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BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Farmers protesting against
the three farm laws at Delhi
borders for around 40 days are
fully prepared to take out a
tractor rally on Thursday.
However, the inclement weath-
er, because of which they had
deferred their tractor rally by a
day, has continued unabated.
Even as their talks with the
Government have failed to
resolve the issues, the farmer
unions on Wednesday said
scores of farmers are gathering
at borders for the tractor rallies
on January 7. The farmers said
the Thursday tractor rally is a
rehearsal for the Republic day
show.
Meanwhile, All India Kisan
Sangharsh Coordination
Committee (AIKSCC) has
urged farmers to take out trac-
tors parade in all districts of the
country on January 26.
Several rural women in
Haryana’s Jind district are
receiving training to drive trac-
tors for taking part in a “trac-
tor parade” in the national
Capital on January 26 against
the three new farm laws.
Women hailing from three
villages — Safa Kheri, Khatkar,
Pallwan — in Jind are learning
to steer the tractor wheel.
Sikim Nain Sheokant, pres-
ident of Jind-based Kisan Ekta
Mahila Manch, said though
some of the women can drive
tractors in the fields for farm
operations, they do not have
experience of road driving.
“We want women to drive
tractors on highway on January
26 without any help,” she said.
Sheokant said several vil-
lagers were also helping them
out by offering their tractors
and providing them required
training.
Women are undergoing
training at a toll plaza on Jind-
Patiala National Highway for
handling tractor-trolleys on
road. The protesting farmers
have declared toll plazas “free”.
“We are getting the train-
ing for driving a tractor for par-
ticipating in the tractor parade,”
said a woman who has been
receiving the lesson.
She feels the new farm
laws are not in the interest of
the farming community.
“Several other protests also
have begun in support of the
farmers’ demand. A sit-in has
begun with more than 500
tractors marching into Baraut
area of Baghpat district. In
Chennai, a massive dharna
was held and tribal protests are
planned in Odisha,” AIKSCC
stated.
The body blamed the
Central Government for not
being serious about talks and
solving farmers’ problems. “In
the 7th round talks held till
now, we have stated we want
repeal and nothing else. The
Government too has ‘under-
stood that the demand is for
repeal’ and said it will have to
undertake ‘further consultation’.
Yet, several Ministers and BJP
leaders are putting a spanner in
the wheels,” they said.
“Agriculture Minister
Narendra Singh Tomar had
announced he will be talking to
other farmer unions who sup-
port the laws. Already this
exercise to manufacture sup-
port has been undertaken and
has achieved very poor
response. Taking cue from
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, the BJP leaders from MP
and Punjab have said demands
are unjustified,” they
said.
“While Nitin Gadkari tar-
geted the need to improve
food production and feed
India’s largely hungry popula-
tion, he attacked MSP, saying it
is higher than market rate,
even when the Government
says MSP will continue.
Ministers should know that
India is host to 33 per cent of
the world’s hungry popula-
tion,” said the AIKSCC.
A094B7:D0AQ =4F34;78
After lakhs of birds died in
several States and thou-
sands were culled, the Centre
on Wednesday identified 12
epicentres of avian influenza, or
the bird flu, outbreak in Kerala,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh
and issued advisories to other
States to contain spread of the
infection in chickens, ducks,
crows and migratory birds.
Over 69,000 birds, includ-
ing ducks and chicken, were
culled in Kerala while the
Madhya Pradesh Government
banned chicken supply from
Kerala and other southern
States for next 10 days. The bird
flu outbreak has been report-
ed barely a few months after
India in September 30, 2020
declared the country free from
the disease.
The Ministry of Fisheries,
Animal Husbandry Dairying
on Wednesday alerted States to
keep a vigil on any unusual
mortality among birds and to
report immediately to take
necessary measures as there is
a possibility of bird flu spread-
ing to humans and domesti-
cated animals. The Ministry
has also set up a control room
(011-23382354) in Krishi
Bhawan to keep watch on the
situation and to take stock on
daily basis of preventive and
control measures undertaken
by State authorities.
The avian influenza cases
have been reported in many
States like Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Haryana, and
Gujarat, while Jammu and
Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi,
Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and
Tamil Nadu are on high alert.
“After confirmation of pos-
itive samples from ICAR-NIH-
SAD, avian influenza (AI) has
been reported from the fol-
lowing States (at 12 epicentres):
Rajasthan (crow) — Baran,
Kota, Jhalawar; Madhya
Pradesh (crow) — Mandsaur,
Indore, Malwa; Himachal
Pradesh (migratory birds) —
Kangra; Kerala (poultry duck)
— Kottayam, Allapuzha (4 epi-
centres),” said the
Ministry.
?=BQ ;D2:=F
In a stark reminder of the
Delhi’s 2012 Nirbhaya case, a
50-year-old anganwadi worker
was gangraped and murdered
allegedly by a priest and his two
accomplices in Budaun district
of Uttar Pradesh on
Tuesday.
While the priest is on the
run, his two accomplices were
arrested on Tuesday night after
the post-mortem report con-
firmed rape, police said on
Wednesday, adding the
woman’s leg and a rib bone too
were found fractured and there
were injuries in her private
parts.
The incident, which trig-
gered an uproar in political cir-
cles, took place on Sunday and
the matter came to light that
night when the priest and his
accomplices took the body to
the victim’s home, saying it was
found in a dry well in the tem-
ple premises.
Taking cognisance of the
incident, Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath ordered “strongest
possible action” in the case even
as Opposition parties attacked
his Government, terming the
incident “horrific” and “shame-
ful”. The CM has directed the
ADG Bareilly zone to report
back to the Government on the
incident and action taken
against the accused. The CM
has also said that STF would be
assisting the district police in
the investigation.
The National Commission
for Women too took note of the
incident and decided to send a
team of its members to probe
the incident.
About the incident,
Badaun’s Senior
Superintendent of Police
Sankalp Sharma said, “The
post-mortem report confirms
rape and there are injuries in
her private parts and a fracture
in the leg.”
She suffered a rib fracture
too, he added, citing the autop-
sy report.
The SSP said the station
house officer (SHO) of Ughaiti
police station has been sus-
pended for “delay in informing
higher authorities, laxity in
taking action, dereliction of
duty and failure in taking
speedy action”. Four teams
have been formed to nab the
priest, the SSP said.
?=BQ ADA:4;0
At least four workers were
killed and six others seri-
ously injured following leakage
of carbon monoxide gas at the
Coal Chemicals Department of
Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) on
Wednesday morning.
While six of the victims
were taken to the RSP dispen-
sary, four workers, identified as
Ganesh Chandra Paila (55),
Rabindra Sahu (59),
Abhimanyu Sah (33) and
Brahmananda Panda (51), were
admitted to the ICU of the Ispat
General Hospital (IGH) where
they died while undergoing
treatment.
Hours after the incident,
the RSP authorities suspended
two senior officials, Deputy
General Manager
Gopabandhu Barik of EMD
Department and DGM
Nabendu Das of CCD
Mechanical Department for
their alleged negligence. Also,
the authorities decided to pro-
vide job to one family member
of each deceased.
While opening flange bolts
of the gas line of the gas mix-
ing tank at the site A of the
plant, some entrapped gas
gushed out affecting four work-
ers of the contract firm, Star
Construction, critically.
Meanwhile, a high-level
committee has been formed to
enquire into the cause of the
accident. The plant is func-
tioning normally, informed
official sources.
Rourkela Ispat Karkhana
Karmachari Sangh president
Himanshu Sekhar Bal demand-
ed adequate compensation to
the families of the deceased and
injured.
Chief Minister Naveen
Patnaik in a tweet said, “Deeply
saddened to know about the
tragic loss of lives in the gas
leak incident at Rourkela Steel
Plant. My thoughts and prayers
are with bereaved families in
the hour of grief and pray for
the speedy recovery of those
who are hospitalised.”
?C8Q =4F34;78
The Supreme Court on
Wednesday agreed to
examine controversial new laws
of Uttar Pradesh and
Uttarakhand regulating reli-
gious conversions due to inter-
faith marriages.
A bench headed by Chief
Justice SA Bobde refused, how-
ever, to stay the provisions of
the laws and issued notices to
both State Governments on
two different petitions.
The pleas, filed by advocate
Vishal Thakre and others and
an NGO ‘Citizen for Justice and
Peace’, have challenged the
constitutional validity of the
Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of
Unlawful Religious Conversion
Ordinance, 2020 and the
Uttarakhand Freedom of
Religion Act, 2018 which reg-
ulate religious conversions of
inter-faith marriages.
At the outset, the top court
asked the petitioners to
approach the Allahabad High
Court after Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta said that it is
already seized of the
matter.
?C8Q F0B78=6C=
Democrat Rev Raphael
Warnock on Wednesday
secured a crucial win in the
senatorial race, becoming the
first Black senator from
Georgia and bringing his party
within the reach of a majority
in the US Senate ahead of
President-elect Joe Biden’s
inauguration.
Multiple news outlets on
Wednesday morning projected
51-year-old Warnock, a senior
pastor of Ebenezer Baptist
Church in Atlanta, winner
against Republican Senator
Kelly Loeffler in the Georgia
Senate runoff.
He is the first African-
American to represent Georgia
in the US Senate. He is also the
first Democrat to win the
Senate race from Georgia in 20
years. The control of the Senate
now boils down to the other
Senate runoff from Georgia
wherein Republican incum-
bent Senator David Perdue is
trailing against Democrat Jon
Ossoff, when reports last came
in. The special elections were
held on Tuesday.
Both President Donald
Trump and President-elect Joe
Biden had campaigned for
their respective candidates.
The 100-member Senate
now has 50 seats for the
Republican Party and 49 to the
Democrats. The result of the
Perdue vs Ossoff is yet to be
called in.
In the event of both
Republicans and the
Democrats having 50 seats in
the Senate, Vice-President-
elect Kamala Harris is in her
capacity as the Vice Chairman,
who presides over the Senate
meetings, would cast the cru-
cial vote in favour of the
Democrats.
?C8Q =4F34;78
Petrol price on Wednesday
neared all-time high after
state-owned fuel retailers hiked
rates after a nearly month-
long hiatus.
Petrol price was raised by
26 paise per litre and diesel by
25 paise a litre, according to a
price notification from oil mar-
keting companies.
After this increase, petrol
in Delhi climbed to C83.97 per
litre from C83.71 previously.
Diesel rates rose to C74.12 per
litre from C73.87. In Mumbai,
diesel touched an all-time high
of C80.78.
This is the first price revi-
sion in nearly a month and
rates are now near an all-time
high. Highest ever rate of
C84 a litre for petrol in Delhi
was touched on October 4,
2018. Diesel too had scaled to
an all-time high of C75.45 a litre
on October 4, 2018.
On that day, the
Government cut excise duty on
petrol and diesel by C1.50 per
litre in a bid to ease inflation-
ary pressure and boost con-
sumer confidence.
20?BD;4
?=BQ =4F34;78
After suggesting the Centre
on December 17 to put on
hold the three controversial
farms laws and form a panel to
go into the issues raised by
protesting farmers, the
Supreme Court on Monday
noted that there has been no
“improvement on ground” and
posted the matter for hearing
on January 11.
A three-judge Bench head-
ed by Chief Justice of India SA
Bobde said the intention of the
court is to encourage and facil-
itate talks between farmers
and the Government. To this,
Attorney General KK
Venugopal informed the Bench
that “there are chances of the
parties coming to some sort of
an understanding”.
“We understand the situa-
tion and encourage consulta-
tion. We can adjourn the mat-
ters on Monday if you submit
the same due to the ongoing
consultation process,” the
Bench said. The Bench was
hearing a petition filed by
advocate Manohar Lal Sharma
challenging the validity of the
three farm laws.
The court also issued
notice to the Government on a
separate petition filed by advo-
cate Sharma, challenging the
Third Constitutional
Amendment of 1954 which
included Entry 33, concerning
food and essential commodi-
ties, in the Concurrent
List.
“This is one of Sharma’s
startling petitions... He says you
[Government] have been com-
mitting illegalities since 1954,”
Bobde told Venugopal in a
lighter vein.
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?=BQ B78;0
The death toll of migratory
birds due to bird flu has
crossed 2900 at Pong Dam
Wildlife Sanctuary in
Himachal’s Kangra district.
“On January 5, as many as
336 migratory birds were
reported dead at Pong wetland
pushing the death toll to 2736.
The carcasses of more than 250
birds were found at Pong till
Wednesday evening while the
counting was still on,” said an
official of the Wildlife wing of
Forest Department, Himachal
while talking to The Pioneer.
The official said that max-
imum fatalities continued to be
reported in Bar-Headed Goose
at the wetland. Apart from
this, deaths have been report-
ed in eight more species of
birds.
It was on January 4 when
the deadly avian influenza-
H5N1 was confirmed by
NIHASAD, Bhopal in five
migratory birds, whose car-
casses were found in Pong
wetland.
Meanwhile, an official
spokesman of the Wildlife wing
of the Forest Department said
that the Department is work-
ing actively to contain the out-
break of H5NI Avian Influenza
virus in the state.
The field staff has been
directed to maintain strict vigil
and active surveillance of the
situation, he said.
The spokesperson said that
the Avian Influenza is a disease
caused by a virus that infects
domestic poultry and wild
birds. Acting as per action
plan of Animal Husbandry for
preparedness, control and con-
tainment of avian Influenza
issued by Government of India,
rapid response teams have been
constituted and deployed for
collection and safe disposal of
dead birds as per protocol.
The infected areas are
being disinfected and sani-
tized. The whole operation is
being supervised by DFO
Wildlife Hamirpur, the
spokesperson added.
As per the official figures,
the Pong Dam wetland, known
as 'Birding Paradise', is cur-
rently hosting around 60000
migratory birds of different
species. The Department has
already banned the entry of
tourists and other visitors in the
Pong Dam area.
NO THREAT OF BIRD FLU
IN PUNJAB YET, GOVT
FULLY PREPARED, SAYS
MINISTER
Punjab Animal
Husbandry Minister Tript
Rajinder Singh Bajwa on
Wednesday said that no case of
bird flu has been reported in
the State so far, but the State
Government has taken all pre-
cautionary measures to deal
with any situation.
At the same time, the
Minister maintained that the
people, who eat eggs and meat,
do not need to be afraid and
“they just need to eat these
products cooked properly”.
Bajwa, addressing a press
conference to list the achieve-
ments of the Departments
under him, said that the
Animal Husbandry
Department, along with other
departments of the State
Government, was closely mon-
itoring to ensure that sub-
standard meat and fish were
not sold in the market.
e also appealed to the peo-
ple to refrain from spreading
rumours and report any such
rumour to the administration
immediately.
Notably, the state authori-
ties have alerted officials to
keep tabs on any unusual
deaths of migratory and poul-
try birds in the state. “An advi-
sory has been issued for sur-
veillance of commercial poul-
try farms and backyard poul-
try farms to find any unusual
mortality in birds,” said the
state Animal Husbandry direc-
tor Harbinder Singh Kahlon.
He said that the advisory
has been sent to all 22 deputy
directors of the Department to
ensure regular visit of field staff
to commercial and backyard
poultry farms in the state. In
case any “unusual mortality” in
poultry birds is found, samples
will be sent to the Northern
Regional Disease Diagnostic
Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar,
to ascertain the cause.
Similarly, the Department
of Forests and Wildlife
Preservation has also issued an
advisory for maintaining extra
vigil around lakes and wetlands
in the state, they said.
Notably, a large number of
migratory birds such as gulls,
reeve, etc arrive at Harike
Pattan in Tarn Taran every year.
Other wetlands in the state are
in Gurdaspur, Rupnagar and
Nangal.
Protocols have also been
issued for collection of samples
in case any migratory bird is
found dead, and all possible
precautions were being taken.
Reports are that samples of
dead migratory birds at Pong
Dam Lake sanctuary in Kangra
district of Himachal Pradesh
have tested positive for the
H5N8 strain of bird flu. Four
lakh poultry birds have died at
20 farms in Haryana's
Panchkula district in the past
several days.
A team of experts from the
RDDL collected samples from
the farms on Tuesday.
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Shimla: Amid the outbreak
of bird flu in Himachal, three
carcasses of vultures were
found in two villages of
Sirmaur district on
Wednesday.
An official in the Wildlife
Wing of Forest Department
said that a carcass of vulture
was found in Shamah village
and two others carcasses in
another nearby village on
Wednesday.
A team of the Animal
Husbandry and Fisheries
Department were sent there
for taking samples for bird flu
testing. The report is await-
ed to ascertain the cause of
death of the vultures, the
official said.
The species of vulture
was not known till the filing
of this report.
The Himalayan vulture
and European vulture are
found in Himachal.
Notably, apart from 2900
migratory birds that have
died at Pong Dam in Kangra
district, deaths of crows have
also been reported in the area.
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Amid the outbreak of bird
flu in several states across
the country, five birds were
found dead at the city's prime
tourist spot-Sukhna Lake trig-
gering panic in the city.
Carcasses of four birds
were found at the regulator end
of Sukhna Lake on Wednesday
while a carcass of Common
Coot was found on Tuesday
evening. A dead fish and frog
were also found near Common
Coot at the Lake.
After the deaths, the
Department of Animal
Husbandry and Fisheries
Department has sent samples
to the Regional Disease
Diagnostic Laboratory
(RDDL), Jalandhar for bird flu
testing. More than 200 samples
taken from poultry birds, water
bodies, environmental ele-
ments in the city have been sent
for testing.
The deaths of birds at
Sukhna Lake are reported at a
time when more than 2700
migratory birds have died at
Himachal’s Pong Dam due to
deadly avian influenza- H5N1.
Bird flu has also affected states
namely Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh and Kerala.
“Five birds have been
found dead till Wednesday
evening at the Lake. These
birds included Common Coot,
Pigeon, Crow, Egret and
Cormorant. Samples have been
sent to RDDL, Jalandhar for
testing and the report is likely
to be received in next two
days,” said Debendra Dalai,
UT Chief Conservator of Forest
and Chief Wildlife Warden
while talking to The Pioneer.
Dalai said that in view of
bird flu alert across the coun-
try and directions received
from the Centre, the field offi-
cials and all concerned in
Chandigarh have been kept on
high alert to keep a strict vigil
and look for possible symptoms
or mortality of birds.
He said that as of now, no
symptoms of bird flu have
been reported in migratory
birds at the Sukhna Lake and
Wildlife Sanctuary area. Some
of the bird flu symptoms in
avian species include diar-
rhoea, head tilt, paralysis and
sluggish behaviour. Apart from
the field staff, the bird watch-
ers and visitors to
Sukhna Lake and
other water bodies
have been requested to
report to the
Department of Forest
and Wildlife, in case of
any such symptoms,
Dalai added.
The Department
has decided not to
close Sukhna Lake and
Sukhna Wildlife
Sanctuary for the vis-
itors till the confir-
mation of the bird flu.
Notably, the Union
Ministry of
Environment, Forest
and Climate Change
had sent guidelines on
January 3 relating to
Avian Influenza to all
states and union terri-
tories with an aim to ensure
implementation of all precau-
tionary measures to check the
spread of virus.
Earlier, it was in the year
2014 when bird flu was detect-
ed in ducks at Sukhna Lake and
more than 90 ducks were culled
as a part of control and con-
tainment measures to prevent
the spread of avian influenza,
H5N1 in the city.
During this winter season,
more than 1000 migratory
birds have reached water bod-
ies in Chandigarh. The migra-
tory birds, while escaping cold
biting conditions in their areas,
and braving the high snow-
laden peaks of Himalayas,
reach India every year for their
winter sojourn.
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Punjab Chief Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh on
Wednesday ordered with-
drawal of Section 307 against
farm laws protesters who
dumped cow dung outside a
former BJP Minister Tikshan
Sud’s house in Hoshiarpur.
Capt Amarinder, who also
holds the Home portfolio, has
also ordered transfer of the
Station House Officer (SHO)
who had registered the
‘attempt to murder’ case,
which is now being probed by
a Special Investigative Team
(SIT).
“The SHO has gone over-
board in registering a case
under Section 307 of the
IPC…There is no attempt to
murder,” he said, referring to
the Hoshiarpur incident, in
which a group of protestors
had unloaded a trolley full of
cow dung in front of Punjab’s
former Minister Tikshan Sud’s
residence.
SINGER BRAR’S ARREST
FOR PROMOTING GUN
CULTURE JUSTIFIED
Terming as correct and justi-
fied the arrest of Punjabi
singer Shree Brar for promot-
ing gun culture in a music
video, Capt Amarinder made
it clear that the arrest had no
connection with the singer’s
video in support of the protest-
ing farmers, which, in fact, was
appreciable. “However, his
good work now could not
condone the negative impact
of his old song encouraging
youth to pick up guns,” he said.
Capt Amarinder said:
“Promoting gangsterism and
gun culture in this manner is
absolutely wrong…The case
has been registered correctly in
the matter which related to an
old song of the singer.” Noting
that Punjab was a border state
facing ongoing threats from
across the border, the Chief
Minister said: “We will not
allow the state’s peace to be
disturbed in any manner”,
which such acts had the poten-
tial to do.
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Punjab Government is all set to develop a
Wood Park in Hoshiarpur soon with 30 units
of plywood manufacturing. “The land for this
project has been earmarked, which would fur-
ther create 10,000 direct and 8,000 indirect job
opportunities,” said the state Industries and
Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora on
Wednesday. Arora said that the Punjab
Government’s concerted efforts for industrial
growth had secured investments worth over Rs
71,000 crore during last four years besides ensur-
ing 2.7 lakh job opportunities under these indus-
trial projects.The Minister informed that req-
uisite approvals for setting up of Wood Park have
been obtained and it would be developed on
nearly 58 acres of land chunk adjoining
Hoshiarpur.Despite severe health crisis amid
global COVID-19 pandemic, the year-2020 itself
witnessed industrial investment to the tune of
Rs 10,461 crore with major projects in different
sectors including agro, food-processing, chem-
ical, automobile, textile, education, renewable
energy, light engineering etc.
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Categorically rejecting as “highly irresponsi-
ble” reports in a section of the media that
Punjab had already implemented the new farm
laws, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh
on Wednesday said that the state Food Minister
Bharat Bhushan Ashu’s statement had been “mis-
chievously twisted” by one newspaper, with oth-
ers picking it up.
“Punjab was the first state to have opposed
the central farm laws and, in fact, passed amend-
ments Bills to negate their dangerous impact on
agriculture,” he pointed out, slamming the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) for spreading misinfor-
mation on the issue with their fake propagan-
da machinery.
He said that the Governor “should have for-
warded our Bills to the President for assent,
which he has not done”.
At the same time, the Chief Minister,
stressing that there was nothing wrong with the
demands of the protesting farmers, urged the
Prime Minister to immediately repeal the farm
laws in order to resolve the
crisis.
The Chief Minister, in a media interview,
made it clear that Punjab would not allow the
lives of its farmers to be ruined by the new laws.
“We will do whatever possible to help the farm-
ers and their families, for whom the State
Government has already started two helplines
on which they could reach out in case of any
emergency,” he said.
Urging the Prime Minister to withdraw the
controversial laws and talk to the farmers, Capt
Amarinder said: “The farmers have made their
stand very clear that the laws should be
repealed. It is the job of the Government of India
to listen to them.”
The Centre can bring in new laws after due
consultation with the farmers, he said, pointing
out that the Constitution has been amended
many times and can be done again for the revo-
cation of the recently enacted farm
legislations.
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- 1. ?>;;B5A !D? ;2 B40CB=90=D0AH!' ;dRZ]^f)CWT4[TRcX^] 2^XbbX^]^U8]SXP^] FTS]TbSPhSTR[PaTScWT_^[[ bRWTSd[TU^a ![TVXb[PcXeT R^d]RX[bTPcbX]DccPa?aPSTbW VTccX]VePRP]c^]9P]dPah!' CWTcTa^U !;2bXbR^X]V c^P]T]S^]9P]dPah 34;78´B08A@D0;8CH CDA=B?A =Tf3T[WX)3T[WX³bPXa`dP[Xch cda]TS°_^^a±^]FTS]TbSPh SdTc^d]UPe^daPQ[T TcT^a^[^VXRP[R^]SXcX^]b fTPcWTaST_PacT]c^UUXRXP[b bPXS BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Farmers protesting against the three farm laws at Delhi borders for around 40 days are fully prepared to take out a tractor rally on Thursday. However, the inclement weath- er, because of which they had deferred their tractor rally by a day, has continued unabated. Even as their talks with the Government have failed to resolve the issues, the farmer unions on Wednesday said scores of farmers are gathering at borders for the tractor rallies on January 7. The farmers said the Thursday tractor rally is a rehearsal for the Republic day show. Meanwhile, All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has urged farmers to take out trac- tors parade in all districts of the country on January 26. Several rural women in Haryana’s Jind district are receiving training to drive trac- tors for taking part in a “trac- tor parade” in the national Capital on January 26 against the three new farm laws. Women hailing from three villages — Safa Kheri, Khatkar, Pallwan — in Jind are learning to steer the tractor wheel. Sikim Nain Sheokant, pres- ident of Jind-based Kisan Ekta Mahila Manch, said though some of the women can drive tractors in the fields for farm operations, they do not have experience of road driving. “We want women to drive tractors on highway on January 26 without any help,” she said. Sheokant said several vil- lagers were also helping them out by offering their tractors and providing them required training. Women are undergoing training at a toll plaza on Jind- Patiala National Highway for handling tractor-trolleys on road. The protesting farmers have declared toll plazas “free”. “We are getting the train- ing for driving a tractor for par- ticipating in the tractor parade,” said a woman who has been receiving the lesson. She feels the new farm laws are not in the interest of the farming community. “Several other protests also have begun in support of the farmers’ demand. A sit-in has begun with more than 500 tractors marching into Baraut area of Baghpat district. In Chennai, a massive dharna was held and tribal protests are planned in Odisha,” AIKSCC stated. The body blamed the Central Government for not being serious about talks and solving farmers’ problems. “In the 7th round talks held till now, we have stated we want repeal and nothing else. The Government too has ‘under- stood that the demand is for repeal’ and said it will have to undertake ‘further consultation’. Yet, several Ministers and BJP leaders are putting a spanner in the wheels,” they said. “Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had announced he will be talking to other farmer unions who sup- port the laws. Already this exercise to manufacture sup- port has been undertaken and has achieved very poor response. Taking cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP leaders from MP and Punjab have said demands are unjustified,” they said. “While Nitin Gadkari tar- geted the need to improve food production and feed India’s largely hungry popula- tion, he attacked MSP, saying it is higher than market rate, even when the Government says MSP will continue. Ministers should know that India is host to 33 per cent of the world’s hungry popula- tion,” said the AIKSCC. A094B7:D0AQ =4F34;78 After lakhs of birds died in several States and thou- sands were culled, the Centre on Wednesday identified 12 epicentres of avian influenza, or the bird flu, outbreak in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and issued advisories to other States to contain spread of the infection in chickens, ducks, crows and migratory birds. Over 69,000 birds, includ- ing ducks and chicken, were culled in Kerala while the Madhya Pradesh Government banned chicken supply from Kerala and other southern States for next 10 days. The bird flu outbreak has been report- ed barely a few months after India in September 30, 2020 declared the country free from the disease. The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry Dairying on Wednesday alerted States to keep a vigil on any unusual mortality among birds and to report immediately to take necessary measures as there is a possibility of bird flu spread- ing to humans and domesti- cated animals. The Ministry has also set up a control room (011-23382354) in Krishi Bhawan to keep watch on the situation and to take stock on daily basis of preventive and control measures undertaken by State authorities. The avian influenza cases have been reported in many States like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Gujarat, while Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are on high alert. “After confirmation of pos- itive samples from ICAR-NIH- SAD, avian influenza (AI) has been reported from the fol- lowing States (at 12 epicentres): Rajasthan (crow) — Baran, Kota, Jhalawar; Madhya Pradesh (crow) — Mandsaur, Indore, Malwa; Himachal Pradesh (migratory birds) — Kangra; Kerala (poultry duck) — Kottayam, Allapuzha (4 epi- centres),” said the Ministry. ?=BQ ;D2:=F In a stark reminder of the Delhi’s 2012 Nirbhaya case, a 50-year-old anganwadi worker was gangraped and murdered allegedly by a priest and his two accomplices in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. While the priest is on the run, his two accomplices were arrested on Tuesday night after the post-mortem report con- firmed rape, police said on Wednesday, adding the woman’s leg and a rib bone too were found fractured and there were injuries in her private parts. The incident, which trig- gered an uproar in political cir- cles, took place on Sunday and the matter came to light that night when the priest and his accomplices took the body to the victim’s home, saying it was found in a dry well in the tem- ple premises. Taking cognisance of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered “strongest possible action” in the case even as Opposition parties attacked his Government, terming the incident “horrific” and “shame- ful”. The CM has directed the ADG Bareilly zone to report back to the Government on the incident and action taken against the accused. The CM has also said that STF would be assisting the district police in the investigation. The National Commission for Women too took note of the incident and decided to send a team of its members to probe the incident. About the incident, Badaun’s Senior Superintendent of Police Sankalp Sharma said, “The post-mortem report confirms rape and there are injuries in her private parts and a fracture in the leg.” She suffered a rib fracture too, he added, citing the autop- sy report. The SSP said the station house officer (SHO) of Ughaiti police station has been sus- pended for “delay in informing higher authorities, laxity in taking action, dereliction of duty and failure in taking speedy action”. Four teams have been formed to nab the priest, the SSP said. ?=BQ ADA:4;0 At least four workers were killed and six others seri- ously injured following leakage of carbon monoxide gas at the Coal Chemicals Department of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) on Wednesday morning. While six of the victims were taken to the RSP dispen- sary, four workers, identified as Ganesh Chandra Paila (55), Rabindra Sahu (59), Abhimanyu Sah (33) and Brahmananda Panda (51), were admitted to the ICU of the Ispat General Hospital (IGH) where they died while undergoing treatment. Hours after the incident, the RSP authorities suspended two senior officials, Deputy General Manager Gopabandhu Barik of EMD Department and DGM Nabendu Das of CCD Mechanical Department for their alleged negligence. Also, the authorities decided to pro- vide job to one family member of each deceased. While opening flange bolts of the gas line of the gas mix- ing tank at the site A of the plant, some entrapped gas gushed out affecting four work- ers of the contract firm, Star Construction, critically. Meanwhile, a high-level committee has been formed to enquire into the cause of the accident. The plant is func- tioning normally, informed official sources. Rourkela Ispat Karkhana Karmachari Sangh president Himanshu Sekhar Bal demand- ed adequate compensation to the families of the deceased and injured. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a tweet said, “Deeply saddened to know about the tragic loss of lives in the gas leak incident at Rourkela Steel Plant. My thoughts and prayers are with bereaved families in the hour of grief and pray for the speedy recovery of those who are hospitalised.” ?C8Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine controversial new laws of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand regulating reli- gious conversions due to inter- faith marriages. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde refused, how- ever, to stay the provisions of the laws and issued notices to both State Governments on two different petitions. The pleas, filed by advocate Vishal Thakre and others and an NGO ‘Citizen for Justice and Peace’, have challenged the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018 which reg- ulate religious conversions of inter-faith marriages. At the outset, the top court asked the petitioners to approach the Allahabad High Court after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that it is already seized of the matter. ?C8Q F0B78=6C= Democrat Rev Raphael Warnock on Wednesday secured a crucial win in the senatorial race, becoming the first Black senator from Georgia and bringing his party within the reach of a majority in the US Senate ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Multiple news outlets on Wednesday morning projected 51-year-old Warnock, a senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, winner against Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler in the Georgia Senate runoff. He is the first African- American to represent Georgia in the US Senate. He is also the first Democrat to win the Senate race from Georgia in 20 years. The control of the Senate now boils down to the other Senate runoff from Georgia wherein Republican incum- bent Senator David Perdue is trailing against Democrat Jon Ossoff, when reports last came in. The special elections were held on Tuesday. Both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden had campaigned for their respective candidates. The 100-member Senate now has 50 seats for the Republican Party and 49 to the Democrats. The result of the Perdue vs Ossoff is yet to be called in. In the event of both Republicans and the Democrats having 50 seats in the Senate, Vice-President- elect Kamala Harris is in her capacity as the Vice Chairman, who presides over the Senate meetings, would cast the cru- cial vote in favour of the Democrats. ?C8Q =4F34;78 Petrol price on Wednesday neared all-time high after state-owned fuel retailers hiked rates after a nearly month- long hiatus. Petrol price was raised by 26 paise per litre and diesel by 25 paise a litre, according to a price notification from oil mar- keting companies. After this increase, petrol in Delhi climbed to C83.97 per litre from C83.71 previously. Diesel rates rose to C74.12 per litre from C73.87. In Mumbai, diesel touched an all-time high of C80.78. This is the first price revi- sion in nearly a month and rates are now near an all-time high. Highest ever rate of C84 a litre for petrol in Delhi was touched on October 4, 2018. Diesel too had scaled to an all-time high of C75.45 a litre on October 4, 2018. On that day, the Government cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by C1.50 per litre in a bid to ease inflation- ary pressure and boost con- sumer confidence. 20?BD;4 ?=BQ =4F34;78 After suggesting the Centre on December 17 to put on hold the three controversial farms laws and form a panel to go into the issues raised by protesting farmers, the Supreme Court on Monday noted that there has been no “improvement on ground” and posted the matter for hearing on January 11. A three-judge Bench head- ed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said the intention of the court is to encourage and facil- itate talks between farmers and the Government. To this, Attorney General KK Venugopal informed the Bench that “there are chances of the parties coming to some sort of an understanding”. “We understand the situa- tion and encourage consulta- tion. We can adjourn the mat- ters on Monday if you submit the same due to the ongoing consultation process,” the Bench said. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma challenging the validity of the three farm laws. The court also issued notice to the Government on a separate petition filed by advo- cate Sharma, challenging the Third Constitutional Amendment of 1954 which included Entry 33, concerning food and essential commodi- ties, in the Concurrent List. “This is one of Sharma’s startling petitions... He says you [Government] have been com- mitting illegalities since 1954,” Bobde told Venugopal in a lighter vein. 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- 2. ]PcX^]!347A03D=kC7DAB30H 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 B78;0 The death toll of migratory birds due to bird flu has crossed 2900 at Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal’s Kangra district. “On January 5, as many as 336 migratory birds were reported dead at Pong wetland pushing the death toll to 2736. The carcasses of more than 250 birds were found at Pong till Wednesday evening while the counting was still on,” said an official of the Wildlife wing of Forest Department, Himachal while talking to The Pioneer. The official said that max- imum fatalities continued to be reported in Bar-Headed Goose at the wetland. Apart from this, deaths have been report- ed in eight more species of birds. It was on January 4 when the deadly avian influenza- H5N1 was confirmed by NIHASAD, Bhopal in five migratory birds, whose car- casses were found in Pong wetland. Meanwhile, an official spokesman of the Wildlife wing of the Forest Department said that the Department is work- ing actively to contain the out- break of H5NI Avian Influenza virus in the state. The field staff has been directed to maintain strict vigil and active surveillance of the situation, he said. The spokesperson said that the Avian Influenza is a disease caused by a virus that infects domestic poultry and wild birds. Acting as per action plan of Animal Husbandry for preparedness, control and con- tainment of avian Influenza issued by Government of India, rapid response teams have been constituted and deployed for collection and safe disposal of dead birds as per protocol. The infected areas are being disinfected and sani- tized. The whole operation is being supervised by DFO Wildlife Hamirpur, the spokesperson added. As per the official figures, the Pong Dam wetland, known as 'Birding Paradise', is cur- rently hosting around 60000 migratory birds of different species. The Department has already banned the entry of tourists and other visitors in the Pong Dam area. NO THREAT OF BIRD FLU IN PUNJAB YET, GOVT FULLY PREPARED, SAYS MINISTER Punjab Animal Husbandry Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on Wednesday said that no case of bird flu has been reported in the State so far, but the State Government has taken all pre- cautionary measures to deal with any situation. At the same time, the Minister maintained that the people, who eat eggs and meat, do not need to be afraid and “they just need to eat these products cooked properly”. Bajwa, addressing a press conference to list the achieve- ments of the Departments under him, said that the Animal Husbandry Department, along with other departments of the State Government, was closely mon- itoring to ensure that sub- standard meat and fish were not sold in the market. e also appealed to the peo- ple to refrain from spreading rumours and report any such rumour to the administration immediately. Notably, the state authori- ties have alerted officials to keep tabs on any unusual deaths of migratory and poul- try birds in the state. “An advi- sory has been issued for sur- veillance of commercial poul- try farms and backyard poul- try farms to find any unusual mortality in birds,” said the state Animal Husbandry direc- tor Harbinder Singh Kahlon. He said that the advisory has been sent to all 22 deputy directors of the Department to ensure regular visit of field staff to commercial and backyard poultry farms in the state. In case any “unusual mortality” in poultry birds is found, samples will be sent to the Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar, to ascertain the cause. Similarly, the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation has also issued an advisory for maintaining extra vigil around lakes and wetlands in the state, they said. Notably, a large number of migratory birds such as gulls, reeve, etc arrive at Harike Pattan in Tarn Taran every year. Other wetlands in the state are in Gurdaspur, Rupnagar and Nangal. Protocols have also been issued for collection of samples in case any migratory bird is found dead, and all possible precautions were being taken. Reports are that samples of dead migratory birds at Pong Dam Lake sanctuary in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh have tested positive for the H5N8 strain of bird flu. Four lakh poultry birds have died at 20 farms in Haryana's Panchkula district in the past several days. A team of experts from the RDDL collected samples from the farms on Tuesday. 3ZcU7]fdTRcVd^ZXcRe`cjSZcUdReA`_X5R^UVReYe`]]cZdVde`#*!! Shimla: Amid the outbreak of bird flu in Himachal, three carcasses of vultures were found in two villages of Sirmaur district on Wednesday. An official in the Wildlife Wing of Forest Department said that a carcass of vulture was found in Shamah village and two others carcasses in another nearby village on Wednesday. A team of the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department were sent there for taking samples for bird flu testing. The report is await- ed to ascertain the cause of death of the vultures, the official said. The species of vulture was not known till the filing of this report. The Himalayan vulture and European vulture are found in Himachal. Notably, apart from 2900 migratory birds that have died at Pong Dam in Kangra district, deaths of crows have also been reported in the area. 3QbSQccUc_VdXbUU fedebUcV_e^TY^ 8@cCYb]QebTYcdbYSd =8B7D07090=Q 270=3860A7 Amid the outbreak of bird flu in several states across the country, five birds were found dead at the city's prime tourist spot-Sukhna Lake trig- gering panic in the city. Carcasses of four birds were found at the regulator end of Sukhna Lake on Wednesday while a carcass of Common Coot was found on Tuesday evening. A dead fish and frog were also found near Common Coot at the Lake. After the deaths, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department has sent samples to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar for bird flu testing. More than 200 samples taken from poultry birds, water bodies, environmental ele- ments in the city have been sent for testing. The deaths of birds at Sukhna Lake are reported at a time when more than 2700 migratory birds have died at Himachal’s Pong Dam due to deadly avian influenza- H5N1. Bird flu has also affected states namely Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. “Five birds have been found dead till Wednesday evening at the Lake. These birds included Common Coot, Pigeon, Crow, Egret and Cormorant. Samples have been sent to RDDL, Jalandhar for testing and the report is likely to be received in next two days,” said Debendra Dalai, UT Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden while talking to The Pioneer. Dalai said that in view of bird flu alert across the coun- try and directions received from the Centre, the field offi- cials and all concerned in Chandigarh have been kept on high alert to keep a strict vigil and look for possible symptoms or mortality of birds. He said that as of now, no symptoms of bird flu have been reported in migratory birds at the Sukhna Lake and Wildlife Sanctuary area. Some of the bird flu symptoms in avian species include diar- rhoea, head tilt, paralysis and sluggish behaviour. Apart from the field staff, the bird watch- ers and visitors to Sukhna Lake and other water bodies have been requested to report to the Department of Forest and Wildlife, in case of any such symptoms, Dalai added. The Department has decided not to close Sukhna Lake and Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary for the vis- itors till the confir- mation of the bird flu. Notably, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had sent guidelines on January 3 relating to Avian Influenza to all states and union terri- tories with an aim to ensure implementation of all precau- tionary measures to check the spread of virus. Earlier, it was in the year 2014 when bird flu was detect- ed in ducks at Sukhna Lake and more than 90 ducks were culled as a part of control and con- tainment measures to prevent the spread of avian influenza, H5N1 in the city. During this winter season, more than 1000 migratory birds have reached water bod- ies in Chandigarh. The migra- tory birds, while escaping cold biting conditions in their areas, and braving the high snow- laden peaks of Himalayas, reach India every year for their winter sojourn. 0XSQXaSU[dP[TacUXeTQXaSbU^d]SSTPSPcBdZW]P;PZT ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered with- drawal of Section 307 against farm laws protesters who dumped cow dung outside a former BJP Minister Tikshan Sud’s house in Hoshiarpur. Capt Amarinder, who also holds the Home portfolio, has also ordered transfer of the Station House Officer (SHO) who had registered the ‘attempt to murder’ case, which is now being probed by a Special Investigative Team (SIT). “The SHO has gone over- board in registering a case under Section 307 of the IPC…There is no attempt to murder,” he said, referring to the Hoshiarpur incident, in which a group of protestors had unloaded a trolley full of cow dung in front of Punjab’s former Minister Tikshan Sud’s residence. SINGER BRAR’S ARREST FOR PROMOTING GUN CULTURE JUSTIFIED Terming as correct and justi- fied the arrest of Punjabi singer Shree Brar for promot- ing gun culture in a music video, Capt Amarinder made it clear that the arrest had no connection with the singer’s video in support of the protest- ing farmers, which, in fact, was appreciable. “However, his good work now could not condone the negative impact of his old song encouraging youth to pick up guns,” he said. Capt Amarinder said: “Promoting gangsterism and gun culture in this manner is absolutely wrong…The case has been registered correctly in the matter which related to an old song of the singer.” Noting that Punjab was a border state facing ongoing threats from across the border, the Chief Minister said: “We will not allow the state’s peace to be disturbed in any manner”, which such acts had the poten- tial to do. ?d]YPQbWd]cbB7fW^[^SVTSPccT_cc^daSTaRPbTPUcTaR^fSd]V_a^cTbcRWPaVTfXcWSaPf] ?=B Q 270=3860A77B780A?DA Punjab Government is all set to develop a Wood Park in Hoshiarpur soon with 30 units of plywood manufacturing. “The land for this project has been earmarked, which would fur- ther create 10,000 direct and 8,000 indirect job opportunities,” said the state Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora on Wednesday. Arora said that the Punjab Government’s concerted efforts for industrial growth had secured investments worth over Rs 71,000 crore during last four years besides ensur- ing 2.7 lakh job opportunities under these indus- trial projects.The Minister informed that req- uisite approvals for setting up of Wood Park have been obtained and it would be developed on nearly 58 acres of land chunk adjoining Hoshiarpur.Despite severe health crisis amid global COVID-19 pandemic, the year-2020 itself witnessed industrial investment to the tune of Rs 10,461 crore with major projects in different sectors including agro, food-processing, chem- ical, automobile, textile, education, renewable energy, light engineering etc. @e^ZQRd_TUfU_`G__T @Qb[Qd8_cXYQb`ebc__^ ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Categorically rejecting as “highly irresponsi- ble” reports in a section of the media that Punjab had already implemented the new farm laws, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said that the state Food Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu’s statement had been “mis- chievously twisted” by one newspaper, with oth- ers picking it up. “Punjab was the first state to have opposed the central farm laws and, in fact, passed amend- ments Bills to negate their dangerous impact on agriculture,” he pointed out, slamming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for spreading misinfor- mation on the issue with their fake propagan- da machinery. He said that the Governor “should have for- warded our Bills to the President for assent, which he has not done”. At the same time, the Chief Minister, stressing that there was nothing wrong with the demands of the protesting farmers, urged the Prime Minister to immediately repeal the farm laws in order to resolve the crisis. The Chief Minister, in a media interview, made it clear that Punjab would not allow the lives of its farmers to be ruined by the new laws. “We will do whatever possible to help the farm- ers and their families, for whom the State Government has already started two helplines on which they could reach out in case of any emergency,” he said. Urging the Prime Minister to withdraw the controversial laws and talk to the farmers, Capt Amarinder said: “The farmers have made their stand very clear that the laws should be repealed. It is the job of the Government of India to listen to them.” The Centre can bring in new laws after due consultation with the farmers, he said, pointing out that the Constitution has been amended many times and can be done again for the revo- cation of the recently enacted farm legislations. 3XQMDE KDV QRW LPSOHPHQWHG QHZ $JUL /DZV DSW UHMHFWV PHGLD UHSRUW DV µPLVFKLHYRXV¶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
- 3. RP_XcP[347A03D=kC7DAB30H k90=D0AH !! ?=BQ 347A03D= The number of novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in Uttarakhand increased to 92,593 on Wednesday with the state health department reporting 227 new cases of the disease. The department also reported the death of five patients of the disease on the day after which the death toll mounted to 1549 in the state. The health department dis- charged 380 patients from dif- ferent hospitals on Wednesday. A total of 86298 patients have recovered from the disease so far in the state. The recovery percentage from the disease is now at 93.20 and the sample positivity rate is 4.99 percent. Two patients of Covid-19 were reported dead at the District Hospital Pithoragarh on Wednesday. One patient each of the disease was report- ed dead at Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hos- pital, Mahant Indiresh hospital and Himalayan hospital Dehradun on Wednesday. The health department reported 69 fresh cases of Covid-19 from Dehradun, 60 from Nainital, 40 from Haridwar, 13 from Udham Singh Nagar, 12 from Uttarkashi, nine from Champawat, seven from Almora, five from Chamoli, four from Rudraprayag, three each from Tehri and Pauri and two from Bageshwar on Wednesday. Uttarakhand now has 3515 active cases of the dis- ease. Dehradun is at continu- ing to remain at top of the table of active cases with 1049 cases while with 810 active cases Nainital is at second spot. Haridwar is at third position with 322 cases, Tehri has 195, Uttarkashi 188, Pithoragarh 181, Bageshwar 145, Almora 140, Udham Singh Nagar 125, Pauri 116, Chamoli 108 and Champawat 71 active cases of the disease. With 65 active cases of Covid-19, Rudraprayag is at the bottom of the table of active cases of Covid-19. ?=BQ 347A03D= Aday after resuming his offi- cial work at his residence in Delhi following his recovery from Covid-19, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat returned to Dehradun on Wednesday. After landing at the GTC helipad here, the CM said, “With the blessings of lord Badrivishal and lord Kedarnath, and the good wish- es of all, I have fully recovered and returned with renewed energy to once again serve the public.” Expressing his grati- tude to all doctors and para- medical staff, Rawat stressed on the need for following all the Covid guidelines like wearing a mask properly, maintaining social distancing and fre- quently washing hands. Cabinet minister Madan Kaushik, State min- ister Dhan Singh Rawat and Dehradun mayor Sunil Uniyal ‘Gama’ among others wel- comed the CM at the helipad. It will be recalled that the CM, his wife and daughter had tested positive for Covid on December 18. He was admitted first to the government Doon medical college hospital here on December 27 on experi- encing fever and then shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi on the next day for tests and observation as he was suffering from minor infection in the lungs. He was discharged from AIIMS on January 2 after test- ing negative for Covid and returned to Dehradun after completing his period of isola- tion at his Delhi residence. 5XeTSTPcWb !]TfRPbTb aT_^acTS^] FTS]TbSPh 4`gZU*TRdVd^`f_ee`*#*$Z_F¶YR_U ?=BQ 347A03D= Adry run for vaccination of Covid-19 would be done in all 13 districts of Uttarakhand on Friday (January 8). The vac- cine dry run would be done in ten hospitals in every district. An online training programme was organised on Wednesday for the dry run of vaccine. The programme was attended by the district magistrates (DM), chief medical officers (CMO), immunisation officers and other officers of all the districts. Addressing the workshop, the secretary health Amit Singh Negi said that the dry run would be in accordance with the guidelines of the govern- ment of India. He said that highest standards would be followed and the arrangements would be similar to that done during the elections. In the training different aspects of the vaccine dry run was given by the representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The director general (DG) health services, Dr Amita Upreti has already appointed observers for the dry run. These observers would review the campaign and submit a detailed report to the officer concerned. CWTSahad]c^QT d]STacPZT]X] W^b_XcP[b^UTeTah SXbcaXRc QbTaeTab P__^X]cTSc^ ^]Xc^a RP_PXV] 8QfUbUdeb^UTd_cUbfU`eRYS gYdXbU^UgUTU^UbWi*3= 6WDWH JHDUV XS IRU RYLG 9DFFLQH GU UXQ RQ -DQ ?=BQ 347A03D= Taking a stern note on the derogatory comment on leader of opposition (LoP) Indira Hridayesh made by the state BJP president Bansidhar Bhagat, the Uttarakhand Congress has demanded that FIR should be lodged against Bhagat. A delegation of Congress led by the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Pritam Singh met the Director General (DG) of police, Ashok Kumar on Wednesday and submitted a complaint against Bhagat. Later addressing the media persons at Rajiv Bhawan,Dehradun Pritam Singh said that he is person- ally feeling offended by the demeaning remark made by Bhagat and submitted a com- plaint on his own to the police. The police should lodge a FIR against Bhagat as per the provisions and act accord- ingly, he said. Singh warned that the party would hit the roads if no action is taken against Bhagat. The PCC president said that the Congress party strongly condemns the utter- ances of Bhagat on Indira Hridayesh. “ Indiraji has achieved a position in politics and everyone irrespective of party affiliations respects her. She has a very rich experience of parliamentary processes and whenever she speaks in the assembly everyone listens to her attentively. The com- ment made by Bhagat is an insult of Matrishakti of the state and everyone is offend- ed by it. The comment also reflects the character of the BJP state president,’’ he said. The PCC president said that it is appreciable that the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has expressed regret on the remark of Bhagat but added that the CM should have also expressed regret when a BJP MLA had made insulting remarks about the people of Uttarakhand. He said that the CM should have expressed regret when a woman party worker of BJP had complained that the gen- eral secretary (Organisation ) of BJP had harassed her. The PCC president said that the state administration took no note of the complaint made by a woman in which she claimed that a BJP MLA had sexually harassed her and she had a daughter from him. He said that it was the court who took cognizance of the plea of the victim and ordered that a DNA test of the MLA and the girl should be done. The vice president of Uttarakhand Congress Surya Kant Dhasmana, RP Raturi, Rajendra Shah, Garima Dasauni, Mahesh Joshi and others were present on the occasion. ?=BQ 347A03D= Following the comment made by the Bharatiya Janata Party state president Banshidhar Bhagat regarding the leader of opposition Indira Hridayesh, chief min- ister Trivendra Singh Rawat apologised to her while Bhagat himself expressed regret and withdrew his statement. The chief minister tweet- ed at 12:38 AM on Wednesday addressing Hridayesh stating that he was very sad. “A woman is very respectable and venera- ble to us. I personally seek an apology from you and every- one who is sad like I am,” said Rawat in the tweet. Later during the day, the BJP state president said that he had come to know that the statement he had made at a party workers’ meet in Bhimtal had displeased the leader of opposition. He said, “I had used a word which I have come to know has hurt the leader of opposition. I would like to make it clear that she is our senior and respecting women is my and my party’s priori- ty. I had said it in a general way but if my statement hurt her, I deeply regret it and withdraw my statement.” 'HURJDWRU UHPDUN RQ +ULGDHVK RQJ ZDQWV ),5 DJDLQVW %KDJDW 2^]VaTbbT]c^ cPZTc^bcaTTcbXU ]^PRcX^]PVPX]bc 1WPVPcXb cPZT])?aXcP ?DA=8018B7CQ 347A03D= Becoming more stringent towards the registration of pet dogs in the city, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) will com- mence inspection of dog licenses from January 11. The officials stated that the motive of this inspection is to aware locals about the registration procedure rather than just penalising them for not regis- tering the dogs with the cor- poration. Informing this, the senior veterinary officer of the cor- poration Dr DC Tiwari said that the corporation will work in multiple teams in the city, especially during early morn- ings and evenings when the owners take their dogs out for a stroll. We are not initiating this inspection to penalise peo- ple but to make them aware about the pet dog license reg- istrations. We have found out that many locals are still not aware of the procedure of the registrations and we aim to change that, said Tiwari. According to him, about 2,000 dogs have been registered in MCD this financial year which is the highest number of regis- trations in the corporation ever. He stated that initially those who do not hold the license will be warned and informed about the same. The team will get the details from such owners and they will be provided at least two days to register their dogs but if they fail to do so, the MCD will send them a notice, informed Tiwari. He said that after the first warning, the corporation will impose a minimum fine of Rs 500 which would go higher up to Rs 5000 if the owners would not register the dogs after mul- tiple warnings. Meanwhile, Tiwari also pointed out that people are progressively becoming aware of registra- tions in the city in the last few months. He said that around 70 people arrive in MCD every day for pet dog license regis- trations and so far, the corpo- ration has collected about Rs four lakhs with approximately 2000 registrations. ?=BQ 347A03D= In a significant feat, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh has provided OPD facilities to 2.5 lakh patients in the last year. A total of 29000 patients were admitted in different wings of the hospital in the year. Last year, in March 2020, OPD ser- vices were shut down in most hospitals in the state during the nationwide lockdown due to the growing infection of the worldwide pandemic. The Director of AIIMS- Rishikesh Ravikant said that despite the challenges of treat- ing patients during the pan- demic of Covid-19, the services continued in the institute. “The emergency services were also kept open on all seven days a week for the con- venience of patients. AIIMS doctors, nursing staff and other medical staff served patients like warriors, performing their duties,’’ he said. The Dean Hospital Administration, U B Mishra said that during the pandemic the Covid-19 patients were accorded priority but treat- ment of compulsory and emer- gency patients was continued for twenty-four hours in AIIMS. He added that surgery of ten thousand patients suffering from various diseases was also successfully done in the insti- tute. ?=BQ 347A03D= From over 5,000 registra- tions in Dehradun district for employment opportunities through Helping Out People Everywhere (HOPE) portal, more than 3,000 registrations belong to the applicants from rural areas alone. In view of getting better employment opportunities in Dehradun district during the pandemic, about 5,200 people have registered in the portal so far which was launched in May to provide employment to migrant returnees, as per the district nodal officer of HOPE, Ajay Singh. He informed that the district administration has already contacted about 3,500 applicants so far while many among the remaining appli- cants could not be contacted. Since the portal was mainly launched for migrants who had to return here after Covid- 19 pandemic hit the country in March or lost the job due to it, many could have returned to their jobs again as we could not contact many applicants, said Singh. The officials informed that the list of registered applicants in the portal is sent to the departments concerned regard- ing the field in which the applicants have shown their interest through the applica- tion. According to them, the administration has sent around 3000 applications to 10 depart- ments but most of the applica- tions are forwarded to the four main departments as per the registrations that include department of industries, agri- culture department, dairy development department and tourist department besides Uttarakhand Skill Development Mission (UKSDM). The officials point- ed out that over 3000 applicants have registered in the portal under skilled professionals while about 2000 applicants have registered under unskilled professionals. The nodal officer Singh said that the HOPE portal helps applicants to connect with different government schemes like Mukhyamantri Swarozgar Yojana (MSY) and UKSDM to get the best employment opportunities and even those can register who have not even completed their education or hold any profes- sional skill. ?=BQ 347A03D= Gearing up for the approaching inspection of Swacch Survekshan 2021 while asking locals to register their complaints about sanitation related issues in the city through Swachhata-MoHUA app, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) has been receiving about 300 complaints every day. As informed by the munic- ipal health inspector Pushpa Rauthan, the corporation receives different kinds of complaints on a daily basis including drainage issues, road- side garbage dumping, unclean public toilets and disposal of dead animals. The MCD receives from 200 to 300 complaints daily and so far, the corporation has received over 14,000 sanitation related complaints through Swachhata-MoHUA app, said Rauthan. She further added that the corporation resolves most of the matters within 24 hours to 36 hours but some- times, some complaints might take a bit longer to get resolved. However, Rauthan pointed out that the complaint is marked as resolved in the app as soon as the MCD resolves the matter. Moreover, the offi- cials informed that the regular complaints help to improve sanitation facilities in the city besides increasing the possi- bility of getting a higher posi- tion in Swacch Survekshan 2021. They appealed to locals to register complaints through the app with photographs and videos for the immediate redressal of sanitation related issues in the city. ?=BQ 347A03D= Setting up an example of political bonhomie among major political rivals, the for- mer chief minister Harish Rawat has praised Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat for expressing regret on the derogatory comment made by the state president of BJP Bansidhar Bhagat. The former CM congratulated the incum- bent CM for showing appre- ciable political acumen on the issue thus partially saving his party from humiliation. Harish Rawat took to social media to congratulate Trivendra Singh Rawat on Wednesday. He also thanked the CM for his order regarding the nursing graduates and differently abled govern- ment employees after over- coming Coronavirus. It is worth mentioning here that CM Rawat on Tuesday had directed the health secretary to remove the clause of compul- sion of Form 16 and experience of at least one year in a 30 bed hospital from the recruitment process of 1238 posts of nurs- es. He also increased the quota of differently abled govern- ment employees in the allot- ment of government accom- modations. Both these orders were welcomed by the former CM Harish Rawat. Incidentally the CM gave the order on the nursing recruitment process a day after a delegation of the nursing graduates led by Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat met Harish Rawat in Dehradun. Harish Rawat had appealed to the state govern- ment to withdraw controversial and impractical provisions from the recruitment of nurs- es. ?=BQ 347A03D= TheLokSabhaspeakerOmBirlawould inaugurate a programme for the pan- chayat representatives of different parts of the country in Dehradun on January 8. In the programme these representatives would be informed about the democrat- icproceduresandprogrammesofthepar- liament. The speaker of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Prem Chand Agarwal would be the chief guest on the occasion. The programme titled , ‘ Panchayati Raj institutions- the empowerment of decen- tralised democracy’ would be organised under the joint aegis of the Parliamentary democracyresearchandtraininginstitute, Lok Sabha secretariat and the Panchayati Raj department of Uttarakhand. The Secretary Panchayati Raj Harish Chandra Semwal met the speaker Agarwal on Wednesdayandinvitedhimfortheevent. Agarwalsaidthattheinitiativeforthepro- gramme of panchayat representatives was taken by the Lok Sabha speaker. He said that in the year 2019, Uttarakhand suc- cessfully hosted a programme of presid- ing officers of different assemblies of the country and Birla was instrumental in organising the event. The programme would be attended by the representatives of three tier Panchayati Raj system. ?=BQ 347A03D= In view of increasing substance abuse among children and for prevention and rehabilitation of such minors in the State, the Uttarakhand child protection committee is organising a state-level seminar in Dehradun on January 13. According to the secretary of the committee, Yogendra Yadav, the semi- nar will discuss several points like how various departments including the health department, education department and police department can help to restrict the supply of drugs among minors in the dis- tricts. He said that the allocation of cess to tackle drug abuse is among the major points of the agenda of the sem- inar. Besides this, the treatment and rehabilitation of children who are addict- ed to substance abuse will be discussed too among the other important issues in the seminar, informed Yadav. He stated that the officials from various depart- ments and organisations will be attend- ing the seminar. ?=BQ 347A03D= After some days of rain and snowfall in Uttarakhand, there is some relief from the rain as the state meteorological centre has forecast that dry weather is likely to prevail in the state on Thursday. According to the weather fore- cast, dense fog is likely to occur in some parts of the plains especially in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar dis- tricts. Dehradun is likely to experience mainly clear to partly cloudy sky with mist/shallow fog also likely to occur. The maximum and min- imum temperatures in Dehradun are likely to be around 20 degrees Celsius and eight degrees Celsius respec- tively on Thursday. 3=Q`__WYcUc 2XQWQd Uh`bUccUcbUWbUd /DNK SDWLHQWV YLVLW 23' RI $,,06 5LVKLNHVK LQ 0Q^dc[^RP[bUX[TR^_[PX]cb SPX[hX]23cWa^dVW BfPRWWPcP^7D0P__;PdSbcWT2U^a aTVaTc^]R^T]c PSTQh19? bcPcT_aTbXST]c +DULVK 5DZDW IRU DOO SUDLVH IRU 0 7ULYHQGUD 3ahfTPcWTac^ _aTePX[c^SPh PUcTaSPhb^U aPX]b]^f 23cTPbc^R^]Ua^]c_Tc ^f]TabfXcW^dcaTVXbcaPcX^]b 2P %LUOD WR LQDXJXUDWH SURJUDPPH RI SDQFKDDW UHSUHVHQWDWLYHV 3XYT`b_dUSdY_^S_]]YddUUd_X_T cU]Y^QbY^4UXbQTe^_^:Q^!# 7?4_^acP[WT[_b P__[XRP]cbc^ R^]]TRcfXcW SXUUTaT]c6^ec bRWTTb ^bc[hadaP[P__[XRP]cb[^^ZU^a T_[^hT]c^__^acd]XcXTbcWa^dVW7?4
- 4. ]PcX^]#347A03D=kC7DAB30H k90=D0AH !! 344?0::D0A970Q =4F34;78 Concerned over the resig- nation of lateral entry bureaucrats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a ‘rare’ direct interaction with seven Joint Secretaries (JS) who joined the Government of India after quitting private sec- tors 14 months ago. Modi interacted with the officers after The Pioneer reported on December 16, 2020 about one of the nine Joint Secretaries resigning from the service and choosing to get back to an MNC abroad. He was a JS in the Commerce Ministry Sources in Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said the PM urged the officers to continue working for the country with a lot of zeal as the nation looks towards their expertise in diversified fields and which can contribute in the shaping of an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. One of the Joint Secretaries who participated in the inter- action with Modi on December 20, however, termed the inter- action as “routine”. “It was a routine first interaction after the first batch completed a year in various offices of the Central Government,” he stressed. While Modi was inquisitive about the feeling, work culture and acclimatisation of the pri- vate-professionals-turned- bureaucrats, one of the JS post- ed on his social media profile that “the PM’s energy level even after a long day in office is inspiring and infectious”. Those who interacted with Modi on that day were Amber Dubey, who left KPMG and joined Civil Aviation Ministry, Sujit Bajpayee, who left NHPS to join the Environment Ministry, Dinesh Jagdale, the erstwhile CEO of Panama Renewable Energy Group who was posted in the New Renewable Energy Ministry, Kakoli Ghosh, who joined the agriculture ministry, Saurabh Mishra in Financial Services, Rajeev Saksena in the eco- nomic affairs department, Suman Prasad Singh in the Road Transport Ministry and Bhuhan Kumar in the Shipping Ministry. Launched with much fan- fare by the Narendra Modi Government in 2018, the lat- eral entry scheme for senior- level officers drawn from var- ious professions and expertise suffered a setback when Arun Goel resigned. Sources close to Goel said after having served for about a year at a very powerful post he called it a day due to too much of “bureaucratic grind” in the system. Modi had him- self announced senior-level bureaucratic posts in several departments for people who are “talented and motivated” and willing to contribute to nation building. Sources said the decision of Goel to leave the Government sector could also be because of his insubordi- nation in the Ministry as he had a background of heading a global company. “He had come to join the Government after leaving a handsome pack- age earlier also,” sources said. The JS report to the secre- tary/additional secretary in the Ministry or Department and are normally appointed from all-India services like the IAS, IPS, IFS and other allied services. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Congress on Wednesday appointed its senior leaders including Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel as observers to oversee the party’s election campaign management for the upcoming Assembly polls in several States and a Union Territory. Assembly elections are due to be held in the States of Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the UT of Puducherry by the middle of this year. An official communica- tion from the party said Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed the leaders as senior observers for overseeing the election campaign management and coordination in states where assembly elections are going to be held in 2021. Their appoint- ment is with immediate effect. They will discharge their duties in close coordination with AICC general secretaries and in-charges in the respec- tive states, the party said. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro and Karnataka’s former deputy chief minister G Parameswara have been appointed as senior observers for the Kerala assembly polls. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the party’s general secretary Mukul Wasnik and senior leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan have been appointed as senior ovservers for the Assam assembly polls. For the elec- tions in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, senior party lead- ers and former union minis- ters M Veerappa Moily and M M Pallam Raju, besides sitting cabinet minister in Maharashtra Nitin Raut have been appointed as senior observers. For the West Bengal assembly elections, senior party leader B K Hariprasad and Alamgir Alam, besides Punjab minister Vijay Inder Singla have been appointed as observers. The party is keen to retain power in Puducherry and is seeking to wrest power back in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Congress is in the process of finalising seat-sharing with its allies in these states, the statement said. The Congress is also con- testing the West Bengal assem- bly polls in alliance with the left parties and final seat- sharing arrangements are being worked out in the state, it said. The party’s electoral fortunes were on the decline last year when it lost power in Madhya Pradesh after its leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and his supporting MLAs switched over to the BJP. The Congress also lost the assembly elections in Delhi and Bihar last year. 2^]VP__^X]cb6TW[^c1PVWT[ Pb^QbTaeTabU^a0bbTQ[h _^[[bX]BcPcTbD]X^]CTaaXc^ah ?=BQ =4F34;78 Showcasing their “success” in the Gram Panchayat polls in Karnataka, the BJP on Wednesday claimed that the people have rejected the Opposition’s politics of “lies and hypocrisy” in the ongoing farmers’ agitation and assert- ed that voters had put their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “develop- ment politics”. Addressing a press con- ference here, BJP spokesper- son and Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar alleged that opposition parties have been trying to instigate groups of citizens as he referred to farmers’ protest against three farm laws and also the earlier agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Noting that he is speaking in the context of a string of elections in Karnataka, he said the BJP has been winning them, be it assembly bypolls or MLC elections or the recent rural body polls. This “overwhelming” mandate in favour of the BJP against some opposition par- ties’ politics of “lies and hypocrisy” shows people’s trust in the leadership of Modi and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, he said. People have backed the measures taken by the central government for the agriculture sector, he claimed. The BJP leader said the Government is sincere in its talks with farmer unions to end their protests and said commitment to farmers is an “article of faith” for the party. Over 55.4 per cent gram panchayats in the state are BJP-supported and 53 per cent members are BJP supporters, he claimed. This result has come against the backdrop of oppo- sition parties’ “falsehoods” to mislead farmers, he said. Since the BJP came to power at the Centre, the party has won 14 of 17 Assembly bypolls and emerged victori- ous in all four MLC seat elec- tions, he said. Over a month, the BJP has cited results in a number of elections across the country to assert that the farm laws enjoy support from a vast majority of farmers. ?T^_[TWPeTaTYTRcTS__b[XTbWh_^RaXbh bPhb19?PUcTa[^RP[_^[[b³fX]X]:Pa]PcPZP ?=BQ =4F34;78 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday forecast dense foggy weather and poor visi- bility from January 7 to 10 in northwest India. The mini- mum temperatures are likely to fall by 4 to 6 degree Celsius in northwest India during the next 4-5 days. The western dis- turbance that was affecting northwest India has currently moved eastward, for which the effect will be mostly over western Uttar Pradesh. “Due to abundant mois- ture available in lower tropos- pheric levels and other favourable meteorological fea- tures, dense to very dense fog is very likely in some to many pockets over plains of Northwest India in the morn- ing hours of 07th to 10th January,” the IMD said. “The minimum temperatures are likely to fall by 4-6 degree Celsius over plains of Northwest India during the next 4-5 days. Cold wave con- ditions are likely over the plains of Northwest India dur- ing 11th-13th January,” it said. Under the influence of western disturbance from January 2 till January 6 (today), significant rainfall occurred in plains of northwest India, due to which, there is a signif- icant amount of moisture across the region. The ongoing spell of rainfall over southern parts of India is expected to continue at least until Saturday. Therefore, the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka are expected to keep receiving scattered to fairly widespread showers and thunderstorms. According to IMD, a trough in low-level easterlies runs from the east-central Arabian Sea off Karnataka coast to south Madhya Maharashtra. This active east- erly wave spell is set to cause scattered to fairly widespread rains, thunderstorms, and lightning over southern penin- sular India during the next 4- 5 days. 4U^cUV_WWigUQdXUb`__bfYcYRYYdi Vb_]:Q^'d_! Y^^_bdXgUcd9^TYQ ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Central paramilitary jawans will now use Khadi durries procured from KVIC as part of the vocal for local cam- paign. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has signed a memorandum of under- standing (MoU) with the Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) for sup- plying 1,71,520 numbers of Khadi Durries for Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). The cotton khadi durries for CAPF jawans will be pro- cured in a purchase order worth Rs 8. 73 crore. The ITBP has become the first paramilitary force among the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to have supplies from the KVIC. The MoU was inked by Vinay Kumar Saxena, Chairman, KVIC and Anand Swaroop, Inspector General of ITBP. Vivek Bharadwaj, Additional Secretary, Police Modernisation, Union Home Ministry also attended the event. The ITBP had signed an agreement with the KVIC in July last year for procurement of 1,200 quintal of mustard oil with a total financial implica- tion of C1.73 crore. It was decided during a meeting held at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Directors General of the CAPFs in October, 2019 that use of Terry Khadi uniform and other items of swadeshi origin should be made available to the CAPFs. The government was celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2019. During the visit of Home Minister Amit Shah in December, 2019 to the ITBP Force headquarters here, an exhibition stall was prepared to exhibit the KVIC products. “The ITBP had suggested that durries, blankets, towels, mustard oil, yoga kit, hospital bed sheets, pickles and similar items can be purchased for jawans of the Force through KVIC,” ITBP Spokesperson Vivek Pandey said in a statement. “The process of procuring khadi bed sheets and pillow covers from KVIC for all CAPF hospitals is also underway and it is expected that it will be procured in this financial year itself. Many such items will be procured from the KVIC for promoting the local products in the CAPFs,” it added. 9D2@cYW^c=_EgYdX ;F93V_bce``i_V S_dd_^[XQTYTebbYUc ?=BQ =4F34;78 Union Home MInistry on Wednesday asked Tamil Nadu Government not to allow opening of cinema theatres with full capacity and asked to keep only 50% of the seating capacity. In a direction Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) direct- ed the state to reverse their ear- lier order and “immediately issue necessary order” to bring their guidelines in line with the MHA guidelines. “Government of Tamil Nadu order of per- mitting increase the seating capacity of Cinema/theaters/ multiplexes from existing 50% to 100% is dilution of MHA order. States and UT shall not dilute guidelines issued under DM act in any manner,” MHA said in a statement. “Govt of Tamil Nadu is requested to immediately issue necessary order to bring their Guidelines in line with the MHA guidelines dated 28 December 2020 and inform compliance to this Ministry,” the ministry further said. Home Secretary wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief secretary to issue orders aligned to MHA guidelines, allowing multiplexes to operate outside containment zones with up to 50% occupancy. On Monday, Tamil Nadu Government had permitted to increase the seating capacity of cinemas, theatres, multiplexes from existing 50% to 100% fol- lowing COVID19 protocols. The order comes days after actors and theatre owners requested Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to allow theatres to function at their full capacity. As per the COVID-19 safety protocol, since last October, the theatres in the state were allowed to fill up only 50 per cent of their seats to ensure social distancing. 2T]caTQPabC= 6^ecUa^^_T]X]V RX]TPcWTPcaTb fXcWUd[[RP_PRXch ?C8Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court has expressed its exasperation at the inability of the virtual court system to work satis- factorily in the apex court, saying it is becoming very dif- ficult to continue with the proceedings in an appropriate manner. The court also noted that there were no such problems being faced in the virtual court system in the Delhi High Court next door. The apex court is hearing matters through video-con- ferencing since March last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “We at the inception must note our exasperation at the inability of the virtual court system to work satisfactorily in the Supreme Court while there is no such problems in the Delhi High Court next door!,” a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said in its January 5 order. “We have been since yes- terday trying to cope with the problem of disconnections, resonance of voices, even when there is single person arguing. It is difficult to understand this despite more licences stated to have been taken. The only voice we hear is the resonance of our own voices!,” said the bench, also comprising justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy. The bench directed the secretary general of the apex court to look into the issue. “We thus direct the secre- tary general to look into this issue as it is becoming very difficult to continue with pro- ceedings in the virtual courts in an appropriate manner,” the bench said. The top court made these observations while hearing a plea against the December last year order passed by the Chhattisgarh High Court. B2bW^fbTgPb_TaPcX^] ^][XXcPcX^]^UeXacdP[ R^dacb´Ud]RcX^]X]V CWTc^_R^dac PSTcWTbT ^QbTaePcX^]bfWX[T WTPaX]VP_[TP PVPX]bccWT 3TRTQTa[PbchTPa ^aSTa_PbbTSQh cWT2WWPccXbVPaW 7XVW2^dac ?=BQ =4F34;78 Aday after Congress MP Shashi Tharoor sought a cancellation of the Republic Day parade in the light of the Coronavirus pandemic and British Prime Minister’s deci- sion not to visit India, BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Wednesday slammed him for making the demand. In a sharp riposte to the Congress leader, Patra asked as to why Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trips are not cancelled instead and also lambasted him for referring to Republic Day as a mere ‘festivity’ in his tweet. “Mr Tharoor, Republic Day Parade is not just any “Festivity” that it ought to be cancelled! Further Rahul couldn’t cancel his festivities continues to travel to “farther” destinations often but the Congress wants Republic Day to be cancelled?”, tweeted the BJP leader. Issuing a statement on call- ing off the visit, the UK gov- ernment had said , “The Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Modi this morning, to express his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned.In light of the national lockdown announced last night, and the speed at which the new coro- navirus variant is spreading, the Prime Minister said that it was important for him to remain in the UK so he can focus on the domestic response to the virus.” 19?b[PbCWPa^^aU^abTTZX]VA3Ph _PaPSTRP]RT[[PcX^]^]2^eXSPRR^d]c ?=BQ =4F34;78 Polls to 12 legislative coun- cil seats in Uttar Pradesh getting vacant later this month and bypolls to two legislative council seats in Bihar and one in Andhra Pradesh will be held on January 28. According to the Election Commission, all the elections and by-elections would be held on January 28 and counting of votes will be held one hour after the com- pletion of polls as per estab- lished practice. Polls to 12 seats in the UP legislative council are getting vacant on January 30 as the term of the members is com- ing to an end. One of the 12 members is Nasimuddin Siddiqui, who already stands disqualified. The 12 members would be elected by members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) in the biennial elec- tions. The MLCs who are retiring include Swatantra Dev Singh, Dinesh Sharma and Laxman Acharya (BJP), Naseemuddin Siddiqui (disqualified), Dharmavir Ashok and Pradip Jatav (BSP), and Ahmed Hasan, Ashu Malik, Ramesh Yadav, Ram Jatan Rajbhar, Virendra Singh and Sahib Singh Saini (SP). Bypolls to two Bihar leg- islative council seats were necessitated following the elec- tion of BJP leader Sushil Modi to Rajya Sabha recently and election of Vinod Narain Jha to the State legislative Assembly in the recently-held Bihar elec- tions. In Andhra Pradesh, the legislative council bypoll was necessitated following the res- ignation of Pothula Sunitha in November last year. 1h_^[[bc^cf^1XWPa [TVXb[PcXeTR^d]RX[ bTPcbfTaT ]TRTbbXcPcTSU^[[^fX]V cWTT[TRcX^]^U19? [TPSTa^SXc^APYhP BPQWPaTRT]c[hP]S T[TRcX^]^UEX]^S =PaPX]9WP ?^[[bc^[TVXb[PcXeTR^d]RX[bTPcb X]D?1XWPa0?^]9P]dPah!' ?C8Q =4F34;78 Apetitionhasbeenfiledinthe SupremeCourtseekingreg- ulation of Twitter and other social media platforms through guidelines making them culpa- bleundercriminalandcivillaws until a specific law is passed by Parliament. The petition, likely to come up for hearing in the coming days,claimedthatduetothelack ofgovernmentcontrolandinter- vention Twitter acts as it deems fit. Advocate Mahek Maheshwari, who filed the plea in personal capacity, has sought a direction to the Centre to for- mulate a framework or guide- lines to appeal against any kind ofgrievancesagainstTwitterand all such social media platforms withindesignatedtimeframetill a proper law comes into force. The plea has also sought directions toframe guidelines to entrust responsibility on the officers of ministries of elec- tronics and IT and Information Broadcasting to deal with grievance/complaint against social media platforms. ?TcXcX^]X]B2U^a aTVd[PcX]Vb^RXP[TSXP ?C8Q =4F34;78 Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video-tele- conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday and briefed her on COVID-19 vaccine develop- ment in India, while also assuring her of the country’s commitment to deploy its capacities for the benefit of the world. A Prime Minister’s Office statement said Modi appreci- ated the long-standing role of Chancellor Merkel in provid- ing stable and strong leader- ship at the European and glob- al stage, and thanked her for guiding the growth of the India-Germany Strategic Partnership. The two leaders discussed key issues of mutual impor- tance including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral ties, regional and global issues, particularly India-EU relations. The prime minister briefed Chancellor Merkel on the developments in India with regard to vaccine devel- opment and assured the chan- cellor of India’s commitment to deploy its capacities for the benefit of the world, the state- ment said. “He conveyed his best wishes for early containment of the new wave of infections in Germany and other European countries,” it said. Prime Minister Modi also welcomed Germany’s decision to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and expressed his desire to further strength- en cooperation with Germany under the platform of Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). ?TaZT[W^[SeXST^cT[TR^]UTaT]RT* ^SXQaXTUbWTa^]ePRRX]TSTeT[^_T]c ?C8Q =4F34;78 AMuslim body moved the Supreme Court Wednesday seeking it be made a party in the batch of pleas challenging the consti- tutional validity of contro- versial new laws of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand reg- ulating religious conversions in inter-faith marriages. The top court earlier in the day, issued notice to the two states, while agreeing to examine the validity of their laws. Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind in its application said that sim- ilar legislations are also being enacted or planned by various other states which also need to be declared unconstitu- tional. It has said that the ordi- nance passed by the Uttar Pradesh government was promulgated in the backdrop of statements issued by the Chief Minister claiming that his government was working to bring a strict law to curb inci- dents of “love jihad”. “That as is evident by the statements made by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the impugned ordinance was promulgated to curb inci- dents of “love jihad” which is a terminology used to describe inter-religious mar- riages, which they allege involves the conversion of the woman - either by force or guile - to marry a Muslim man”, it said. db[XQ^Sh^eTbB2bTTZbc^QT_PachX] _[TPbPVPX]bcBcPcT[Pfb^]aT[XVX^dbR^]eTabX^] H`cW`c2e^R_ZcSYRc 3YRcRe+Ae`(;Dd
- 5. ]PcX^]$347A03D=kC7DAB30H k90=D0AH !! Muzaffarnagar (UP): A 26-year-old labourer was allegedly stabbed to death by a mason in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district on Wednesday after he asked him to clear his dues of Rs 2,500, police said. The labourer was identified as Salman and the incident took place at Mandwarin Budhana police station area, they said. Circle Officer (CO) Girija Shankar Tripathi said the mason, Shoeb Rana, allegedly attacked Salman with a knife when an argument broke out between them over the dues the labourer had asked him to pay. Salman died on the way to hospital, the CO said. The body has been sent for post- mortem and the matter is being probed. Efforts are under way to nab Rana, who has gone absconding after the incident, the official said. Tripathi said security has been tightened in the village in view of the incident. PTI Pb^]ZX[[b[PQ^daTa U^aSTP]SX]VSdTb Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh reported 289 Fresh cases of COVID-19, 428 recoveries and three deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday. The overall infection positivity rate slid to 7.30 per cent after 1.21 crore sample tests for the virus so far turned out a total of 8,83,876 confirmed cases, the latest bulletin said. The total recov- eries climbed to 8,73,855 and deaths to 7,125, leaving 2,896 active cases in the state, it said. Guntur reported 42, Chittoor and Visakhapatnam 40 each, East Godavari 39, West Godavari 33 and Krishna 27 new cases in 24 hours, the bulletin added. The remaining seven districts added less than 20 cases each. All districts now have less than 500 active cases each, with Krishna the top- per seeing 59 recoveries in a day and dropping its caseload to 470. Krishna, incidentally, crossed 48,000 total positive cases on Wednesday. PTI 0?[^Vb!'(]Tf RPbTb#!'aTR^eTaXTb Thiruvananthapuram:A total of 10,000 state Government offices and public sec- tor undertakings in Kerala will be declared “green” on January 26, the Republic Day. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would make the official announcement in this regard at a virtu- al function, which would be chaired by LSGD minister A C Moideen on the day. After the declaration, functions wouldbeheldinvariousofficesacrossthe state in which the certificate for the com- pliance of the green protocol would be submittedtoitsheadsbythechairpersons of the local self-government institutions or jointly by the ward member/council- lor and a member of the green action force, an official statement said here. Thoseoffices,whichavoidusingplas- tic and disposable items in day-to-day activities and encourage the use of arti- cles that can be reused and recycled, would get the green tag. The institu- tions are going green by meeting criteria of the Green Protocol Verification Index, it said. PTI Gadchiroli: A 25-year-old man has been Killed by Naxals on suspicion of being a police informer in Gadchiroli dis- trict of Maharashtra, an official said on Wednesday. Some ultras forcibly took away the victim, Vinod Madavi, to a forested area on Tuesday night from his house in Kothi (Tola) village in Bhamragad tehsil of the district. The body of Madavi bear- ing injuries inflicted with sharp weapons and his head smashed, was found near the village on Wednesday morning, he said. PTI =PgP[bZX[[P] ^]bdb_XRX^]^U QTX]V_^[XRT X]U^aTaX]PWP 78C:0=370A8Q 90D After remaining grounded for four days during a fresh spell of snowfall between January 3-6, Srinagar Airport authorities on Wednesday announced the flight operations would begin from January 7 to clear the rush of stranded passengers. The information was shared by the Srinagar Airport Authorities along with images of ongoing snow clearing opera- tions. Large number of tourists were stranded in different parts of Kashmir valley after a fresh spell of snowfall grounded all the incoming and outgoing flights since January 3. As the weather conditions improved partially on Wednesday the snow clearing operations were launched on war footing to clear the runway for flight operations. The Twitter handle of Srinagar Airport post- ed a tweet which stated, “The Airport Authority of India exec- utives at Srinagar Airport have been working very hard in coor- dination with Beacon staff and continuously monitoring the area to avoid snow accumulation in apron area keeping in view that stranded passengers may reach to their destination “ Ironically, travelers hoping to visit the cold desert region of Ladakh may have to wait a little longer. The snow clearing operations in the newly created Union Territory of Ladakh were being done manually at an altitude of 9800 ft above sea level. This interesting piece of infor- mation was shared by the Airport Director, Leh Airport himself. In a series of tweets, the Airport Director said,”At 9,800 ft above sea level, Leh Airport woke up to a snow covered valley. With temperatures as low as -12°C, the snow removal process from the apron of KBR Airport is done manually in extreme tempera- tures”. Posting a picture of an ongoing inspection visit, the Airport Director in his second tweet said, “AAI Leh officers in the process of inspecting snow removal from Leh Airport apron so that flights can be operated. Snow removal at Leh Airport is done manually presently. Talks for procurement of snow removal machines at headquarter level”. According to the MeT department the temperature in Leh hovered around -10 degrees celsius on Wednesday. “Day's maximum temperature would hover at -7°c, while minimum temperature is predicted to be - 14°c”, the MeT department report said. B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q :;:0C0 Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee again slapped a libel notice on Union Minister of State Babul Supriyo for making defamatory remarks against him and has asked him to apologise within 72 hours. This is the second such inci- dent, as Supriyo is already con- testing a previous defamation suit filed by the same petitioner. A civil court issued an injunction order against the Minister last December directing him not to use libelous language against Banerjee. The MP has threatened the Union Minister with con- tempt proceeding for his latest remark. The immediate trigger for the legal action was a remark made by Supriyo who said that the alleged “Bhaipo” (nephew) being referred to by the opposi- tion parties including the BJP leaders while referring to cor- ruption charges was none other than Abhishek Banerjee who is also the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Minister had earlier accused Banerjee of benefiting from the coal and cow smuggling racket against which a CBI inves- tigation was on saying the oft repeated word Bhaipo stood for none other than the junior Banerjee. The CBI investigating the rackets has been after two busi- nessmen Lala and Mishra who had alleged connection with the Trinamool Congress’ topmost echelon and who reportedly acted as a medium of money transfer in the mutli-crore cow and coal scam. Properties of both the businessmen, who have gone underground, been sealed. Meanwhile, in a related development the Chief Minister on Wednesday paid a sudden visit to the Raj Bhavan meeting Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for more than an hour. With no love lost between the two constitu- tional authorities the meeting is seen as extraordinary as it took place after a gap of about 11 months. In fact the Governor made a circuitous attack on the State Government and the ruling party on Wednesday morning saying political violence should be shunned and Bengal should pre- sent itself as a violence free state insofar as the conduct of elections were concerned. He also criti- cized the way the national BJP leaders were referred to as “out- siders” by the TMC leadership in Bengal. Elsewhere more TMC lead- ers continued to speak incoher- ently --- the latest being Rathin Chakrabarty the Mayor of Howrah. Alleging that all was not well in the Trinamool scheme of things Chakrabarty said while reerring to the resignation of State Sports Minister and former cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla “the issues that had to be addressed had never been addressed despite attention of the top leadership was drawn to solve them … this is why many people are today quitting the party.” On whether he was thinking of quitting the party he quoted the famous words of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa saying “jato mat, tato path” implying there are as many roads as here are views. Apart from Chakrabarty, senior Minister Rajib Banerjee’s conduct too continued to both- er the TMC leadership with the said leader continuing to skip the Cabinet meeting besides main- taining a cold silence. “He is not in touch with any enior leader neither has he clar- ified his stance with the Chief Minister after speaking in pub- lic about the ongoing nepotism in the party,” a TMC insider said. :D0A274;;0??0=Q :278 In what could be a major embarrass- ment to the Government of Kerala as well as the police, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday set aside the ver- dict of the trial court in the infamous Walayar Sex Abuse case and ordered retrial of the case. A bench of Justices A Hariprasad and M R Anitha lambasted the Kerala Police, prosecution and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court at Palakkad for goof- ing up the case through lackadaisical probe and trial. The High Court also set aside the acquittal of all the four accused in the case. They have been asked to present themselves before the court on January 20. But Pradeep, one of the accused had committed suicide after the trial court verdict. All the accused are reportedly CPI(M) activists and associates of party leaders. Two Dalit sisters aged 13 and nine respectively at Walayar in Palakkadu district were found dead under myste- rious conditions in January and March of 2017. The autopsy had found that both the girls were victims of ‘cruel sex- ual abuse’. Though there were enough hints and evidences suggesting foul play behind the deaths, the police looked the other way and did not pursue the case by applying the mind, said the verdict. The justices said the POCSO Court judges and the police needed basic training in dealing with cases like this. The mother of the victims said after the High Court verdict that the CBI should be entrusted with the investi- gation of the case as the parents had lost confidence in the Kerala Police. The father of the girls told the media that he was under pressure by the police to own up the responsibility behind the deaths. “I was told be the police that they would make sure that I was set free during the trial,” he said. .HUDOD + VHWV DVLGH DFTXLWWDOV LQ :DODDU PLQRUV¶ UDSHPXUGHU FDVH Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of pro- ducing fake news items and described saffron party leaders visiting West Bengal from outside the state as “tourists” who have no idea of its her- itage and language. Senior TMC MP and party spokesperson Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar also charged the BJP with seek- ing to cling to power by “killing peo- ple, instigating riots and dividing peo- ple”. “They (BJP) are flush with cash. They have deployed some youngsters in a big building to churn out one fake news after another,” she said. Referring to certain videos and news items being circulated on social media, Ghosh Dastidar described them as “fake news produced from the fac- tory of the BJP”. She alleged that the saffron party is bringing in leaders from outside the state who utter “wrong Bengali words with distorted accent. In West Bengal, the BJP has turned into a party of tourists.” These “visitors” are ignorant of the heritage and traditions of West Bengal as they sit on the chair of icons like Rabindranath Tagore and place their own photo above that of the Nobel lau- reate poet in festoons, she alleged. Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Bolpur close to Santiniketan, which is famous as the Rabindranath Tagore's abode for long years, in December, hoardings with his picture above that of the bard in the same frame appeared in the town caus- ing outrage. The hoardings were later removed. “Tagore had composed the song, 'Amar Sonar Bangla' (My Golden Bengal). The BJP is also promising to make a sonar Bangla (after coming to power in the state). But these people are insulting the state and its people by dis- torting Bengali words by pronouncing them incorrectly. “They have no idea about the sac- rifice of thousands of Bengalis for the language. They only know how to van- dalise the bust of Vidyasagar and sit on the chair used by Tagore,” Ghosh Dastidar said. A bust of the iconic social reformer was desecrated in a college in Kolkata during Amit Shah's roadshow in May 2019. The TMC alleged that BJP activists were behind the incident. Shah had also visited Visva-Bharati university in December and went to the Rabindra Bhavan, a museum, and the Upasana Griha (the prayer hall) and other buildings on the campus. There were reports on social media that Shah had sat on Tagore's chair dur- ing the visit. However, it was not con- firmed by the university authorities. Stating that several BJP lead- ers from outside Bengal are visiting North 24 Parganas district in which her constituency Barasat is located, Ghosh Dastidar said, “They may not be aware that a revolutionary like Titumir was born on the soil of district, they don't know Bengal.” PTI 3;ATYfc_Z_X`feWRV_VhdZ_ 3V_XR]Z_deZXReZ_XcZ`ed+E4 CWTX]XbcTaWPSTPa[XTa PRRdbTS1P]TaYTT^UQT]TUXcX]V Ua^cWTR^P[P]SR^f bdVV[X]VaPRZTcPVPX]bcfWXRW P218X]eTbcXVPcX^]fPb^] bPhX]VcWT^UcaT_TPcTSf^aS 1WPX_^bc^^SU^a]^]T^cWTa cWP]cWTYd]X^a1P]TaYTT 0QWXbWTZ1P]TaYTTb[P_b[XQT[]^cXRT^]1PQd[Bd_aXh^ 6ULQDJDU DLUSRUW WR UHVXPH IOLJKWV IURP WRGD ?XRR^dacTbh CfXccTaWP]S[T^U0Xa_^ac3XaTRc^a;TW0Xa_^ac *RYW RIILFHV WR EH GHFODUHG JUHHQ LQ .HUDOD RQ -DQXDU
- 6. P akistan’s overall criminal justice system on terrorism is a creaking sham, not just owing to the complicity of thepolitico-military-clergytriadbut alsoduetothecompromisednature of the two essentials of any crimi- nal justice system, i.e. prosecution and the judiciary. Despite various Anti-TerrorismActs(ATAs),Anti- TerrorismCourts(ATCs)andeven more grandiloquent National Action Plan (NAP) — the convic- tionratesinterrorcasesinPakistan remain abysmally low, if at all the convictionstakeplace.Thejudicia- ry has historically been an integral part of the Pakistani establish- ment’smachinationsasexemplified in the mid-50s when Chief Justice MuhammadMunirhadpropound- ed the “doctrine of necessity” to legaliseGeneralAyubKhan’sextra- legaltakeoverofthecountrybysug- gestingthat“whichisotherwisenot lawful is made lawful bynecessity”. Buttheficklenatureofintriguesand inter-institutional one-upmanship canresultinthejudiciarytakingon thepoliticiansandGeneralsalso— notnecessarilytoupholdthelawbut pursuant to their own institution- al turf wars. A special court trying theformerPakistanArmychiefand President, Pervez Musharraf, had stunningly announced for him the death penalty by majority votes (which was later overturned); and, more recently, the Pakistani Chief Justice had rejected a petitioner’s last-minute withdrawal plea that had initially challenged the exten- sion of the Pakistan Army chief’s tenure. It was followed by a tense three-day drama which kept the politicos and the Generals on the tenterhooks. The wheels-within- wheelsofmanipulationandvested interestsbyallthecompetingarms ofgovernancehaveensuredtheper- petuation of the rot that facilitates “terror nurseries”. Pakistanisprecariouslypoised to potentially get “blacklisted” for supportingandfinancingterrorand is under constant review by the watchdog agency, the Financial ActionTaskForce(FATF).Butafew weeks ago, the Sindh High Court had set aside the provincial Government’sdetentionordersper- tainingtothefourterroristsheldfor the abduction and gruesome mur- der of US journalist Daniel Pearl. The horrifying case of the journal- ist’s decapitation had shocked the conscience of the international communitybuttheprovincialcourt declared it “null and void” and not warranting “any sort of detention”. TheactingAttorney-Generalofthe US, Jeffrey Rosen, indignantly remarkedthatthe“separatejudi- cial rulings reversing conviction and ordering release are an affront to terrorism victims everywhere”,andthefamilyofthe journalist called it a “travesty of justice”. For its part, India is well versedwiththePakistanijudicial system as a similar fate was bestoweduponthelikesofHafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi andtheothermastermindsofthe Mumbai 26/11 carnage who are often “detained”, “kept under house arrest” and even “sen- tenced” to appease the interna- tional community and keep the FATFproceedingsfromreaching harshandpunitiveaction,butare abletoindulgeintheirnefarious activities nonetheless. Intelligence sources had named the terror and Sunni- supremacist organisation, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, as being one of the key participants in the Daniel Pearl murder case. The dilly-dallying, obsequiousness andthelongropeaffordedbythe courts to such organisations ensure that they continue to thriveirrespectiveoftheircrimes. The complicated history of the Pakistani military and its intelli- gence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in nurturing andsupportingsuchoutfitsfrom time to time has always ensured that there are crucial “contacts” and “sympathisers” within the militaryandtheadditionalpusil- lanimity by other levers like the judiciary, completely enfeebling the anti-terror commitments that exist only in name. Unsurprisingly, last week, the sameLashkar-e-JhangviandISIL (ISIS) cadres were said to have killed 11 Hazara Shia coal min- ersafterabductingthem,tyingup theirhandsandshootingthemin cold blood — another statistic was added to Pakistan’s bloody societal violence that is unmatched in its brutality, and apparent acquiescence and leniencyfromtheGovernment’s side, at the same time. Toaddinsulttoinjuryinthe lamentable circus that besets Pakistan, Minister for Human RightsShireenMazariinconceiv- ably said: “India-funded terror- ists in Balochistan are getting more desperate as development comestotheprovince!”Thereal- ity of the supposed “develop- ment”intheregionbarelymasks the fact that the persecuted Shia Hazaracommunity,fromwhich these miners had come, is hud- dled in two heavily guarded ghettosinQuettaandsurround- edbyhighwallsandbarbedwire, after hundreds of them were killed in sectarian violence over the past couple of decades. For the religious minorities and the “deemed minorities” like Shias, Ahmediyas and several others, justice is a far cry. Even if the odd individual wishestostandupforjusticeand for upholding the constitutional provisions,thesocietalregression that envelops the Pakistani judi- cial system is all-pervasive and powerful, as was seen when the proud murderer Mumtaz Qadri (whohadkilledPunjabGovernor SalmanTaseerinbroaddaylight) wasshoweredwithrosepetalsby the resident lawyers when he attended court. The judge who finallygaveQadrithedeathsen- tence had to face an impromptu strike by the District Bar Association, had his office van- dalisedandwasforcedintoexile outofthecountry,fearingforhis life. Further, the witness protec- tionprogrammesinPakistanare completely ineffective as “influ- ential” bodies routinely and brazenly ensure intimidation and retractions, and people are simply too scared to testify. The patent sophistry of ascribing the booming terror networkinPakistanontotheso- called “non-State actors” is a bogey that has lost all credibili- ty. No such apparatus or ecosys- tem can survive for so long with such impunity despite so many Acts, laws and military exercis- esaimedat“uprootingterror”— unless the elements of the law- makers(politicos),lawenforcers (police/paramilitary), military, religio-social leaders and the judiciarythemselvesarehandin glove with the perpetrators. Indeed,manyatimetheseterror elementsalsoturnontotheirone- time benefactors to settle scores and, therefore, the disentangle- mentofthemurkyterrorwirings isnotveryobvious,linearorsim- ple, given the multiplicity of the individualandinstitutionalcross- support afforded to them from timetotime.Therefore,Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s unconvincing posturing as the “victim of terror” is akin to cry- ing wolf as the Frankensteinian reality convinces nobody. The quartet of Pakistan’s military- politicians-clergy-judiciary can never come clean or abort their inter-linkages with such ele- ments. But they will do well to rememberthattheslipperyslope ofterrorsparesabsolutelynoone. (The writer, a military veteran, is a former Lt Governor of Andaman Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. 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