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

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

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

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

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

Oli had been accused ofviolating party statute by thesplinter group.

The latest political devel-opment came two days after theNCP’s splinter faction led amassive anti-Government rally,saying the “unconstitutional”dissolution of the Parliament byPrime Minister Oli has posedserious threats to the country’shard-earned federal democra-tic republic system.

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Amid a spate of defectionsfrom the ruling TMC to thesaffron camp in Bengal ahead ofthe Assembly polls, State BJPpresident Dilip Ghosh onSunday allayed apprehensions ofthe turncoats getting moreimportance than the oldtimers,saying switching politicalallegiance doesnt always guar-antee leadership positions. Ghosh, however,insisted that the party, in orderto expand its base for coming topower in Bengal, needs to inductpeople from other political out-fits. In an interview to PTI, healso clarified that everybody hasto abide by the rules and regu-lations of the party, be it the old-timers or the newcomers.

“The BJP is a growing forcein West Bengal. Our organisationis getting strengthened with

each passing day; people fromother parties including the TMCare joining us. If we dont takepeople from other outfits, howwill we grow? “No matter whojoins the camp, I would like toadd that everyone has to abideby the rules and regulations ofthe party. No one is above theparty,” he said, when asked aboutreports of infighting in certainpockets of the state over induc-tion of leaders from theTrinamool Congress.

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Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has said thatPANKH is a unique campaignfor the protection, awareness,nutrition, knowledge andhealth of girls. All obstacles inthe way of development ofwomen in Madhya Pradeshwill be removed. The ‘Pankh’campaign will be launchedwith full force on missionmode so that girls soar highbeyond the sky. The govern-ment will ‘crush’ elements whocommit crimes against women.The properties of such crimi-

nals will be destroyed. Theywill be punished in such a waythat they will remember alltheir life.

Chouhan was addressingthe launching programme of“Pankh” campaign at MintoHall on National Girl ChildDay on Sunday. The ChiefMinister said that manyschemes have been imple-mented in Madhya Pradesh tohelp people from the time ofconception of a child till afterdeath. The objective of all theschemes is to bring a smile onthe face of women.

Continued on Page 3

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

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

The parleys lasting morethan seven hours beginning at10 am between the CorpsCommanders of the two armieswere held at the Chushul-Modo border meeting point onthe LAC in Ladakh. The Indianside was led by 14 Corps chiefLt General PK Menon and thedelegation also included a JointSecretary from the Ministry of

External Affairs.Incidentally, at least six

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

The latest round of CorpsCommander talks came morethan two months after theeighth round was held onNovember 6 between the twoCommanders. While no posi-tive result came out from thelatest episode, both the sidesfocused on thrashing out amutually acceptable timelinefor disengagement from fric-tion points and ultimate de-escalation, sources said here onSunday.

In a joint statement issuedafter the last round of talks, thetwo countries agreed to imple-ment the “important consensusreached by the leaders of thetwo countries, ensure their

frontline troops exerciserestraint and avoid misunder-standing and miscalculation.”The two Commanders onSunday took stock of this agree-ment and decided to sustain ittill an amicable solution wasfound, officials said.

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

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

At present, more than onelakh troops from both thesides were facing each other atthe 1,700 km long LAC inLadakh. Moreover, the entire

LAC from west in Ladakh toArunachal Pradesh in the eastwas on heightened alert. TheIndian Army and IAF havedeployed its frontline troopsand fighter jets at all the impor-tant forward bases all along the4,000 km long LAC.

Given China’s blatantattempt to unilaterally changethe status quo at the LAC,Army Chief General MMNaravane said here on January12 the Indian troops will holdtheir ground as long as it takesto achieve the “national goalsand objectives.” He, however,underlined the need for find-ing an amicable resolution ofthe standoff through talks.

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

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

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

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

These are part of the guide-lines (SOP) issued by theCentre on Sunday for KumbhMela amid Covid-19, asking alldevotees desirous of attendingthe “mela” to register with theUttarakhand Government.

They will also have to obtain acompulsory medical certifi-cate from Community HealthCentre/District hospital/Medical college in their State.

According to the Centre’sguidelines, RT-PCR test shouldbe taken not more than 72hours prior to their visit toHaridwar during the KumbhMela. The reports will also berequired to be uploaded on theUttarakhand Government’sofficial web portal.

Considered to be thebiggest Hindu religious festival,the “Maha Kumbh” is cele-brated every 12 years anddraws a huge crowd. This year,the Kumbh would continue fortwo months — from February27 to April 27 due to Covid-19crisis.

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Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan will launch inno-vations being done in the fieldof public service and goodgovernance in the State on thesuccessful completion of 10years of Public ServiceGuarantee Act in the State at aprogramme to be organizedfrom 12 noon on January 25 atMinto Hall. He will also hon-our the government servantsand districts for their out-standing performance in thefield of public service and goodgovernance.

Chouhan will also interactwith Divisional Commissionersand Collectors through VC.

Government servants whohave done excellent work in thefield of public service and goodgovernance in each districtwill also be honoured.

Positive changes broughtabout in the lives of the peoplefollowing the implementationof Public Service Guarantee Actin the state, will also be out-lined.

During the programme,Chief Minister Chouhan willprovide certificates virtuallyto Niwari, Gwalior and Jhabuadistricts for best work in thefield of public service. Alongwith this, two officers of Satnadistrict and one officer ofIndore district will also beawarded virtually.

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Bollywood actor Sonu Soodappealed to the citizens touse seat belt, wear helmetsand follow traffic rules whichwas under the ongoing 32ndTraffic Safety Month observedin the state capital.

Sood, who came to Bhopalto attend a private event at RajivGandhi Square and along withthe traffic police officialsappealed to the citizens for dri-ving safely and encourage oth-ers for driving safely by wear-ing protective gears and fol-lowing traffic rules.

ADG D.C. Sagar, Bhopalspread awareness using a traf-fic chariot and appealed to useseat belts, helmets and trafficrules while driving vehicles atvarious parts of the Bhopal.The commuters at the squarewere targeted by the vehiclewhich was used by ADG Sagar.

In the awareness campaignat Sindhi Colony, JP Nagar

Tiraha, Retghat, RatnagiriTiraha, Indrapuri, Lalghati VIPRoad, distribution of pam-phlets and stickers related totraffic rules wad done andvehicle drivers were madeaware of traffic rules.

Street play were staged at JKRoad, Sindhi Colony and citi-

zens were made aware of thetraffic rules and was informedabout the accidents thatoccurred while driving the vehi-cle in violation of traffic rules.

Two-wheel drivers weredistributed free helmets on JKRoad and were made aware tofollow seat belts, helmets and

traffic rules while driving vehi-cles in future. Apart from sug-gestions and appeals, thosefound following traffic ruleswere encouraged to follow thetraffic rules by giving themroses by traffic police at Lalghati,Kamla Park, Retghat square,Rajiv Gandhi and Indrapuri.

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

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

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

In fact, his FinanceMinister Manpreet Badal, who

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

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

charge Raghav Chadha onSunday alleged that the PunjabChief Minister knew about thefarm laws, but he chose toremain silent for a year and didnot share the information withthe state’s farmers. “The ChiefMinister knew about the termsof reference clearly mentionedin the office memorandum,which would mean large scaleprivatization and corporatiza-tion of agriculture in the coun-try,” said Chadha, who wassharing information receivedby AAP through an RTI.

Chadha, who was address-ing the media in Jalandhar, saidthat the Punjab Chief Ministerdidn’t oppose the farm lawswell in time, when they couldhave been withdrawn. “CaptAmarinder said he did nothave any information regarding

the laws and he or the State wasnot a member of the commit-tee. He also said that FinanceMinister was sent to the formalmeeting because it was a finan-cial issue. But the RTI makes itclear that as per an officememorandum dated August7, 2019, that the Chief Ministerwas the seventh member of thehigh powered committee ofCMs constituted by the PrimeMinister. He was privy to whatthe laws entailed since August2019,” said Chadha.

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

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

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

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

He was aware that the lawswould lead to hoarding andenslavement of farmers but hechose not to speak about themfor a year nor inform farmersor farmer unions.”

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

MANPREET’s DEFENCEComing to the defence of

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

any Punjab minister.“The minutes of the meet-

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

He said that he had alreadyreleased the eight-page minutesof the meeting in the publicdomain on September 18, 2020.Further, to clarify any ques-tions, “I have addressed theentire issue in detail onSeptember 24, 2020. The videoof the press conference is avail-able in the public domain,” saidManpreet while sharing linksfor the same.

“Instead of supporting therights of farmers, the AAP isparroting the same line that isbeing used by the BJP and SADto sabotage and discredit thehard-working farmers,” headded. Manpreet said that itwas evident that the NDAGovernment and AAP areworking in cahoots with eachother to sow confusion by mis-leading the people. “However,since the entire minutes arewith the public, they know the

truth,” he added.“It is thus surprising that

when the minutes of the meet-ing of the High PoweredCommittee for Transformationof Indian Agriculture is alreadywith the public, the issue isbeing raised again and again toconfuse the farmers' agitation,”he said adding that it wouldhave been good that instead ofcasting aspersions and trying tosabotage the farmer's cause, ifAAP and Akali Dal were tolend support to the farmers.

Terming as “intriguing”the timing of AAP’s press con-ference as it comes when theprotesting farmers haveannounced their tractor rally,Manpreet said: “It seems thatAAP and the Akali Dal are rat-tled that they have not beenable to sow division amongfarmers, and they are actinglike spokespersons of the NDAgovernment.

“The debate has now gonemuch beyond what AAP andSAD are trying to raise. Thesolution is to heed to the farm-ers’ demands and take thesame route that was adopted bythe Punjab Government underthe leadership of CaptAmarinder Singh in negatingthe bills,” he added.

Capt Amarinder, ridiculingAAP’s “brazen lies”, said thatthe non-evidence shared by theparty to support their baselessallegations against him hadshown the extent of their des-peration and had exposed theshocking levels of deceit towhich they had stooped in thepursuit of their politically moti-vated agenda.

From sharing a selectivelyedited video of his (ChiefMinister’s statements) to therelease of a list of final commit-tee members, AAP’s spokesper-son had made yet another des-perate attempt to sell his party’spack of lies to the people ofPunjab, said Capt Amarinder,adding that these actions showedthat Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP hadhit rock bottom in its desperationto promote its political agenda inthe State, where they had beenunceremoniously rejected byvoters in 2017 Assembly pollsand in every election thereafter.

“If they think that by shar-ing a doctored video they canbefool the people of Punjab, thenAAP leaders are even more

ignorant about this State then Ihad believed them to be,” said theChief Minister. The fact that theyneeded to resort to such cheaptactics to find a footing in Punjabgoes to show that they have noconcrete agenda for the state, headded.

Capt Amarinder questionedAAP spokesperson, “a nobody inPunjab’s political arena”, on whathe was seeking to prove by shar-ing a copy of the final list of high-powered committee members,dated August 7, 2019, when theoriginal committee (minusPunjab) was actually set up onJune 15, 2019. These dates areclearly mentioned on the docu-ments shared by their spokesper-son himself, he pointed out.

“Don’t you understand thedifference between Punjab notoriginally being included in theCommittee and being named amember after I personally wroteto the Centre on the issue? Howdoes flaunting the final list, inwhich Punjab was included aftermy intervention prove mewrong?” asked the ChiefMinister.

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The Special Judge, CBI(Vyapam Cases), Indore(Madhya Pradesh) has sen-tenced Shri Manish Kumar(an impersonator) to undergofive years RigorousImprisonment in a case relat-ed to Vyapam.

The accused who wasabsconding since 2004, wasarrested by CBI on Nov 12,2018 after CBI took over thecase in 2016. He was produced

before the Trial Court, Vyapamcases, Indore on Nov 13, 2018and was sent to JudicialCustody.

After investigation, CBIfiled a chargesheet on Jan 21,2019. The trial of the case wascontinued during the pan-demic situation of Covid-19.The Court found the accusedguilty and convicted him.

CBI had registered a caseon May 31, 2016 and takenover the investigation of theFIR No. 243/2004, earlier reg-

istered at Police StationMorghat Road, Khandwa(Madhya Pradesh). The instantcase was one of the 155 casesregistered on the orders ofSupreme Court of India. Itwas alleged that the accusedManish Kumar (an imperson-ator in the written examinationof PMT-2004 on behalf of thecandidate) was abscondingsince 2004 after he was grant-ed bail by the Trial Court.

It was alleged that he wascaught on the spot in the

examination hall by theInvigilators at the examinationcentre in a college at Khandwa(MP) during the PMT-2004examination on June 11, 2004.The said accused was charge-sheeted in absentia by Local

Police along with the otheraccused. The Trial Courtacquitted the candidate and themiddleman, and did not pro-nounce the judgement againstabsconding accused ManishKumar.

During CBI investigation,it was learnt that ManishKumar was absconding since2004 itself. It was also allegedthat he had wrongly men-tioned his father’s name andgave wrong residential addressof his village at District Patna

(Bihar) in thestatements/records. Afterintense and continuous efforts,CBI found his father’s correctname and his address at Patna.It was also found that he com-pleted his MBBS fromDarbhanga (Bihar) in 2011and was studying in MD fromVaranasi (UP).

Till now, in 36 Vyapamcases, the Trial Courts haveconvicted around 100 accusedand imposed fine of Rs6,30,100 (approx.).

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Jaishankar Prasad's master-piece ‘Kamayani’ was pre-sented beautifully on stage atRavindra Bhavan auditoriumhere on Sunday. The play washeld under Gamak series.

The play was performed bythe artists of Ravani Sansthan,Varanasi. It was directed byVyomesh Shukla.

The story of 'Kamayani'begins with the Holocaust.Manu, the only man left afterthe flood, is sitting on a peakin the Himalayas watching thedestruction with sad eyes. Thatis when the first lady of theworld, Shraddha, arrives there.She encourages desperateManu for new life and karma.

The two together makenew ones. Falling in the direc-tion of the Asura priests,instead of creating manu, thefocus of manu is on theinstincts of hunting, sacrifice,sacrifice and sura. After this,Manu meets another woman,Ida, the representative of theintellect, and together theydevelop a new Saraswat regionthrough their work force.

The subjects, agricultureand the state, everything, areflourishing under the leader-ship of Manu and Eda, but dueto pride he behaves like a

suzerain and tries to get Eda aswell.

On the other hand,Shraddha and Manu's sonManav has grown up. With hismother, he has gone to find thefather. At one place, injured,unconscious father Manu isfound.

Manu still wants to flee,Eda gets ready to take over theresponsibility of son and gov-ernance and Manu goes toausterity towards theHimalayas with reverence.

The play was beautifullyperformed leaving the audiencemesmerised.

Shukla started writing inthe year 2004, besides poems,did the work of critical writingand some of the essays weretranslated by you in Hindi. Hehas written some essaysfocused on theatrical andmusic. He has received theAnkur Mishra Smriti Awardfor poems in the year 2008 andBharat Bhushan AggarwalSmriti Award for poems in theyear 2009. According to a sur-vey conducted by the Englishdaily 'The Indian Express', youare among the ten best writersin the country.

He has a special interest inRangkarma, and successfullydirected many plays on variousreputed forums in the country.

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Sunday was well spent bynature lovers of the city.Anant Mandi was a big hit inthe city, as Bhopalites had alook at the organic products. Itwas held at Gandhi Bhavan onSunday.

Anant Mandi is a jointinitiative of GoRurban, Anantand Gandhi Bhawan whichaims to promote healthy, localand seasonal food and sus-tainable farming.

This time the attraction ofMandi was pet adoption drive,which is organized by Dantes

Bowl Charity. It is a group ofanimal lovers from Bhopalworking towards making thelife of animals a little better. Thegroup feeds and cares for 100+dogs in different areas of thecity. They also rescue and reha-bilitate animals in need andconduct sterilization and adop-tion drives.

Through this Mandi we aretrying to build a healthy rela-tionship between the produc-er and consumer. This is alsoan attempt to create an eco-conscious community in anurban city like Bhopal. AnantMandi is organized on the sec-

ond and fourth Sunday ofevery month at GandhiBhawan.

Organic farmers fromnearby districts in MadhyaPradesh bring and sell a vari-ety of food products like veg-etables, grains, pulses, oil,honey, jaggery, dairy products,

khaad, herbal medicines andpersonal care products. Apartfrom this, various workshops,discussions, art gatherings andinteresting activities for all agegroups were held.

Anant Mandi had a varietyof products like organic veg-etables, grains, dairy products,oil, honey, skin care products,cloth bags, diaries, zari zardozibags. Anant Mandi will have avariety of food stalls put up bythe cooking enthusiasts, timethere will be soup, muffins,brownies, and South Indiandishes, all made up of organicingredients.

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From Page 1It is also the responsibility of

all of us. The programme start-ed with kanya pujan by ChiefMinister Chouhan. HealthMinister Prabhuram Chaudharywas also present in the pro-gramme. On this occasion, theChief Minister also congratulat-ed a woman of Vidisha for dar-ing to stand against the injusticeof her husband and sending himto jail. In this case, the father’sconduct with his daughter wasnot good. Along with punishing

the husband, financial assis-tance was also provided to thewoman. The Chief Minister saidthat other women should alsodisplay such courage.

Chouhan informed thatsoon after beginning work inpublic life, he has given priorityto the welfare of the girl child andwomen. After becoming anMLA in the year 1990 and since1991, as an MP, he had startedproviding support for the mar-riages of the girl child with thesupport of friends. After becom-ing the Chief Minister in the year2005, he focused on the imple-mentation of Kanyadan Yojana,Ladli Laxmi Yojana, Gaon ki BetiYojana. It is a pleasant experiencetoday when girls in such a large

number are getting the benefitsof Ladli Laxmi Yojana. ChiefMinister Chouhan said that thework of empowering womenself-help groups in the state tomake them self-reliant and pro-viding financial benefits has alsobeen very successful. Concreteinitiatives have been taken toempower daughters by makingprovisions for their recruitmentin the police force. In order toenable girls to fly high, we allmust work together. The ChiefMinister said that many schemesare being run for the welfare ofwomen in the state. These will begiven momentum. The Pankhcampaign launched today is aunique symbol of protection,awareness, nutrition, knowledge,

health, hygiene of the girl child.Safety, health and all rounddevelopment of women is to beensured through P forProtection, A for Awareness, Nfor Nutrition, K for Knowledgeand H for Health and Hygiene.

Chief Minister Chouhansaid that the meaning of thePankh campaign in Hindi is:Pavak (fire), Antariksh (Space),Neer (water), Kshitij (Horizon)and Hawa (air). This campaignwill remove the disappointmentof girls and women. The “BetiBachao Beti Padhao” scheme ofthe Government of India helpsadolescent girls in all-rounddevelopment. It has beenredesigned in Madhya Pradesh.

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Gurugram: The Gurugrampolice have made several secu-rity arrangements ahead ofRepublic day which will be cel-ebrated at the Tau Devi LalStadium at Sector-38 inGurugram. According to thedepartment around 4,000 copsincluding a dozen of AssistantCommissioner of Police (ACPs)more than 40 Inspectors alongwith additional police forceswho are equipped with the nec-essary security equipment hasbeen deployed across the city.

Apart from this, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCPs)all Crime Branch In-Charges,Intelligence wing and all TrafficPolice In-Charges have also beenposted. A security grid consist-ing of three layers of police per-sonnel will be on guard insideand outside the venue.

Around a thousand police

personnel will be deployed inand around the stadium whichwill see the presence of ministers,bureaucrats and common peo-ple during the celebration. Also,PCR riders will patrol the entirecity.Besides this, the Specialpolice forces include CounterAssault, Police Riders, PolicePCR, Cranes, Fire Brigade andAmbulance Police Teams havealso been deployed along with allthe security equipment to tack-le any situations. "There shall beintensive checking of all com-mercial and private vehiclesentering in the city from adjoin-ing districts and states throughborder entry points. Specialchecking drives have been start-ed at railway stations, Metro sta-tions, bus stand, markets, mallsand the border areas," saidCommissioner of Police K KRao.

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The national capital report-ed 185 fresh cases of Covid-19 reported on Sunday whilethe daily positivity rate stayedat 0.30 per cent.

The total number of peo-ple infected with life-threaten-ing COVID-19 has reached633924. With this, the deathtoll rose to 10808 with ninenew fatalities reported onSunday, according to the healthbulletin issued by the DelhiGovernment.

The number of cases andthe single-day fatality countnow indicate a markedimprovement in the situationsince the third wave of the pan-demic had hit the city in

November.The highest single-day

spikes 8,593 cases till date wasreported on November 11. Thesituation in Delhi has improvedin the last several days, with alow number of cases and reduc-tion in death count.

Besides fall in active cases,the count of home isolation

cases have also registered a sus-tained fall, dropping to below748-mark, indicating improve-ment in the COVID-19 situa-tion, as per the bulletin.

These 185 new cases cameout of the 62307 tests con-ducted the previous day,including 36965 RT-PCR testsand 25342 rapid antigen tests.According to the bulletin issuedby the Delhi health depart-ment, out of the total numberof 9054 beds in COVID hos-pitals, 8267 are vacant.

It said that 128 beds inCOVID care centres are occu-pied by persons under quar-antine, including travellers whohave returned by the VandeBharat Mission and bubbleflights.

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Himachal’s tourist hotspotKufri received fresh snow-fall while some other parts of thestate witnessed rainfall in the last24 hours. Kufri in Shimla districtreceived 2 cm snowfall. Keylongrecorded 15 cm snowfall andKalpa 5 cm. Among other placesin the state, Gondla received 31cm snowfall, Bharmour 30 cm,Hansa 8 cm and Kothi 7 cm,according to the MeteorologicalCentre, Shimla.

Shimla residents shivered asicy winds brought down theminimum temperature to 2.1degrees Celsius. The state’s cap-ital recorded 1.7 mm rainfall.Kangra received 25.4 mm rain-fall, Chamba 20 mm rainfall,Palampur 17 mm, Dharamshala14.8 mm, Manali 10 mm andBhuntar 3.8 mm.

The tribal district of Lahauland Spiti’s administrative centreKeylong was recorded as thecoldest place in the state atminus 9.2 degrees Celsius. Kalparecorded a low of minus 4.1degrees Celsius. The minimumtemperatures in Dalhousie andKufri were recorded at minus 1.8and 0.5 degrees Celsius respec-tively.

Meanwhile, a 42-year-oldman was killed in a lightningstrike in Kangra district. Theincident occurred on Saturdayevening and the deceased wasidentified as Parvinder Rana, aresident of Saunkni Da Kot inDharamshala sub-division. Thebody has been sent for post-mortem and further reports areawaited.

Shimla MeteorologicalCentre Director ManmohanSingh said that no western dis-

turbance would affect northwestIndia till February 1, therefore,weather will be dry over the stateof Himachal Pradesh tillFebruary 1.

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

The dry northwesterlywinds would prevail over north-west India from January 25onwards, as a result, minimumtemperatures are very likely tofall by 2-4 degree Celsius duringthe next 3 days over most partsof Himachal while day temper-ature will rise by 3-5 degreeCelsius in coming days onaccount of clear sky and sunnydays, Singh added.

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

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

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

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

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

It is also the residence ofabout 40 Buddhist monks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

According to the EC, the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“In 20 years there wasonly bloodshed and 10,000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Randhawa is Addl CP(Traffic).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To spur the sector, the gov-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

which should be valued.”The other topics that would

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

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

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

It has been estimated that

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Only 10 adverse events

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Ahmedabad: Four persons were killed in twoseparate accidents on Sunday in DevbhumiDwarka district and on Bhavnagar-AhmedabadHighway in Gujarat, police said.

In the first incident, two unidentified menwere killed on the spot when their SUV, head-ing towards Bhavnagar, was hit by a truck nearMoti Baru village in Ahmedabad's Dholkataluka, said Koth police station sub inspector HRPatel.

Three people in the SUV were injured in theincident and the driver of the truck, which over-turned on impact, has been detained, he added.

In the second accident, which took placelater in the day in Devbhumi Dwarka, a couplefrom Bhanwad traveling on a scooter was hit bya speeding pick-up truck near Manja village, anofficial said.

Ketan Parmar (39) and his wife Jyoti (37)died on the spot and the pick-up driver fled fromthe spot, the Khambhalia police station officialsaid. PTI

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An Army jawan,undergoing treat-ment at Udhampurbased command hos-pital, succumbed to hisfatal injuries earlySunday morning.

The Army jawan,identified as NaikNishant Sharma, hadreceived seriousinjuries during 'unpro-voked' ceasefire violation by thePakistan Army along the line of con-trol in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri.

According to Defence PRO inJammu, Naik Nishant Sharma of 10JAK Rifles was undergoing treatmentat command hospital where he suc-cumbed to his injuries on Sunday.

Meanwhile, tension prevailedalong the line of control followingrepeated incidents of ceasefire vio-lations in the region.

The Pakistan Army is desper-

ately attempting topush small groups ofheavily armed ter-rorists inside theIndian territory toexecute a terror plot.

On the otherhand, Indian soldiersare maintaining atight vigil to preventany infiltration bidfrom across the LoC.

High alert hasbeen sounded in the run up to theRepublic day celebrations along theInternational border with Pakistanacross the Jammu frontier afteranother cross border tunnel wasdetected by the BSF in Pansar areaof Kathua district.

In Kashmir valley, the venues ofRepublic Day celebrations includ-ing Sher-e-Kashmir stadium inSrinagar have been fortified with amulti tier security ring to prevent anyterror attack aimed at disrupting thecelebrations.

Amaravati: A woman public healthworker, who had taken Covid vac-cine on January 19, died at a gov-ernment-run hospital in Guntur inthe early hours of Sunday whileundergoing treatment for allegedreactions.

While family members ofAccredited Social Health Activist(ASHA) worker Vijaya Lakshmi(44) alleged that she died due to theadverse effect following vaccina-tion, the officials said the cause ofthe death was under investigation.

Health officials said the causeof the health worker's death wouldbe known only after receipt of herautopsy report.

The officials said the deathdoes not appear to be related to vac-cination. They pointed out thatover 10,000 people were given thevaccine in Guntur district so farand not a single Adverse Event

Following Immunisation (AEFI)was reported.

ASHA worker's death sparkedprotest by the family members andASHA workers at GovernmentGeneral Hospital, Guntur. Theydemanded Rs 50 lakh compensa-tion. Guntur district collectorSamuel Anand announced that agovernment job will be provided tothe son of the deceased. "If the fam-ily is eligible to get a house underthe government scheme, the samewill be allotted to them," he toldreporters at the hospital.

The collector, who faced angryprotests by the deceased's relativesand others, said he would send aproposal to the government forcompensation to Vijaya Lakshmi'sfamily.

However, not satisfied by thecollector's response, the ASHAworker's family members sup-

ported by the leaders of oppositionTelugu Desam Party (TDP) begana sit-in at the hospital.

Raising slogans of 'we want jus-tice' the protestors squatted at themain entrance of the hospital.Police forcibly lifted the protestorsand arrested them, leading to ten-sion. The TDP leaders alleged thatthe police resorted to excessive useof force to suppress the protest.

According to Vijaya Lakshmi'sfamily members, she took the vac-cine on January 19. She developedhigh fever on January 21. Theyalleged that a private hospital inGuntur refused to admit her, forc-ing them to take her to the gov-ernment hospital.

They said the doctors toldthem that she suffered brain strokebut they alleged that the death wasthe result of adverse effect of Covidvaccine. IANS

Thiruvananthapuram:The 35-year-old woman, who has been accused of'sexually abusing' her minor son, onSunday said she was innocent andframed by her estranged husband andhis second wife.

Appearing before the media withher face covered, the woman said,"thetruth shouldcome out. My son wasthreatened by his father to give thestatements against me. The case is fab-ricated."

The woman, who was arrestedunder the POCSO (Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences) Actwas granted bail by the Kerala Highcourt.

The court had observed that thegravity of offences alleged against thewoman was serious in nature and quiteunheard of, and had directedthe statepolice chief to constitute a special team,preferably headed by a woman IPS offi-

cer, to proceed with the investigation.The woman from nearby

Kadakkavoor was arrested onDecember 28 on charges of sexuallyabusing her son since the age of 10 tillhe shifted to Sharjah with his father inDecember 2019.

The case was registered based ona report filed by the Child WelfareCommittee officials who had con-ducted counselling of the child.

The woman alleged that thePOCSO case was filed by her husbandin retaliation for the case she hadmoved before a family court seekingcustody of her four children andalimony.

"I am innocent. The truth shouldcome out. My son will never make sucha complaint", she said. She said she wasnot aware about the details of the caseand came to know about it only at thepolice station. PTI

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Avideo has gone viral of a tiger climbing overthe wall at Rajasthan's RanthamboreNational Park and walking silently on the road,as tourists seated in their vehicle gaze on inexcitement and fear.

The incident, as per wildlife officials, wasreported on Thursday.

While some of the tourists were panic-stricken, others were seen screaming in excite-ment as they clicked the big cat right right infront of them.

The vehicle was parked in close proximi-ty to the wall nearly 7 feet high, which pre-vented the big cat, as well as the people, fromseeing what was on the other side.

When the tiger scaled the wall all of a sud-den, the people were left in a shock.

However, the majestic beast did not displayany signs of aggression and walked along silent-ly as the tourists watched in awe.

Petrified and excited tourists yelled as atiger walks along their Gypsy inRajasthan.Petrified and excited tourists yelledas a tiger walks along their Gypsy in Rajasthan.

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Seven persons were injured,two of them seriously, whena bus of the Uttar Pradesh StateRoad Transport Corporation(UPSRTC) collided head onwith a truck here on Sundaymorning, police said.

Senior sub-inspector at theRaipura police station

Shivkumar Yadav said the acci-dent occurred near the Maiki turn in the Raipurapolice station area at around7.30 am, when the bus headingtowards Karvi from Prayagrajcollided head on with thetruck.

Seven persons were injuredin the incident, Yadav said,adding that the condition of the

truck driver and the bus con-ductor was critical.

A woman, who was mak-ing cow dung cakes on theroadside, was also among theinjured, he said.

The police said prima facieit seems that the accidentoccurred due to dense fog,adding that investigations aregoing on.

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Two stranded passengers werefound dead inside a load carrierparked on the Jammu-SrinagarNational Highway near Banihal inRamban district on Sunday.

The duo, hailing from Kralporaarea of North Kashmir's Kupwara dis-trict, were stranded in the area aftertraffic was suspended due to accu-mulation of snow on both sides of theJawarhar tunnel since Saturday morn-ing.

The passengers were identified asShabir Ahmad Mir (22) and MajidGulzar Mir (30).

According to official sources, thepassengers were rushed to the near-by hospital in Banihal where doctorsdeclared them brought dead. Angrydrivers of load carriers and others alsostaged a protest demonstration nearRailway Chowk in Banihal to highlighttheir plight and pathetic state of

affairs of the highway. Holding the government respon-

sible for the death of the duo, the pro-testers alleged that the governmentshould have allowed the stranded vehi-cles through the recently-completedBanihal-Qazigund tunnel.

The protesters also demandedadequate compensation from the gov-ernment in support of the families ofthe deceased passengers.

Meanwhile, routine trafficremained suspended on the nationalhighway on Sunday while some of thestranded vehicles were cleared aftercompleting the snow clearing opera-tions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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