hungry and when we are eating then we should keep in mind to eat only a nutritious and balanced diet. We all should take a cup of green tea which is rich in antioxidants, eat a banana which is the best source of energy and magnesium, a lemon which is rich in vitamin C, an egg which contains almost all the important ele- ments needed for the body, a green leafy vegetable which is rich in iron, calcium, magne- sium and a fresh fruit which has fibres, folic acid and vita- min C. An American professor of Harvard Medical School, Dr David Sinclair advised that we should eat plants that have been stressed and grow under harsh conditions. It is found that those who eat less and work more, live a healthy and a longer life. Everybody desires to be happy. Health and happiness are interrelated and directly proportionate to each other. If you are healthy, you are happy. If you are happy, you are healthy. Health is a funda- mental need of any individual and everybody should be health conscious. For that we need food, which can be bought by money and that is earned by employment. The goal of the government should be provide the employment to all eligible people or help them set up small business which can generate money. If we are healthy then we can achieve our desirable goal and enjoy our life, as it is said by an ancient Indian Rishi Bhrighu that we all are products of plea- sure and to achieve pleasure is the goal of every individual. One should always take care of themselves in order to remain healthy. To achieve good health one can follow this acronym DEWS: Diet, Exercise, Work and Sleep. One believes that health is not only an asset but a resource too. It should be nur- tured by all. (The writer is an orthopaedic surgeon based in Dehradun) 6D4BC2;D= (DW OHVV ZRUN PRUH IRU D KHDOWK KDSS OLIH E8=3270;8Q =4FC47A8 The THDC India Limited (THD- CIL) has finalised its preparation to release additional water from the Tehri Lake in Tehri district for the reli- gious ghats on the banks of Ganga downstream from Devprayag to Haridwar for the coming auspicious occasion of Kumbh Mela, the religious event that is considered to be largest congregation of Hindu devotees in the world. According to the THDC officials, all the ghats will have ample water for the Kumbh Mela rituals to be performed on the bank of the river Ganga downstream. The Kumbh Snan festivities will begin from January 14th (Makar Sankranti) . Kumbh Mela, the largest religious gathering in the world, is held every 12 years in rotation at the four holy places of Haridwar, Prayagraj, Ujjain and Nasik and the 2021 edition will be held at Haridwar. The saints from different akharas along with millions of pilgrims will congregate to take a dip in the holy river Ganga starting from 14th January. Due to less rain and snow in the higher Himalaya in last winters, the water levels have receded considerably. The water level recorded at Bagirathi river last week was 79 cumecs while at Bhilangana river the water level recorded was around 10.26 cumecs. The irrigation department had demanded from THDC to release 160 to 240 cumecs of water daily for Kumbh Mela. THDC, on its part accepting the demand has finalised its plan to release the water from Tehri lake. Presently, the water level at Tehri lake was around 813 Reservoir Level Meter and around 250 cumecs of water is being released by THDC. According to THDC officials they are ensuring that there is ample water for Kumbh mela. We are releasing water from lake as per the demand and the department has made all arrangements for the release of the water to the ghats for Kumbh Mela celebrations said Vinay Badoni Executive direc- tor THDC. ?=BQ 347A03D= Adding more impetus to the speculation triggered by the statement of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Indira Hridayesh that some senior leaders of BJP keen to defect to Congress are in touch with her, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Pritam Singh said on Tuesday that there is a basis in the claim of Hridayesh. “Indira ji is a very experienced and senior leader and she never claims anything without any substance. Her statement means something,’’ he said. Talking to the media per- sons at the state headquarters of the Congress party on Tuesday, the PCC chief said that the recent four day session of Uttarakhand assembly has exposed the internal divisions in the BJP. “There cannot be any smoke without fire. In the assembly the BJP MLAs were very assertive and targeted their own government on cor- ruption,’’ he quipped. Raising the issue of the cor- ruption in the Uttarakhand Building and Other Construction workers Welfare (UKBOCW) board, the PCC chief said that the company which was transferred Rs 20 Crores by the board for con- struction of hospital in Kotdwar has returned Rs 18 Crores to the board. It raises questions as to where the remaining Rs 2 Crores have gone. Launching an attack on the state government, the PCC president said that mining, land and liquor mafia are rul- ing the roost in the state. He added that there many irregu- larities have surfaced in the board. He said that the BJP’s MLAs are raising issues relat- ed to corruption in the state assembly. Singh said that the ‘Zero tolerance on corruption’ has turned out to be a mere rhetoric and the BJP govern- ment of Uttarakhand is immersed neck deep in cor- ruption. The Congress leader reminded that the Uttarakhand High Court (HC) had ordered that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should investigate the charges of cor- ruption against chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. He said that the CM had promised that Lokayukt would be brought within 100 days but even after four years, Lokayukt is not visible anywhere. ?=BQ 347A03D= Central Academy for State Forest Service, Dehradun under the aegis Directorate of Forest Education (DFE) Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change conducted two days training programme for teachers incharge of Ecoclubs on the theme of “Conservation Education” in Dehradun. Chief Guest at the Inaugural session Padmashri Karthikeya Sarabhai, Director Centre of Environment Education asked the teachers to strengthen the linkage between the Forest department and Eco clubs to make the Environment Conservation efforts effective and efficient. He also pleaded the teachers to infuse Environment Conservation ideas to the future generation of India. More than 1600 partici- pants from 18 States across India participated in this train- ing programme, that conclud- ed today. The training was conducted on virtual mode due to the current pandemic COVID-19 situation. Speakers like Ranjtha Menon CSE, New Delhi, Karthikeyan Naturalist talked on various Environment Conservation related topics. ?=BQ 347A03D= Snowfall in various moun- tainous regions in the recent past has upped the cold across the State. According to the State meteorological centre, through dry weather is likely to prevail in the State, cold wave conditions are likely to occur at isolated places in the state on Wednesday. Further, moderate to dense fog is also likely to occur in some parts of the plains especially in Haridwar and Uddham Singh Nagar dis- tricts. In addition to this, ground frost is also likely to occur at isolated places in the state. According to the meteoro- logical centre, though temper- atures in the districts may remain moderate, chilly winds may aggravate cold at times. Further, the cold may be tolerable but poses mild health con- cerns for vul- nerable people i n c l u d i n g infants, preg- nant women, the elderly and people with chronic diseases. There is also a likelihood of frost causing damage to crops and the roads being slippery in some places due to ice deposition. For Dehradun, the meteorological centre has forecast mainly clearly sky on Wednesday with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 20 degrees Celsius and four degrees Celsius respec- tively. Meanwhile, the maximum and minimum temperatures recorded at various places of the state on Tuesday were 21.5 degrees Celsius and 5.1 degrees Celsius respectively in Dehradun, 20.2 degrees Celsius and 3.1 degree Celsius in Pantnagar, 10.5 degrees Celsius and 0.6 degrees Celsius in Mukteshwar and 12.2 degrees Celsius and 2.8 degree Celsius respectively in New Tehri. ?=BQ 347A03D= Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP from Punjab Bhagwant Mann has said that the Central Government is trying its best to convert the farmers' ongoing protest against farm laws into a failure but the farmers must not give up. Mann who reached agri- culture town of Kashipur on Tuesday as the first day of a two-day tour of Uttarakhand to kickstart the Kisan Nyay Yatra said while addressing the pro- testors that the BJP led Central Government is not even help- ing the farmers protesting in Delhi on humanitarian grounds in such harsh winters but the AAP is providing them all the necessary facilities including food, electricity, water, toilets, tents and medical help. “The Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal himself exam- ines all the facilities and aid being given to the protestors in Delhi”, said Mann. He said that the nearby Gurudwaras are also quite helpful in providing essential amenities to protestors and the Delhi government is grateful for it. Mann stated that the BJP Government is trying to lure farmers with various proposals but farmers must continue to fight for their rights. Furthermore, Mann said AAP will continue the Kisan Nyay Yatra on Wednesday from Kichha and Sitarganj con- stituencies towards Khatima on the last day of his tour. ?=BQ 347A03D= The prestigious Shailesh Matiyani awards for excel- lence in teaching were declared by the state government on Tuesday. In an order the sec- retary education R Meenakshi Sundaram said that 19 teachers have been selected for the award. The list includes eight primary school teachers and 11 secondary school teachers. In the primary section Anju Lingwal of Bainoli Bhardar, Rudraprayag, Madhu Negi of Aampata, Tehri, Sunita Bartwal Nabha House Rishikesh, Dehradun, Rubina Khan of toun, Pithoragarh, Nirmala Arya of Manyuda, Bageshwar, Santosh Kumar Joshi of Suryagaon, Nainital, Deepa Arya of Lamgada, Almora and Kiran Sharma of Kachnal Gaji Kashipur, Udham Singh Nagar would get the award. While in the secondary section the names of Banita Panwar of Purola, Uttarkashi, Girish Chandra Dimri of Kujasu Pokhari, Chamoli, Vinod Prasad Bhatt of Rudraprayag, Ashok Kumar Badoni of Manjakot Chauras, Tehri, R K Saini of Sahaspur, Dehradun, V P Khankhariyal of Kholachori, Kot, Pauri, Bahadur Singh Kunwar Dharchula, Pithoragarh, Suresh Ram of Champawat, Shambu Dayal Shah of Salyuda, Nainital, Gita Rani of Syalde of Almora and Narendra Pal Singh of Turkagori, Udham Singh Nagar are in the list. Dehradun: Acting on the request made last month by the Rajya Sabha MP from Uttarakhand, Anil Baluni, the Union Railway minister Piyush Goyal has informed that the railways is planning to run two new Jan Shatabdi Express trains between Delhi and two cities of the state. In his letter to Baluni, the Union minister has stated that considering the request made by Baluni in his letter dated November 17, the min- istry is planning to run one Jan Shatabdi Express train daily between Delhi and Tanakapur and one Jan Shatabdi Express train daily between Delhi and Kotdwar. The timings of these trains will be communicated shortly. The minister has expressed hope that the intro- duction of these two trains will go a long way in providing bet- ter connectivity to the travelling passengers. PNS ?=BQ =08=8C0; The students who won positions in online competition in poetry, drawing and essay writing organised by the Uttarakhand State Legal Services Authority (USLSA) on the occasion of Constitution Day were awarded by the Uttarakhand high court act- ing chief justice and USLSA executive chair- man Ravi Malimath in the presence of jus- tice Lok Pal Singh. Speaking on the occasion, he said that such awareness programmes are needed for knowledge and development of children so that they can realise and under- stand the importance of national unity, integri- ty, harmony and brotherhood. District judge/member secretary RK Khulbey informed that the competition was held on the topics of fundamental duties and citizen’s duties with the aim of making the students aware about the Indian constitution and fundamental duties. About 600 entries were received from 90 schools under two categories. The prize includ- ed a cash award of Rs 5,000 for the first position, Rs 3,000 for the second position and 2,000 for the third position holder. Considering the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the winners of Nainital district were invited to participate in the prize giving ceremony while the rest of the win- ners will be provided their certificates, trophy and cash prize at the districts they reside in. The high court registrar general Dhananjay Chaturvedi and other officials were also present on the occa- sion. 3ULWDP EDFNV +ULGDHVK¶V FODLP RI VRPH %-3 OHDGHUV LQ WRXFK ZLWK KHU GY^^Ubc_VECC1S_]`UdYdY_^c QgQbTUTRi:ecdYSU=QY]QdX DUQSXUbcdbQY^UT _^3_^cUbfQdY_^ 5TeSQdY_^ 3_TgQfUS_^TYdY_^Y[Ui QdYc_QdUT`QSUcd_TQi WHDFKHUV VHOHFWHG IRU 6KDLOHVK 0DWLDQL DZDUG CWT[XbcX]R[dSTbTXVWc _aXPahbRW^^[ cTPRWTabP]S bTR^]SPahbRW^^[ cTPRWTab APX[fPhbc^ad]cf^ ]Tf9P]BWPcPQSXb Ua^3T[WXc^D³ZWP]S 11@=@2XQWgQ^d =Q^^`UTWUc ce``_bdV_bVQb]Ubc C732QTVX]bXcbUX]P[_aT_PaPcX^]c^aT[TPbT PSSXcX^]P[fPcTaU^a:dQWT[PRT[TQaPcX^]
- 4. ]PcX^]#347A03D=kF43=4B30H k342414A!! ?=BQ =4F34;78 Soon after the detection of six cases of new strain of Covid- 19 in the country, the Government on Tuesday assured that the vaccines under development would also work against the mutated pathogen first reported in the UK . “No need to worry about vaccines. Vaccines will work against the variants detected in the UK and South Africa. There is no evidence that cur- rent vaccines will fail to protect against the new mutant strains,” said Principal Scientific Adviser K VijayRaghavan at a presser here. However, he said that even as the vaccine will provide safety from the new variants, “there is a need to reduce transmission through physical distancing, follow all public health measures scrupulously, wear masks, follow hand-wash- ing, COVID appropriate behaviour, infection control, amplify test, track, isolate efforts.” The scientific advisor’s statement came hours after 6 samples of UK returnees test- ed positive for the new strain in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. “There is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to pro- tect against COVID-19 variants reported from the UK or South Africa. Most vaccines do target the Spike protein, in which there are changes in the vari- ants, but vaccines stimulate our immune system to produce a wide range of protective anti- bodies. The changes in the variants are not sufficient to make the vaccines ineffective,” the scientist explained through a presentation made at the press briefing here. He further said, “The nature of the new variants: eight of the 17 important changes are in the part which codes for the Spike protein. One change (N501Y) increases affin- ity for the ACE2 receptor, used for viral entry into human cells. It has been linked earlier to increased infectivity and trans- mission in animal models. Another change (P681H) pro- motes entry into susceptible cells and increases transmission in animal models of infection. “The South Africa also shares the N501Y mutation with the UK variants, in addi- tion to other distinct changes.” Regarding the variant detected in the UK, VijayRaghavan sasid, it was more transmissible and the variant is spreading very rapid- ly taking over the frequency of other variants. “It is also reflected in a large increase in positivity rate in the UK. We must take extraordi- nary precautions to prevent these kinds of variants from dominating populations.” The Scientific Advisor fur- ther added, “The Indian SARS-CoV2 Genomics Consortium is conducting test- ing and sequencing of samples from international travelers. Testing and sequencing of sam- ples also being done from across the country and from those being admitted to hospi- tals.” However, he had a word of advice. “As vaccines become available, we should not be complacent. There is a need to reduce transmission through physical distancing, follow all public health measures scrupu- lously, wear masks, follow hand-washing, COVID appro- priate behaviour, infection con- trol, amplify test, track, isolate efforts,” he added. 5VdZ4`gZUgRTTZ_VVWWVTeZgV RXRZ_de_VhgRcZR_ed+8`ge =^]TTSc^f^aah PQ^dcePRRX]Tb) ?aX]RX_P[ BRXT]cXUXR0SeXbTa :EXYPhAPVWPeP] ?=BQ =4F34;78 State-run Common Services Centers (CSC) on Tuesday said it has partnered with IIT- Delhi to establish a design and innovation lab which will conduct research on new prod- ucts and services for village level entrepreneurs (VLE). The labs would conduct research on design-led inno- vations related to leveraging livelihood and enhancing all- round entrepreneurial out- look, a statement said. The project named ‘Design and Innovation in VLE’s Indigenous Network Ecosystem’ (Divine) Lab will promote design and innova- tion among the village level entrepreneurs (VLE), CSC said in a statement. CSC managing director Dinesh Tyagi said that CSCs and VLEs are driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. “The Design Lab will ben- efit from IIT Delhi’s unparal- leled expertise and experi- ences of VLEs who will bring hyper-local realities and chal- lenges of delivering services to the partnership,” Tyagi said. The Divine Lab aims to pro- vide continuous research into the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem and design new products and services for VLEs. IIT-Delhi Director Prof V Ramagopal Rao said that the collaboration with CSC will support IIT students to access CSC’s network and identify problems in rural India. “World-class research infra- structure and expertise avail- able at IIT-Delhi will support to design and innovate solu- tions for rural problems through the wide network of VLEs across the country,” Ramagopal said. 6 WLHV XS ZLWK ,,7' IRU GHVLJQ DQG LQQRYDWLRQ ODE ?=BQ =4F34;78 Compelled to move out from homes for jobs amid Covid crisis, more youths are getting infected with the virus, when compared to the old aged peo- ple who are usually in the confines of their homes. But when infected, it is the patients over the age of 65 years, account for 55% of India’s Covid-19 deaths while it is 43% for those in the age group of 26- 60 years. Gender wise, the virus has found to be more vir- ulent for males who account- ed for 70 per cent of total deaths. “About 45 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in the coun- try have been reported in those below 60 years of age while 70 per cent of total fatalities from the infection were registered in men,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Tuesday. Addressing a press confer- ence, he said 63 per cent of the total cases were reported in males and 37 per cent cases in females. “Eight per cent cases have been reported below the age of 17 years, 13 per cent in the 18- 25 years age group, 39 per cent in 26-44 years group, 26 per cent in 45-60 years group and 14 per cent cases above 60 years,” he said. Bhushan further said 45 per cent of the COVID-19 deaths so far have been report- ed in those below 60 years of age and 70 per cent of total fatalities from the infection were registered in men. About 55 per cent COVID- 19 deaths were reported in those aged 60 and above, 33 per cent in the age group of 45 to 60 years, 10 per cent in the age group of 26-44 years and one per cent each in those aged between 18-25 years and in those below 17 years, accord- ing to the data presented by Bhushan. He said the number of active cases of COVID-19 has been registered at 2.7 lakhs, sliding to a low after six months. The cumulative posi- tivity rate stands at 6.02 per cent while the positivity rate during last week was 2.25 per cent. “Five States and UTs which account for 60 per cent of total active COVID-19 cases are Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” he said. Bhushan further said India’s rate of cases per million population — at 7,408 — is among the lowest in the world while the number of deaths per million population stood at 107. In the last seven days, 110 new cases and two deaths per million population have been reported while the number of active cases per million has been registered at 194, he said adding in contrast, the maxi- mum of 52 death was report- ed in Italy, followed by 49 in UK, 47 in US, 33 in France, 27 in Russia and 21 in Brazil. ^aTh^dcWbVTccX]V2^eXS X]UTRcTSPbcWTh[TPeTcWTXa W^TbX]bTPaRW^UY^Qb ?=BQ =4F34;78 Senior BJP leader and Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot on Tuesday described as “ historic” the Modi-Government’s recent decision to increase post- matric scholarship to ‘four crore ‘Scheduled caste students in the next five-year. The Modi Government aims to provide post-matric scholarship to over four crore students belonging to the Scheduled Castes category over the next five years, raising the number from existing 60 lakh beneficiaries, said Gehlot here at a press conference. He also told reporters the government’s recent decision to raise the Centre’s share in the scholarship amount to 60 per cent, and hike it progressively to 80 per cent, will result in a total expenditure of over C 59,048 crore by 2025-26 and ensure monitory assistance to the underprivileged students in time. The Union Cabinet had last week approved changes in the centrally sponsored Post- Matric Scholarship Scheme to benefit more than four crore Scheduled Caste students in the next five years and approved a total investment of over C59,000 crore for the purpose. The Centre had spent only around C1,100 crore annually in the last two years under an earlier formula, now changed by the Modi Government, which had led to a rise in state’s share, with almost half of the 36 states and Union Territories not getting any contribution from the Union dispensation, the minister said. Many States would not pay scholarship on time or use the fund for some other purposes resulting in increasing dropouts from SC students due to lack of scholarship, he said, adding this will change now. “Money will be now direct- ly transferred to the student’s bank account and the Centre will contribute only after the State has done so”, he said. “This is a historic decision. It will boost educational stan- dards. No State has opposed our announcement,” Gehlot, a Dalit face of the ruling party, said. The percentage of students benefiting from the post-met- ric scholarship has risen to 23 from 17 in 2014-15, and the government is working to aug- ment the number of beneficia- ries to 27 per cent, he said. Also addressing the press conference, BJP general secre- tary Dushyant Kumar Gautam hit out at the previous Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre, say- ing over 50 lakh fake benefi- ciaries were getting scholarships at the cost of Dalit students. ^]ThfX[[]^f QTSXaTRc[h caP]bUTaaTSc^cWT bcdST]cb´QP]Z PRR^d]cbP]ScWT 2T]caTfX[[ R^]caXQdcT^][h PUcTacWTBcPcT WPbS^]Tb^ X]XbcTaRP[[b^SX´bSTRXbX^]c^ X]RaTPbT_^bcPcaXRbRW^[PabWX_ c^#Ra^aTB2bcdST]cbWXbc^aXR ?=BQ =4F34;78 More than six and a half lakh posts are lying vacant in various State police and Central forces. According to the data released by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) on Tuesday, 5.31 lakh posts in different state police forces and 1.27 lakh posts in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) are lying vacant. Releasing different aspects of policing in the country as on January 1, 2020, the BPRD also said a total of 1,19,069 police men were recruited in 2019 in various police forces across India. These vacancies are expected to increase further due to the Covid-19 pandem- ic as many organisations have not conducted fresh recruit- ment in the entire 2020. According to the data, the total sanctioned police forces in States and Union Territories is 26,23,225, while there are 20,91,488 police personnel actually in service. Therefore, 5,31,737 posts in police forces are lying vacant as on January 1, 2020. The figures include civil police, district armed police, special armed police and India Reserve Battalions. The BPRD, a wing of the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the strength of women in police forces is 2,15,504, which is 10.30 per cent of the total police force in India. There has been a 16.05 per cent increase of women police over the previous year, it added. The data said the total sanc- tioned strength of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) is 11,09,511 but the actual strength of the CAPFs as on January 1, 2020, is 9,82,391. The total number of women police personnel in CAPF is 29,249, which is 2.98 per cent of the total strength. The CAPFs are CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, NSG and Assam Rifles. According to the data, there are 800 police districts in the country and the number of sanctioned police stations is 16,955. The total State Armed Police Battalions is 318 and the total police commissionerates is 63. A total of 2,02,925 police vehicles are available with the states and UTs police, besides 4,60,220 CCTV cameras, the BPRD said. The governments has spent Rs 1,566.85 crore in 2019-20 for expenditure and police training. ^aTcWP]%$;_^bcbePRP]c X]BcPcT_^[XRT2T]caP[U^aRTb ?C8Q =4F34;78 Aplea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre, states and Union Territories to fill up vacant posts of presidents and members of consumer com- missions, saying “inaction” in making appointments was causing pendency of cases. The petition, which has alleged that directions passed by various high courts regarding fill- ing up of vacancies in district and State consumer commis- sions have been “ignored” by the authorities concerned, said there is a lack of proper infra- structure to run these panels smoothly. It has also sought a direc- tion to the authorities to pro- vide proper infrastructure and staff to the consumer commis- sions as soon as possible and file a detailed report regarding this before the apex court. The plea, filed by law stu- dent Saloni Gautam, claimed that inaction of the authorities in filling up the vacant posts has led to the “violation of the right to speedy disposal of cases”. “Petitioner is filing this PIL....Challenging inaction of governments in appointing president, members and staff before district consumer dis- pute redressal commissions and state consumer disputes redressal commissions across India, which is causing pen- dency of consumer cases all over India and justice is getting delayed due to non-action of the governments across India and is antithesis to the Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” said the plea, filed through advocate Om Prakash Parihar. It said that in July, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 came into force, and it changed the pecuniary jurisdiction for the district, state and national commissions respectively. The plea said that pecu- niary limit for district com- mission has been increased to up to Rs one crore, for state commission, it has been increased to up to Rs 10 crores and for national commission, it is now over and above Rs 10 crores. It said the petitioner has also got RTI replies about vacancies in consumer com- missions in several states across the country. “It is most respectfully sub- mitted that all this clearly shows that the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 came into a force and the pecuniary juris- dictions of the consumer commissions has changed/increased, but the Governments have not made any arrangement in filing the post of president and members in these commissions,” the plea claimed. It said various high courts across the country have ordered the state governments to appoint president and mem- bers in district and state com- mission, but no action has been taken. “It is also pertinent to note that various consumer com- missions do not even have proper infrastructure to run consumer commission in a smooth manner which at the end leads to cause delay in delivering justice to the con- sumers,” it added. ?C8Q =4F34;78 Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has been nominated by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) as a member on its board, accord- ing to an official statement on Tuesday. The GAVI Board is respon- sible for strategic direction and policy-making, oversees the operations of the Vaccine Alliance and monitors pro- gramme implementation. Vardhan will be represent- ing the South East Area Regional Office (SEARO)/Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) con- stituency on the GAVI Board. The seat is currently held by Myint Htwe of Myanmar, the Union Health Ministry said in its statement. The Union health minister will be representing India at the board from January 1, 2021, until December 31, 2023, it said. The board normally meets twice a year in June and November-December and holds an annual retreat, gener- ally in March or April. All these meetings are normally attend- ed in-person. With membership drawn from a range of partner organ- isations as well as experts from the private sector, the board provides a forum for balanced strategic decision-making, innovation and partner col- laboration, the statement said. GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance as part of its mission to save lives, reduce poverty and pro- tect the world against the threat of epidemics, has helped vac- cinate more than 822 million children in the world’s poorest countries, preventing more than 14 million future deaths. Dr NgoziOkonjo-lweala presently serves as Chair of the GAVI Alliance Board. ?C8Q =4F34;78 The year 2020 exposed the vulnerability of our cultur- al heritage which is dependent on tourism for its survival and forced the government to look at alternatives to keep not just the sites and monuments alive, but also to position India as the choice of destination when the coronavirus pandemic ends. While acknowledging that in 2021, both approaches towards policy making and implementing them would be vastly different from what was done so far, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Patel said he wants to be cau- tious about the way forward. “We are still dealing with the pandemic and alternatives that work now, like our activ- ities on the digital platforms, they might or might not work when things are normal. We have to analyse if people would still prefer online platforms at a time when they can visit and actually see the sites. We have to be cautious and not take any drastic steps,” Patel told PTI. In the past nine months, the ministry conducted more than 65 webinars depicting the culture, tradition, muse- ums, monuments and artistes of the country under the Dekho Aapna Desh initiative. The tourism sector is one of the largest industries and accounts for 6.23 per cent of the country’s gross domestic prod- uct (GDP) and provides employment to 8.78 per cent of the population. It managed to generate around 275.5 billion dollars in revenue in fiscal 2018 with an annual growth rate at 9.4 per cent. The tourism sector expe- rienced a crippling effect with the nationwide lockdown announced in late March coin- ciding with the peak tourism season kickstarting from early April onwards. Guides, tour operators, vehicle drivers, hotels, restau- rants, shops and other facilities related directly or indirectly to tourism have taken a hit owing to the spread of the virus. With both flights, inbound and outbound, and domestic train operations suspended, the Indian tourism industry is projected to book a revenue loss of Rs 1.25 trillion in cal- endar 2020 as a fall-out of the shutdown of hotels and sus- pension in flight operations after the onset and spread of the pandemic. A study by CARE Ratings notes that the figure corre- sponds to a 40 per cent decline in revenue over calendar 2019. The report assumes the impact of the pandemic on tourism at about 50 per cent during January and February 2020, while it may be higher at 70 per cent in March alone, fol- lowing the suspension of inter- national flights. During April-June, the Indian tourism industry is expected to book a revenue loss of Rs 69,400 crore, denot- ing a year-on-year loss of 30 per cent. Patel said now is the time to look inwards and promote unexplored parts of the coun- try. If one cannot go abroad for their holidays or foreign tourists can’t come in, domes- tic tourism is the only way to keep the sector above water, he said. “The loss to the tourism sector cannot be ascertained at this time as the pandemic is still underway. But, domestic tourism is the way to revive the tourism sector. Unexplored, unexploited destinations have to be identified and promoted. That is what we are trying to do, encourage people to visit places within the country,” Patel said. He also said that India’s health, wellness centres, Ayush hospitals offering alternative care will draw tourists post the pandemic and they should be promoted as post-COVID care solutions. The ministry is in talks to tie up such centres with insur- ance firms so that tourists can avail the insurance before arriving in India for treat- ment. 3_b_^QfYbec Rb_eWXdd_ebYc]d_ Ydc[^UUcY^ EPaSWP]]^X]PcTS c^Q^PaS^U6[^QP[ 0[[XP]RTU^aEPRRX]Tb P]S8d]XbPcX^] ?C8Q =4F34;78 The CBI Tuesday filed a charge sheet against Parekh Aluminex Ltd (PAL) and its director, besides some officials of Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) in an alleged bank fraud case worth C297.80 crore, officials said. The company which is into manufacturing of Aluminum Foil Containers, Aluminum Foil Rolls, Lids and other relat- ed products is facing multiple CBI cases with outstanding dues of C917.61 crore to vari- ous banks as detected by the CBI so far, they said. In the case related to the IOB, the agency has chargesheeted 24 accused per- sons including the Mumbai- based company, its director, chartered accountant, then officials of the public sector bank and directors and pro- prietor of associated compa- nies, they said. “It was alleged that the accused allegedly aided in diversion of funds and facili- tated in siphoning-off funds by way of submitting fake and forged purchase invoices and LCs. “It was also alleged that the said company had availed cred- it limits from various banks and financial institution. Out of these Nationalized banks, Indian Overseas Bank Mumbai Branch has dis- bursed credit facilities to the tune of C292.20 crore (approx) under consortium arrange- ment,” CBI Spokesperson RC Joshi said. 218UX[TbRWPaVTbWTTcPVPX]bc ?PaTZW0[dX]Tg81^UUXRXP[b X]CRaQP]ZUaPdSRPbT ?[TPX]B2bTTZbSXaTRcX^]U^aUX[[X]Vd_ePRP]c _^bcbX]R^]bdTaR^XbbX^]bPRa^bb8]SXP CWT_[TPUX[TSQh [PfbcdST]cBP[^]X 6PdcPR[PXTS cWPcX]PRcX^]^UcWT PdcW^aXcXTbX]UX[[X]V d_cWTePRP]c _^bcbWPb[TSc^ cWTeX^[PcX^]^UcWT aXVWcc^b_TTSh SXb_^bP[^URPbTb
- 5. ]PcX^]$347A03D=kF43=4B30H k342414A!! Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hit out at previous Governments for delaying the Dedicated Freight Corridor project and ignoring modernisation of rail- ways, and said his Government engaged with stakeholders to speed up works and carried out reforms at all levels. Inaugurating the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) via video conferencing, he said the “vibration” and “roar” of Bharat and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ were clearly heard as the first freight train ran on the Khurja-Bhaupur freight corri- dor. Attacking previous gov- ernment, the prime minister said the project was given per- mission in 2006 but it was only on paper as the then govern- ment lacked the seriousness and urgency with which it had to take it up with the states. “Till 2014 not a single km track of the project was laid and the funds sanctioned could not be spent properly. After 2014 ,it was restarted and offi- cials asked to take it forward and by then the budget had gone up by 11 times”, the prime minister said. The 351-km section, which has been built at a cost of Rs 5,750 crore, will open new avenues for local industries in Uttar Pradesh. The EDFC is 1,840-km- long and extends from Ludhiana in Punjab to Kolkata in West Bengal. Modi also inaugurated the EDFC’s operation centre at Prayagraj and flagged off the first 1.5 km long goods trains. The prime minister said that on coming to power, he personally monitored the pro- ject and held a dialogue with the stakeholders and got new technology as a result of which about 1100 km work will be completed in the next few months. Political apathy not just hampered the freight corridor project but also had a bearing on the entire Railways system, he said adding that earlier the focus was on increasing num- ber of trains for political ben- efit in elections but not on the tracks on which the trains were run as there was no investment on it. There was no seriousness towards modernisation of the rail network, trains were being run on slow speed and the entire network was full of dan- gerous unmanned crossings, he said. “We changed this work culture and thinking after 2014 and ending the separate Railway budget, invested in rail tracks, ended unmanned crossings, focussed on broad- ening and electrification of the network”, he said. The Vande Bharat express, the semi high speed train is now being run, he said, adding that now Indian rails are more secure than before. In the past few years reforms have been carried out at all levels and can be seen, he added. The new freight section will open new vistas of oppor- tunity for local industries such as aluminium industry in Pukhrayan region of Kanpur Dehat, dairy sector of Auraiya, textile production and block printing of Etawah, glassware industry of Firozabad, pottery products of Khurja, asafoetida or ‘heeng’ production of Hathras, and locks and hard- ware of Aligarh district, accord- ing to officials. The section will also decongest the existing Kanpur- Delhi mainline and will enable the Indian Railways to run faster trains. Noting that a state-of-the- art Operation Control Centre at Prayagraj will act as the com- mand centre for the entire route length of the EDFC, they said this is one of the largest structures of its type globally with modern interiors, ergonomic design and best-in- class acoustics. Agencies AZ_RfXfcReVd_VhdecVeTY`W6RdeVc_5VUZTReVU7cVZXYe4`ccZU`c C=A067D=0C70 Q D108 Ace car designer and founder of DC design Dilip Chhabria, who runs a car mod- ification studio, was arrested late on Monday night for his alleged involvement in a dubi- ous car finance and fake regis- tration racket involving high- end luxury cars. Acting on a tip-off that a two-seater sports-car DC- Avanti designed by Chhabria allegedly bore a fake registra- tion number, the Mumbai police crime branch sleuths kept a watch on the movement of the car, which was initially expected at Hotel Trident at Nariman Point in south Mumbai on December 17, but failed to turn up there. On the following night, the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) laid a trap near the Hotel Taj Mahal at Colaba, intercepted the vehicle and seized it. During the question- ing, the owner of the car Indermal Ramani produced the ownership documents of the vehicle as registered with Chennai RTO, which were found to be genuine. However, during the inves- tigations, the police found that there was another car with the same engine and chassis num- ber registered with Haryana RTO.The investigations have revealed Chabaria’s alleged involvement in the car finance and fake registration racket involving high-end luxury cars. Acting on a complaint reg- istered against him 10 days, Chhabria was nabbed from his garage at the MIDC area at Andheri’s MIDC in north Mumbai. His arrest has shocked car enthusiasts and those in the automobile finance industry. Chhabria -- whose brand DC Design involved in modi- fying cars into luxury lounges launched India’s first sportscar “the DC Avanti” and also show- cased its second product – the TCA at the Auto Expo ---has been booked under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120(B) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code or IPC. The investigations have also revealed that Chhabria’s firm Dilip Chhabria Designs Pvt. Ltd. (DCDPL) produced 127 DC-Avantis and sold them to customers in India and abroad. The Crime branch sleuths suspect that many of these vehicles might have been involved in the car finance and fake registration racket. The police said that multi- ple loans, averaging to Rs. 42 lakh per vehicle, had been taken with respect to 90-odd cars by DCDPL, allegedly pos- ing as customers for their own manufactured vehicles. The modus operandi was to take loans, sometimes even multiple loans from financial institutions on cars and sell these hypothecated cars to other customers before or after availing the finance through the fraudulent means. The investigators are to quantify the exact losses suffered by the gov- ernment by way of unpaid taxes, customs duties and GST. The investigators estimated that the loss to the state exche- quer could be around Rs 40 crore. The investigators suspect that the DCDPL, which was set up in 1993 but went bankrupt in 2018, might have cheated many automobile finance com- panies and banks. Apart from designing the lounge for the Mahindra Marazzo, DC Designalso released the lounge conversion of a slew of new car and it had several high-profile clients like Madhuri Dixit and Hrithik Roshan who reportedly had their vehicles customised from this brand. Some popular designs from DC Design include the lounge design kits of the Mahindra XUV500, Duster, Toyota Fortuner and Innova. Chhabria has also modified cars in the interna- tional market like Rolls Royce and Land Cruisers. His new brand DC2 has plans for launching electric cars in future. Chhabria -- who came into limelight in the nineties after he produced some fancy modified private cars for celebrities and vanity vans of Bollywood per- sonalities – went onto design concept cars, luxury passenger buses, and even aircraft interi- ors. DCDPL rolled out its first indigenously-made sports- car”the DC Avanti” in 2016, a year after securing approvals from the Automative Research Association of India (ARAI). However, DCDPL ran into rough weather before the first sportscar was launched, as cricketer Dinesh Karthik moved a Chennai-based Consumer Courts over the car dealer’s failure to refund the booking amount of Rs.5 lakh for a car costing nearly Rs.35 lakh. ?8=44A=4FBB4AE824Q 90D Braving bone chilling weath- er conditions the joint team of security forces were put on the job to neutralise a group of holed up terrorists in the Lawaypora area of Srinagar late Tuesday evening. Till the time of filing the report, intense exchange of fir- ing was going on in the thick- ly populated area. The addi- tional reinforcements were also rushed to the spot to plug the exit routes and to contain pub- lic anger in the area following sporadic incidents of stone pelting from nearby areas where the gun fight was raging on. The traffic on the Srinagar- Baramulla highway was also disrupted after the gunfight broke out. The twitter handle of the Kashmir Zone police posted a tweet claiming, “Encounter has started at Lawaypora area of Srinagar. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow”. Meanwhile, a CRPF officer and an Army jawan, injured in separate incidents of terrorist violence last week, succumbed to their injuries in the last 24 hours in Kashmir valley. Official sources said, Assistant sub-inspector of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Netrapal Singh, who got injured in a grenade attack at Ganderbal on December 23, died at a hospital here on Tuesday. This has taken the death toll of CRPF personnel in the grenade attack to two as a jawan had succumbed to his injuries a day after the attack. Army Havildar A K Tomar breathed his last at the Army”s 92 base hospital here on Monday, the officials said. They said Tomar had sus- tained grievous injuries during a gunfight with terrorists in the Kanigam area of Shopian on Friday. Two terrorists were killed in the operation. The Army paid tributes to Tomar at a solemn ceremony at the Badamibagh cantonment. Tomar (40) had joined the Indian Army in 2001. He belonged to Sisauli village in Uttar Pradesh”s Meerut district. He is survived by his wife and two children. 4]R^d]cTad]STafPhX]BaX]PVPa 'LOLS KKDEULD DFH FDU GHVLJQHU DUUHVWHG LQ IRUJHU FDVH 78C:0=370A8Q :0CA0 Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board authorities are fully geared up to welcome the pilgrims on the eve of the New Year 2021. The Fresh spell of snowfall at the cave shrine has already become an attraction point and key motivating factor for pil- grims to pay a visit and offer special prayers before ushering in the New Year 2021. The Shrine board is also hoping to record substantial rise in the total offerings with the increase in the footfall of pilgrims. On Sunday the highest number of around 13,000 pilgrims were registered by the Shrine Board. Local markets, which remained deserted for about nine months, are already brim- ming with a lot of activity. Street food vendors are doing brisk business while the local tour operators, business- men and hoteliers are also keep- ing their fingers crossed and looking forward to welcoming a large number of pilgrims on the eve of the New Year 2021. For the last three days the registration counter at the Katra base camp is recording a grad- ual increase in the pilgrim traf- fic. The numbers are expected to rise in the run up to the New Year celebrations as a large number of pilgrims prefer ush- ering in the New Year at the cave shrine, located in the Trikuta hills. As of now an upper limit of 15,000 pilgrims per day has been fixed by the Union Territory administration in the wake of Covid-19 guidelines and protocols. During Covid-19 pandem- ic when the pilgrims were not able to visit the shrine special arrangement was made to beam 'live' coverage of Aarti at the shrine via special mobile app and arrangements were also done to home deliver packets of 'prasad' at the doorsteps of a pil- grim in collaboration with India post. Ramesh Kumar, CEO Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board said, “We have received a very healthy response from the pilgrims from all over the coun- try”. We have already delivered more than 15000 packets and pilgrims are still booking their orders via Mobile App and through the website as well. Ramesh Kumar said, “keeping in view the prevailing Covid-19 restrictions, elaborate arrange- ments have been made to ensure strict adherence of the protocol and social distancing on the eve of the New Year”. Ramesh Kumar said, “We are ready to welcome pilgrims in the New Year ahead and have made elaborate arrangements to ensure their safety and securi- ty”. He said besides offering them battery car facility, heli- copter services and better accommodation facilities we have ensured adequate medical care facilities remain in place to look after the health needs of any patient during the yatra period. The Shrine Board CEO said, “ambulances have been deployed along the yatra track to tackle any emergency”. Talking about future pro- jects which are in the pipeline, Ramesh Kumar said, “ in the year 2021 the Shrine Board is going to install 7 big screens at different locations to beam visu- als of Atka Arti live for the ben- efit of pilgrims. We are also focusing on expanding the base of Today's darshan live via Mobile App. In addition, he said, con- struction work of Durga bhawan, with a capacity to accommodate 1700-1800 pil- grims during one shift is going to be launched and completed soon. In addition, 50 percent work on underground cabling has been completed while work is in progress on providing CCTV surveillance along the yatra track. Rakesh Wazir, President of the Katra Hotel and Restaurant association said, recently we had appealed to the government to lift the upper sealing of per- mitting 15,000 pilgrims per day. Rakesh Wazir said, “we have been repeatedly urging the government to lift the sealing and allow interstate bus services to ply normally so that pilgrims from the neighboring states of Punjab, Himanchal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan can smoothly visit the shrine”. Wazir said, “all over India the local governments have lifted restrictions and pilgrim traffic is moving smoothly. The UT adminis- tration must respond to their demands to allow them to restart their businesses, which suffered huge losses on account of complete shutdown due to Covid-19 pandemic”. Rakesh Wazir said, “majority of pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine are returning the same day and only a small fraction is staying back and looking for hotel accommodations”. Ramji Lal, a tourist from Bharatpur area of Rajasthan told this correspondent in Katra, we are a group of 103 pilgrims from Rajasthan who visited the cave shrine. We wanted to come earlier but due to restrictions we stayed back. He appreciated the facilities and other logistics support extended by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine board authorities to facilitate pil- grimage. Kolkata: Now corona virus has started hitting the neo-natal arena with two cases appearing from East Midnapore. According to sources in the State Health Department two infants have been identified with suffering from the dead- ly virus and had been under- going treatment at a private hospital at Kolaghat 60 km off Kolkata. The incident came to light when the two patients showed corona like symptoms. “Anti-body was found in their body,” doctors said adding both the patients were serious and were in neo-natal care unit. The first victim is 6-day- old and the second one is 13- day-old, said the doctors treat- ing them adding “while one is from Haldia the other is from Bhagbanpur both in East Midnapore.” Though the doctors could not confirm for sure how the patients contacted the disease they said the little ones might have got the virus from their mothers who were not tested before admission or during delivery. =^fX]UP]cb c^^cTbceT PcPEPXbW]^3TeXBWaX]T1^PaSPdcW^aXcXTbVTPad_c^fT[R^T_X[VaXb BP]YPhAPdcbfXUTSTUXTb43bd^]bbTTZb^aTcXT C=A067D=0C70 Q D108 AVarsha Raut, wife of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, on Tuesday sought and obtained four more days’ time to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the PMC Bank scam, even as her husband and Sena MP said that being a lawmaker him- self, he respected law and would respond to the notice as per the stip- ulated timeline. Talking to media persons here, Raut said: “We have asked for about four more days ( to respond to notice)...Ihavestillnotseenthenotice but will reply to it. Despite our polit- ical differences (with the ruling BJP at the Centre), we respect the central agencies.TheEDactionisnothingbut political vendetta and everybody knows it. I am a Rajya Sabha MP and a lawmaker. I will respect the law and will respond to the notice”. UnconfirmedreportssaidthatVarsha had sought time till January 5 to appear before the ED. The ED is investigating alleged financialtransactionsbetweenVarsha Raut and Pravin Raut, who is under arrest in the PMC Bank case. TheEDisunderstoodtohavelaid hands on the details linking transac- tions between the accounts of Varsha and Pravin Raut. Meanwhile, former MP and BJP leader Kirit Somaiya demanded to know as to what is the relation between Varsha Raut and Pravin Raut. “This is the 3rd Summons of ED. Sanjay Raut Family not appearing before ED Why Sanjay Raut Family running away? ED Investigating Crores of Rupees Transactions between PMC Bank, HDIL, Pravin Raut Family Sanjay RautFamily WhatisSpecial Relations of Sanjay Raut Pravin Raut Family,” Somaiya tweeted. Along with his second tweet, Somaiya put out a copy of company master sheet of Siddhant Syscon Pvt Ltd, of which he alleged Varsha Sanjay Raut Madhuri Pravin Raut were directors. “#SanjayRaut Sach Bolo. Raut Families are Partners. VarshaSanjayRautMadhuriPravin Raut were Directors in Siddhant Syscon Pvt Ltd #PravinRaut Director in HDIL's Subsidiary GuruAshish Construction Co Crores of Rupees transferred from #PMCBank to #HDIL to Raut's Companies,” the BJP leader tweeted. It may be recalled that on September 24 last year placed Punjab Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank Ltd under regulatory restrictions,followingthedetectionof the scam. The ED registered a case of money laundering against HDIL pro- moter Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, his son Sarang Wadhawan, Waryam Singh and Joy Thomas, the then Chairman and Managing Director of PMC Bank Ltd, respectively and oth- ers on the basis of an FIR registered by the Mumbai Police's Economic OffencesWinginSeptemberlastyear. The FIR was registered for causing wrongful loss to the tune of Rs 4,355 crore to PMC Bank and correspond- ing gain to themselves. Hitting out at the BJP-led NDA for “misusing” its investigating agen- ciesagainstitspoliticalrivals,Rauthad said at a news conference here on Monday : “Targetting the women of ahouseholdisanactofcowardice.We are not scared of anyone and will respond accordingly. The BJP’s act reflects its frustration against him, owing to his role in the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) gov- ernment in the state last year and his refusal to yield to pressure to make it unstable”. Raut, it may be recalled , had played a key role in bringing the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, together to form a three-party alliance govern- ment in Maharashtra in November last year. Asserting that the BJP should learn to learn to face political battles shouldbe“foughtfacetoface”instead of using its investigating agencies against political rivals, Raut said: “I have spoken to Chief Minister UddhavThackerayinthisregard.The Shiv Sena will respond to the BJP in its own way. There’s no need to panic”. Alluding to the “blatant misuse” of the Central investigating agencies against its political rivals, Raut had said: “During the past one year, our leaders like Sharad Pawar, Eknath KhadseandPratapSarnaikgotnotices from the ED. Now I am being dis- cussed in connection with the sum- mons issued to my wife... All those who played key roles in the formation of MVA government last year are being targeted by the BJP-led gov- ernment through various agencies”.