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Following the overnight rain-fall in the national Capital,the farmers protesting andcamping at city borders wit-nessed waterlogged tents,soaked firewood and blankets.The continuous rainfallthroughout the day also led towaterlogging at agitationvenues and water also enteredin the tents of the farmers.

Heavy rain lashed acrossthe national Capital on Sundayleading to waterlogging insome parts of the city.According to a meteorologicaldepartment official, the mini-mum temperature in the citysettled at 9.9 degrees Celsius,while the maximum settled at15.8 degrees Celsius. Thehumidity oscillated between100 and 82 per cent. TheSafdarjung observatory, whichprovides official figures for thecity, recorded 14.8 mm rainfallat 5.30 pm, while the Palamweather station recorded 5.3mm and Lodhi Road recorded18.6 mm rainfall.

Meanwhile, the All IndiaKisan Sangharsh CoordinationCommittee (AIKSCC) onSunday said despite extremecold conditions and heavydownpour, which has made wetand soggy clothes and bedding,

the protesting farmers are in highspirits. “Farmers continue to bein high morale and are consoli-dating forces. All four majorprotest sites are being coordi-nated, more forces are joining inand protests in other places arecontinuing,” said AIKSCC.

Following the rainfall, thefarmers on Sunday said theyare ready to face any problem,be it heavy downpour or storm,they will not leave this placeunder any condition until theirdemands are met.

Rainwater also entered intotheir makeshift camps at Burariground and the protesters wereseen draining the water out andrearranging their belongings to

prevent from soaking in water.At Tikri border, Bharatiya

Kisan Union Ugrahan leaderSukhdev Singh, said arrange-ments made by farmers tobrave the cold weather are nothelping much because of rains and subsequent water-logging.

Veerpal Singh, a protestingfarmer, said their blankets,clothes and wood are soaked.“Farmers clothes are soakeddue to waterlogging caused byrains. Besides, we are facing dif-ficulties to cook food as rainwater has also soaked fire-wood. We do have an LPGcylinder but not everyone herehas it,” he said.

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In a tragic incident, around 23people were killed and sev-eral others injured after a roofof a shelter at a cremationground in Uttar Pradesh’s (UP)Ukhlarsi village in Muradnagararea collapsed on Sunday.

The UP Police said follow-ing the rainfall, the relatives andfriends of Yadaram, who wasbeing cremated at that time ofincident, had taken shelter underthe roof when it collapsed.

Police said they have iden-tified the bodies of 14 deceasedpersons out of the 23 dead.They have been identified asOmkar (45), Neeraj alias Bunty(40), Joginder (42), Sunil (44),Om Prakash Arya (68), Robin,Pramod (34), Nitin Chauhan(34), Pappu Singh (45), Babu(45), Akshay (48), Vinod (58),Dilip Batra (68) and Mayank(18), all residents ofMuradnagar district.

Till late evening theNational Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF), fire depart-ment and police teams wereseen removing the debris andsearching for the people underit. Several people are admittedat various hospitals.

Meanwhile, Uttar ParadeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanathexpressed grief over the loss of

lives in the incident.The CM directed the

Divisional Commissioner ofMeerut and Additional DitectorGeneral of Police (ADGP)Meerut zone to submit a reportin this connection. The CM alsodirected officials to give finan-cial assistance of �2 lakh to the kin of each of thedeceased.

Union Minister V K Singh,who is a Member of Parliamentfrom Ghaziabad, and severalsenior police and administra-tion officials visited the acci-dent site. According to DistrictMagistrate Dr Ajay ShankarPande, the incident happenedwhen the people of DayanandColony near Ukhralasi villagewere going to cremate the bodyof 62-year-old Yadram at thelocal Shamsham Ghat.

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At a time the “boycott China”chorus has been gettinglouder, China-based ShanghaiTunnel Engineering Company(STEC) has been awarded acontract to construct 5.6 kmunderground stretch from NewAshok Nagar to Sahibabad ofthe Delhi-Meerut Rapid RailTransit System project.

A major controversy haderupted in June last year afterthe STEC emerged as the low-est bidder for a contract worthRs 1,126 crore for the con-struction of the 5.6-km tunnelon one of the stretches of theDelhi-Meerut RRTS projectamid a standoff between Indiaand China along the Line ofActual Control (LAC) inLadakh. The National CapitalRegion Transport Corporation(NCRTC), which is executingthe country’s first RegionalRapid Rail Transit System(RRTS), said the contract wasawarded following the set pro-cedure and guidelines.

“Approvals have to be takenat various levels for bids that arefunded by multilateral agencies.This bid was also awarded fol-lowing the set procedure andguidelines,” the NCRTC said.Now, all the civil work tendersof the 82-km-long Delhi-

Ghaziabad-Meerut corridorhave been awarded and theconstruction is going on in fullswing to commission the pro-ject in time, an NCRTCspokesperson said.

Five national and multina-tional bidders including L&T,Tata Projects Limited took partin the bid. The NCRTC hadinvited global bids for the firstunderground civil constructionpackage in November last yearand the technical bids for thiscontract package were openedon March 16.

The scope of work includesdesign and construction oftwin tunnels from near NewAshok Nagar DN Ramp toSahibabad UP Ramp and oneunderground station at AnandVihar. The tunneling work hasto be completed in 1,095 daysafter issuance of the letter of acceptance (LoA) byNCRTC.

The 82-km-long corridor isbeing funded by the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) andprocurement is governed by theguidelines of the bank and theGovernment.

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Alappuzha in Kerala isknown as the Venice of theEast thanks to the rivers, placidbackwaters and lakes dottingthe region. The beach along theArabian Sea and the canalsmeandering along the city hasmade it a popular tourist des-tination.

Unknown to most people,Alappuzha, the nerve centre ofIndia’s coir industry, is home tothe world’s largest collection ofartefacts and art works made ofivory, crystal, porcelain andexotic wood. Not only that, thecity has the largest private col-lection of Swaroski, Lladro,Capo de monte art works.

An initiative by BettyKarunakaran, who could beaddressed as Kerala’s culturalczarina, has evolved into a

treasure house which out-smarts the best individual col-lection anywhere in the world.

The visitors’ diary at ReviKaruna Karan MemorialMuseum bears comments sub-stantiating this observation.Connoisseurs of art works andavantgarde artists like BoseKrishnamachari were left spell-bound after watching themuseum, conceived, realisedand even curated by Betty.

This museum is a tributeby Betty to her loving husbandlate Revi Karuna Karan, thedoyen of modern coir industryin India. “His grandfatherKrishnan and fatherKarunakaran were into coirbusiness. Revi took off fromwhere they left,” explainedBetty in a tete-a-tete with ThePioneer.

Both Krishnan and

Karunakaran were regular trav-ellers all over the world as partof the coir business.

Karunakaran had his edu-cation in Europe, the UK andthe USA and was the firstglobal citizen of Kerala. Revitoo had his education fromEurope and the USA.

“Revi was travelling mostof the time to Europe, Africaand the USA as part of the fam-ily business. The number ofcoir factories owned by thefamily shot up to nine duringhis tenure. He was honoured byAir India as the most frequentflyer. I accompanied him in allhis business tours. While hewas discussing business withhis clients, I chose shoppingand that too shops and muse-ums famous for collection ofartefacts,” reminiscences Betti.

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The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya PradeshCabinet was expanded onSunday with the induction oftwo loyalists of BJP leaderJyotiraditya Scindia, whose exitfrom the Congress in Marchlast year triggered the fall of the15-month-old Kamal Nath-leddispensation in the State.

Governor Anandiben Pateladministered the oath of officeto Tulsiram Silawat and GovindRajput, who returned to theCabinet after a gap of morethan two months.

With their induction, thecurrent strength of the StateCabinet went up to 31.

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Gearing up to launch one ofthe world’s largest coron-avirus vaccination drive any-time soon, India on Sundaygave final approval for theemergency use of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxinand the Serum Institute ofIndia’s Covishield. Both vac-cines are being produced in thecountry.

India’s approval of the UK-developed AstraZeneca/OxfordUniversity jab follows Britain’srecent approval of the vaccine.India plans to inoculate some30 crore people on a priority listthis year by July 2021 with threecrore health workers, doctors,and front carona warriors to begiven the free jab.

The country’s top drugregulator DCGI in its presseron Sunday said, “Emergencyrestricted approval has beengiven for the two vaccine can-didates and that it is payingclose attention to the increas-ing cases of the UK’s Covid-19new strain in the country andwas prioritising its threat while conducting clini-cal trials”.

India’s Drugs Controller

General VG Somani said theefficacy of the British-devel-oped AstraZeneca/Oxford vac-cine is 70.42 per cent, though hedid not give out the efficacy percent of the jab developed by theHyderabad-based biotechnolo-gy firm, Bharat Biotech.

Somani, however,described the Indian-devel-oped Covaxin vaccine as “safewhich provides a robustimmune response.” He saidthe Indian vaccine wasapproved “in the public inter-est as an abundant precaution,in clinical trial mode, to havemore options for vaccinations,especially in case of infection bymutant strains”.

Somani also did not takeany question from the reportersexcept saying, “We’ll neverapprove anything if there isslightest of safety concern. Thevaccines are 100 per cent safe.Some side effects like mildfever, pain, and allergy arecommon for every vaccine. Itis absolute rubbish that peoplemay become impotent.”

As per the official release,the Subject Expert Committee(SEC) met on Friday andSaturday had made its recom-mendations in respect of the

accelerated approval processrequest of the SII, BharatBiotech International Ltd aswell as about phase-III trials ofCadila Healthcare Ltd.

India, which has recordedthe second-highest number ofinfections in the world withmore than 10.3 million con-firmed cases to date, killingnearly 150,000 held nationwidedrills on Saturday to preparemore than 90,000 healthcare

workers to administer vaccinesacross the country.

The DCGI said both man-ufacturers had submitted datashowing their vaccines weresafe to use and shared that SIIhas presented a recombinantchimpanzee adenovirus vectorvaccine (Covishield) encodingthe SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) gly-coprotein with technology trans-fer from AstraZeneca/OxfordUniversity.

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Amid concerns raised byvarious quarters regard-ing the efficacy of the Covaxinindigenously developed byBharat Biotech that is yet tocomplete phase 3 trial, theDCGI said it will be used inrestricted cases and wasapproved “in public interest asan abundant precaution, inclinical trial mode, to havemore options for vaccinations,especially in case of infection bymutant strains”.

“We’ll never approve any-thing if there is slightest of safe-ty concern.

“The vaccines are 110 percent safe. Some side effects likemild fever, pain and allergy arecommon for every vaccine.

“It is absolute rubbish thatpeople may become impotent,”he said at a Press conferencehere.

However, the doctors andresearch experts were not con-

vinced as they termed it ‘a dan-gerous step’ given that details ofStage 3 clinical trials were yetnot available.

They argued that the prob-lem is that the Government inits eagerness to promote ‘vocalfor local’ notion has bypassedkey parts of the standard drug and vaccine-development protocol and havequestioned DCGI’s claims that “it is 110 per centsafe”.

Experts also warned thatthe decision may lead to dis-trust among people regardingvaccines and that it maybecome difficult for the UnionGovernment to defend it in theinternational fora.

Dr Rahul Bhargava,Director (Institute of BloodDisorder and Bone MarrowTransplant) Fortis Hospital,Gurgaon said that theGovernment is trying to mod-ify the protocols related tophase three trials.

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The grant of approval toBharat Biotech’s Covid-19vaccine for “emergency use”has kicked a major controversywith several senior Congressleaders raising serious concernover the way the approval hasbeen granted. The party has offi-cially lauded the scientists and researchers for the achieve-ment.

Senior Congress leadersand former Union MinistersAnand Sharma, Jairam Rameshand Shashi Tharoor sought toknow from the Health Ministerwhy mandatory protocols andverification of data “had beendispensed with”.

Samajwadi Party leaderAkhilesh Yadav had onSaturday termed the anti-Covidvaccine to be rolled out in thecountry as a “vaccine of the

BJP” and said he would nottake the shot. On Sunday, theformer Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister said the Covid-19vaccination programme is a“sensitive process”, and theGovernment should not treat itas a “cosmetic” event as it is amatter of lives.

Sharma, who heads theParliamentary panel on HomeAffairs which dealt with theissue at length, said the matterof granting authorisation forvaccine use needs to be takenup carefully as no country hasdispensed with the mandatoryphase 3 trials and verificationof data.

In its report submitted onDecember 21 to Rajya Sabhachairman and Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu, the commit-tee noted that the CDSCO hasgiven no emergency use autho-risation in the past.

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The special task force (STF)of Haryana Police set up todeal with organised crimes hasapprehended 105 most wantedcriminals, 22 other rewardedoffenders involved in heinouscrime and seized huge quanti-ties of illicit arms as well as nar-cotics during the year 2020.

Haryana Director Generalof Police (DGP) Manoj Yadavaon Sunday said that the STFhad launched a massive crack-down on criminal elementsand organized gangs. Thearrested 22 rewarded offenderscarried the rewards rangingfrom Rs 10,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh.

Sharing the names of somenotorious criminals, the DGPsaid that the STF has arrestedmost wanted criminals withrewards on their heads likeRaju Basodi, Rajesh Rakbar,Ashok alias Soki and Imran,Sohit Rancho, Manish Babaand Vicky Garg. HaryanaPolice had declared a collectivereward of more than Rs 10 lakhon their arrest.

One of the arrested crimi-nal, Raju Basodi was anabsconding accused in morethan 30 cases of murder,attempt to murder, extortion,robbery etc. He was operatinghis gang from Thailand, he said.

Due to continuous fearand pressure of the STF unit,most offenders and dreaded criminals opt to stayout of Haryana, the DGPpointed out.

He further said that theSTF has achieved big mile-stones while busting the net-work of drug peddlers in 2020.It has arrested 162 criminalsafter seizing a huge cache ofnarcotics from them.

Giving details about theseizure of narcotics, the DGP

said that police had seized 9 kg100 gram of heroin, 52 kg 384gram opium, 60 kg 200 gramcharas, over 4141 kg poppyhusk, 1.259 kg smack, 2371 kgganja or ganja leaf, 5375 injec-tions of drugs, over 1.49 lakhprohibited pharma tablets and5839 cartons of liquor.

Apart from this, the STFsleuths have also arrested 77persons and recovered 81 ille-gal pistols, revolvers and 320cartridges from them, |he added.

The DGP further men-tioned that STF had also iden-tified a number of most want-ed criminals who were carry-ing out criminal activities inHaryana and neighbouringstates of Delhi, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh and Punjab.

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Haryana Congress chiefKumari Selja on Sundaysaid that more than 50 farmershave lost their lives in theongoing farmers’ protest but ithad no effect on the CentralGovernment.

“The anti-agriculture blacklaws introduced by the BJPGovernment are threateningthe agriculture sector. This actof BJP government will bewritten in black letters in thehistory,” said Kumari Seljawhile addressing the farmers inthe ongoing farmers’ move-ment in village Atoha of Palwalwhere she arrived to supportthe farmers’ movement.

Selja said that the farmersknow very well that this gov-ernment is selling them to thecapitalists. The governmentdoes not see the suffering offarmers and laborers. Theirpain is not visible to the gov-ernment. All this government

sees is the interests of its fellowcapitalists, she alleged.

Congress leader RahulGandhi had warned the coun-try long ago that this govern-ment is the government of thecapitalists. The aim of thisgovernment is only to benefitthe capitalists, which is beingproved today. The country-men have understood this con-spiracy of the government, sheadded.

The senior Congress leaderfurther said that thousands offarmers are firmly agitating inPalwal, even in the midst ofheavy rains and severe cold.Various forms of atrocitieswere committed on farmers by

this government, but the farm-ers did not lose their cool. Thisstruggle of the farmers will notgo in vain. The governmentwill have to bow before thefarmers, Selja said.

She also said that farmersand laborers had raised theirvoice even during the Congressgovernment. At that time, theCongress government hadheard everyone’s voice andresolved the issue. The mini-mum support price was givenby the Congress party itself, shesaid.

The Congress party standsfirmly with the farmers andlaborers in this movement, sheadded.

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NEP-2020 provides for cre-ating a lifelong learningknowledge society based on thepremise of equal and widerlearning opportunities to all.Prevailing formal educationsystems are restrictive inrespect of learning opportuni-ties hence cannot meet the 21stCentury learners needs. Non-formal education system is yet

to receive sufficient social andgovernment recognition. It isperhaps in this context thatNEP-2020 stipulates forAcademic Bank of Credits(ABC) for digitally storing theacademic credits earned fromrecognized institutions toenable an institution to awarda degree to students uponearning and accumulatingcredits required for completionof the program concerned. It isnoteworthy to mention thatcredit earning from other insti-tutions was already in practise,albeit rudimentary form, in theancient learning institutionsin India wherein students usedto learn additional modulesfrom the Gurus of otherGurukuls in addition to theGurukul they were enrolled in.

ABC may ensure seamlessmovement of students betweendifferent education systems for

pursuing courses of their choic-es and credit accumulation asrequired. The credits thus accu-mulated may be utilized by thestudents in order to fulfil thepartial requirement of degree ofthe concerned programs. Assuch, ABC may facilitate seam-less integration of the campus-es and distributed learningsystems by creating opportu-nities for students mobilitywithin inter and intra univer-sity systems. For smooth oper-ation, ABC may be linked tothe National AcademicDepository.

ABC will function like acommercial bank where stu-dents can hold accounts.Having an account with ABCis however optional. The bankwill facilitate accumulation,transfer and redemption ofcredits of the account holdersthrough opening, validation

and closure of accounts and itwill also carry out verificationof credits required for authen-tication of degrees/diploma/certificates. Provision of cred-it transfer, however, may berestricted to institutions ofequal grades or from higher tolower grades and not the vice-versa. Credit recognition pro-cedure shall be laid down forenabling recognition of thecredits earned by the students.The credits earned by the stu-dents may be verified by thebank educational transcript.The transcript will depict spe-cific grades secured by thestudents and also the level oflearning outcomes they haveaccomplished in a particularlearning module of the courseas well as for the overallcourse/program.These tran-scripts shall be recognised by allthe institutions opting for

membership in ABC.The ABCmayalso allow

non-science students, say artsand commerce stream students,to take up courses in the sciencestream after pursuing a bridgecourse. The ABC will offerMultiple-Entry-Multiple-Exitoptions to the needy studentsand will also ensure that learn-ing space is available to them foranytime, anywhere, and anylevel of learning. ABC may alsohelp integrate skills into a cred-it-based system by providingwide-ranging options for choos-ing courses from several insti-tutions. Through this initiativeof the Ministry of Education,students can plan for theirlearning objectives and canpursue courses to satisfy theirlearning needs.

The Main objectives ofABC thus are to promote a stu-dent centric higher education

system rooted in Indian cultureand to enable them to opt forcourses and institutions. Say forexample, a student can beenrolled for a program in oneinstitution (which becomes aparent institution) and at thesame time can enrol for thecourses of her/his choice in mul-tiple institutions simultaneous-ly for earning credits in onlinemode. However, the ratio ofcredits to be necessarily earnedfrom the parent institution andallowed to be earned from otherinstitutions is to be appropriatelydecided by the participatinginstitutions.Similarly, the valid-ity period for credit redemptionfrom the accounts is to beappropriately chosen. ThusABC permits students to choosepace of learning depending ontheir capacity, and Multiple-Entry-Multiple-Exit options forstudents to complete their

degrees keeping in view pre-ferred and informedchoices.This will also enhanceintegration of institutions seam-lessly for carrying out academ-ic activities and facilitate lifelonglearning needs.

Added advantage of this ini-tiative perhaps is that the learn-ers have the options to eitherlearn formally or informally infull-time or part-time modes orboth. As a consequence, ABCwill promote much sought afterquality, flexibility and collabo-ration alongside access andequity to improve the efficacy ofthe nation’s higher educationsystem and to make it currentand relevant.

This will also enable stu-dents to develop global compe-tencies and life skills.

Thus,the implementationof the Academic Bank ofCreditswill revolutionise the

higher education system of thenation. Now, it is the primeresponsibility of the HigherEducation Institutions to helpactualize the ABC to theground reality in order toensure that the intended ben-efits reach the learners. Theresponsibility of implementingABC, in my opinion, can beentrusted to the GeneralEducation Council - the fourthvertical under HigherEducation Commission ofIndia. ABC will go a long wayin providing optimum oppor-tunities to the learners in allaspects of learning and willthereby democratize highereducation in the country.

(The writer is Vice-Chancellor, Central University ofPunjab, Bathinda, and InchargeAcademic Cell, Bhartiya ShikshanMandal. Views are personal.)

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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh onSunday lambasted the StateBJP leadership over its sordidattempts to lower the prestigeof high gubernatorial office bypulling the Constitutionalauthority into unsavoury con-troversies in States where it isin the Opposition in whatcan only be construed as a bidto get rid of democratically-elected Governments there.

Reacting sharply to BJPState unit’s tweet accusing himof trying to make Punjab intoanother West Bengal, the ChiefMinister said that it was thepower-hungry BJP which hadbeen trying to use the office ofthe Governor for its own vest-ed interests.

“It has been happening inWest Bengal, it happened inMaharashtra, and now they aretrying to do the same inPunjab,” said Capt Amarinder,slamming the BJP for itsshameless efforts to force itsway into power in states wherethey are currently not ruling.

The BJP, which has beensystemically trampling alldemocratic and Constitutionalinstitutions, has not sparedeven the office of Governor,said the Chief Minister, addingthat “these actions do notbehoove a party that is the cus-

todian of these institutions asthe ruling party at the Centre.”

Capt Amarinder quippedthat the BJP, despite being anational party, seemed totallyignorant about theConstitutional provisions,according to which theGovernor was the titular headof the state but all adminis-tration authority vested withthe chief minister.

“Don’t these BJP leadersknow that the law and orderresponsibility of my state lieswith me not only as ChiefMinister but also as the HomeMinister?” he asked, urgingthe BJP leaders of Punjab tofirst learn the ABCs of theIndian Constitution beforeshooting their mouth onConstitutional matters.

Describing as shockingthe BJP’s repeated attempts atpoliticization of the farmers’agitation, the Chief Ministersaid that the party was shame-lessly exploiting the situationand spreading a carnage of liesfor furthering its politicalinterests. This, he said, wasevident in their bid to projectthe farmers’ genuine anger asa law and order situation inPunjab.

Incidents of BJP leadersfacing the wrath of farmershave been reported from theBJP-ruled Haryana, and evenUttar Pradesh, he pointed out,

adding that by the same yard-stick, those should also be con-strued as a case of collapse oflaw and order in those states.“And if the incidents of farm-ers venting their anger at BJPleaders in Punjab are at thebehest of the ruling Congresshere, as they are alleging, thenby the same logic, the rulingBJP in Haryana and UP is toblame for the trouble there,” headded.

The Chief Minister also hitout at the BJP over its threat ofgherao of Punjab CongressMP Ravneet Singh Bittu’shouse if FIR is not registeredagainst him by the PunjabPolice. This was not onlyridiculous but anotherinstance of the BJP playing tothe gallery since the DelhiPolice had already registered acase in a non-cognizableoffence against Bittu, he added.

“It is sad that at a timewhen farmers are dying everyday in the bitter winter coldwhile sitting in protest at Delhiborders for the past nearly 40days, the BJP is busy indulgingin cheap politics,” said CaptAmarinder.

The BJP would gain morepolitical mileage by respond-ing to the woes of the farmersand heeding their voiceinstead of resorting to politi-cal theatrics and lies, he said,

adding that it was high timethe ruling party at the Centrestopped playing with the livesof the farmers and repealedthe black Farm Laws.

“The entire nation canfeel the pain of the farmersexcept the party which heads

the country,” said CaptAmarinder, urging the BJP-ledCentral Government to climbdown from its exalted egoand bring the farming crisis toan end before it gets com-pletely out of hand and bringsIndia to ruination.

��� *2�+,3��82

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP)Punjab unit on Sundayhas accused the State GovernorVP Singh Badnore for sum-moning Punjab officials byusing the pretext of law andorder and the remarks made byChief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh, as a ploy by theCongress and BJP to divertattention from the farmers’movement.

“Today, every resident ofPunjab is supporting the farm-ers’ movement in his own way.But the Capt Amarinder Singh-led State Government and theBJP want to divert people’sattention deliberately,” saidAAP’s state unit presidentBhagwant Mann.

Mann said that followingthe policy of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, PunjabGovernor was showing suchseriousness in distracting thepeople of Punjab from thefarmers’ movement. “Hundredsof youth are deprived of edu-cation due to non-availability ofscholarships. Why does the

Governor not call the Punjabofficials, when young boys andgirls are beaten up badly by thePunjab police for seekingemployment,” he added.

He further said that for thelast three months, the farmersof Punjab had been agitating onthe streets, day and night, fortheir existence and to savetheir livelihood. “Why did theGovernor not take up the issuewith the central governmentthat the farmers of my state arein trouble?” questioned Mann.

Lashing out at CaptAmarinder Singh on his state-ment that he was the Home

Minister and the Governorshould summon him, Mannsaid that the former had failedon every front. “The BJP andCaptain government are play-ing friendly matches to sup-press the farmers’ movement sothat people’s attention can bedrawn towards it,” he added.

Asking the Congress andBJP to apologise to the peopleof Punjab for their mistakes,Mann appealed to the people ofPunjab to beware of themaneuvers being used by CaptAmarinder and ModiGovernments to weaken thefarmers’ movement.

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Blaming the Central Government forallegedly tarnishing the image ofPunjabi farmers, the cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sundayaccused the BJP-led NDA Government offinding excuses for recommending thePresident’s rule in the State.

Taking to the micro blogging website,Twitter, Sidhu on Sunday claimed that therewas no law and order situation in the State.

Instead, he advised the CentralGovernment to focus on the plights of thefarmers who were dying on several bor-ders of Delhi. At the same time, he alsoheld the Central Government responsiblefor allegedly tarnishing the image ofPunjabi and scuttling the democraticvoices.

Sidhu, who started his political inningswith the saffron party, was once considereda close confident of the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, but has now turned astrong political adversary.

Leveling a serious allegation, he allegedthat the Central Government was project-ing Punjabis as “anti-national” to safeguardReliance’s business interests and creategrounds for the President’s rule.

Congress MLA from Amritsar East,Sidhu has been staying from active politicsand maintaining distance with the media,following his exit from the Cabinet.However, he initiated a one-way commu-nication through his Youtube channel‘Jittega Punjab’ and has also been sharinghis views and concerns on Twitter, especially on the farmers’ agitation againstfarm acts.

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Lamenting Delhi Chief Ministerand Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP)national convener ArvindKejriwal’s “theatrics” to “unsuc-cessfully” project himself on theside of protesting farmers, PunjabCongress president Sunil Jakharon Sunday dared the AAP leaderto instead pass Punjab-like Bills inhis state Assembly to negate thedraconian farm laws.

“Farmers haven’t forgottenKejriwal and AAP’s insensitivitytowards farmers ever since the2015 tragic incident when a hap-less farmer, Gajinder Singh, com-mitted suicide by hanging inKejriwal’s presence during one of

AAP’s rallies and Kejriwal con-tinued his speech even after the ill-fated incident,” he said.

The state Congress chiefadvised Kejriwal to ebb his melo-drama as farmers protesting atnational capital’s border aren’tinterested in AAP’s toilets or foodbut want strong action against theblack farm laws.

Dubbing Kejriwal’s AAP asessentially the B-team of BJP,Jakhar asked the Delhi ChiefMinister why he had not passed

any law in his State to counter theanti-farmer and unconstitutionalFarm Bills till now.

“It’s worth ridiculing that theman responsible for implementinga farm law in his state is now pre-tending to be a sympathizer of thevictims of that very legislation.Farmers now cannot be taken fora ride. They need tangible actionagainst farm laws and not stage-craft,” Jakhar said.

He said that Punjab ChiefMinister Capt Amarinder Singh hasshown the way by passing resolu-tion in the state assembly againstthese laws. Kejriwal needs toanswer what stops him from replicating what Punjab has done,he said.

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SAD’s MP from Bathindaand former Union MinisterHarsimrat Kaur Badal onSunday faced protests fromthe farmers during her visit tovillages in Mansa district, forc-ing her to cancel the fourscheduled programmes inother villages.

Farmers staged protestsagainst Harsimrat, who was topay condolences to the familiesof slain farmers and deceasedmembers of the party in the vil-lages. The protesters shoutedslogans, waved black flags, andeven tried to gherao her convoyduring her visit — the first afterresigning from the UnionCabinet.The protesters claimedthat the SAD and HarsimratBadal had supported the con-troversial farm bills when thesewere tabled in the Cabinet andnow they are doing a dramaand befooling the people.

It has also been learnt thatthe family of Piara Singh, afarmer who died during theagitation at Dharampura vil-lage, refused to meetHarsimrat.

Meanwhile, SAD’s youthwing — Youth Akali Dal (YAD)— said that the CongressGovernment misused theMansa police to orchestrate adummy protest againstHarsimrat and even lathicharged YAD workers aftergetting jittery at the resolutemanner in which former UnionMinister Harsimrat Kaur Badaladvocated the cause of thefarming community at TakthSri Damdama Sahib a daybefore.YAD presidentParambans Singh Romana saidthat it was shameful on the partof the Mansa police to positionthe “protesters” in houses nearwhich the cavalcade of theformer Union Minister was topass and then bring them for-

ward to stage a dummy protest.“When YAD workers

stepped in and took the spon-sored protesters head-on, theMansa police formed a six-linecordon around them and evenlathi-charged YAD workerswhen they forced the dummyprotesters to beat a hastyretreat,” he said.

Warning the State policenot to indulge in such mis-chievous acts, Romana said:“YAD workers will not sit backif motivated attacks are orga-nized against our leaders. TheState police and Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh will bedirectly responsible if any untoward incident occurs dueto this.”

He also asked the ChiefMinister to hold the Mansa SSPresponsible for instigating vio-lence against an elected repre-sentative and a former unionminister and initiate discipli-nary action against him.

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The BJP on Sunday said thatPunjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh was demon-strating his “misplaced monar-chical instincts” by asking theGovernor VP Singh Badnore totake orders from him.

“The Chief Minister shouldexercise basic constitutionalproprieties while addressing aGovernor, who is a constitu-tional head of the State, whoknows whom to summon inthe face of collapsing law andorder situation in the State,”said BJP national general sec-retary Tarun Chugh.

He said that the ChiefMinister had no right to dictateor bully a State Governor on

the matter. “Punjab Governorknows his constitutional dutiesand he is behaving in his con-stitutional dharma. It’s CaptAmarinder Singh who is notdischarging his constitutionalduties and is behaving like amaharaja in the democratic setup,” he added.

“Punjab is not the Patialaroyal palace,” Chugh saidadding that the Chief Ministershould know his limits andconstitutional duties.

“Had the Chief Ministerbeen discharging his dutiestowards Punjab, it wouldn’thave become the land of mafiagangs and the people wouldn’thave been living in terror wherethere is a jungle raj,” BJP’snational general secretary said.

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RAIPUR | MONDAY | JANUARY 4, 2021chhattisgarh 03

Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Mohan Markma chaired the Working Committee and District Congress Committee (DCC) Presidents meeting at Rajiv Bhavan, the Congressheadquarters in Raipur, on Sunday. Pioneer Photo

BILASPUR CORRESPONDENT n

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelon Sunday inaugurated andperformed Bhoomi Pujan fordevelopment works worthmore than Rs 650 crores inBilaspur and made threeimportant announcementsfor the district.

He was addressing thegeneral assembly at a func-tion at the local Lal BahadurShastri School ground.

The announcementsincluded naming the CentralLibrary after former MLA ofBilaspur Late PanditShivdulare Mishra, namingthe English school atTarabahar after Sheikh Gaffarand naming the Airport to bebuilt in Bilaspur after Bilasa

Bai Kevtin.Among those present

were Home Minister andDistrict In-charge Minister

Tamradhwaj Sahu,Agriculture MinisterRavindra Choubey andUrban Administration andDevelopment Minister Dr.Shiv Kumar Dahriya.

Baghel inaugurated andperformed Bhoomi Pujan ofdevelopment and construc-tion works worth Rs. 650crores. He said theChhattisgarh government isrealizing the dream "our fore-fathers had dreamt of ".

He said the number offarmers in the state hasincreased by one and a halftimes in the last two years.This is the result of farmerfriendly policies and pro-grams of the government.

The Chief Minister reit-erated his resolve to fulfill thepromises made to the farm-ers. He said the government

of Chhattisgarh is the govern-ment of 'Janata Janardan'.

Home Minister Sahu saidthat since the formation ofthe Congress government,the work of preserving andsaving the culture ofChhattisgarh is being done. Aholiday has been declared onthe traditional Teej festival.

Agriculture and WaterResources Minister Choubeysaid the government has a tar-get of buying 90 lakh tonnes ofpaddy this year. Permission topurchase rice in FCI has notbeen issued by the CentralGovernment so far.

Rs 100 crores has beensanctioned for the conserva-tion of the Arpa river, the life-line of Bilaspur district, hesaid. Two barrages will bebuilt which will increase thewater level.

STAFF REPORTER nKABIRDHAM

Kabirdham district inChhattisgarh has baggedthe top position in the statefor purchasing paddy on sup-port price from registeredfarmers, it was announced onSunday.

In the Kharif marketingyear 2020-21, a total of 25.90lakh quintals paddy of Rs478.50 crore have beenbought from 77,454 registeredfarmers since last month inthe district, a press releasesaid.

This way, of the totalpaddy acreage registered by77 percent farmers, paddy hasbeen purchased from 65 per-cent area of the registeredacreage, it added.

District Collector RameshKumar Sharma said that

paddy will be bought from allregistered farmers of the dis-trict.

He urged the farmers thattokens are being issued tothem on the basis of the dailypaddy capacity of the pro-curement centers and contin-

uous monitoring is beingdone for proper paddy pro-curement works.

In Kabirdham, there are94 procurement centers andthe registered acreage ofpaddy is 108,812, the releasesaid.

RAIGARHCORRESPONDENT n

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel,on the second day of his visitto Raigarh district on Sunday,laid the foundation stone forthe ‘Narva’ developmentworks at a cost of Rs 1.43crores on ChakradharpurNala (rivulet) in villageJunwani.

Later, he interacted withfarmers at the Bangursiyapaddy procurement centrebefore leaving for Bilaspur.

The Chief Ministerinspected the ‘Narva’ devel-opment works. He directedthe officials to plant fruit-bearing trees on both banksof the rivulet, saying these

will benefit both wild animalsand villagers, an official com-munication said.

The Chakradharpurrivulet is formed by twostreams of Dhengur and

Ranidarha. Later, it mergeswith Kelo river in Raigarhdistrict.

Divisional Forest OfficerPranay Mishra briefed Baghelthat the rivulet travels around

35 km and nine villages existon the banks. Different smallstructures from boulders,wood and stop dams havebeen built to hold the water. Itwill benefit the villagers.

On similar structuresconstructed on Bagh rivulet,farmers are using the waterfor agriculture.

The Chief Minister visit-ed the Bangursiya paddy pro-curement centre and held dis-cussions with farmers of vil-lages Bhelvatikra, Barliya,Regda and others. He soughtdetails on the farming, croparea, quantity sold and pay-ment received, gunny bagsand related issues.

Bhelvatikra farmer KedarPatel said he has 20 acres andhas sold 200 quintals ofpaddy and got Rs 3.73 lakh.He bought a thresher usingthe money. Farmer AkhanLal said he had earned Rs12,000 by selling 60 quintalsof cow dung.

STAFF REPORTER nMAHASAMUND

Chhattisgarh Police onSunday seized 120 cartonsof cigarettes, valued at Rs 72lakhs, and arrested two per-

sons in Mahasamund districtfor illegally transporting themto the state capital fromOdisha.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Mahasamund Superintendentof Police Prafull Kumar

Thakur said the arrested menwere driver Alok Pradhan(28) and his cleaner-assistantJaydev Shivchandan, bothfrom Odisha.

The action followed a tipthat the contraband was beingtransported to Raipur via theMahasamund NationalHighway NH-53, Thakursaid.

The police intercepted atruck (OD-02, AY-8394) at acheck-post near Temri villagein the Komkhan police stationlimits, he added.

The men admitted theywere taking the contraband toRaipur.

The cigarettes werepacked inside 60 gunny bagsin 120 cartons and concealedin empty vegetable containers.A mobile phone and the truckwere seized.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

The Central government gave Rs 9,000crores to the Chhattisgarh governmentto procure paddy. First it should give thedetails to the people of the state, BJP GeneralSecretary and in-charge of Chhattisgarh D.Purandeswari said on Sunday.

She is on a three-day visit toChhattisgarh from Sunday along with co-in-charge Nitin Nabin.

Interacting with the media,Purandeswari said the BJP will not toler-ate the injustice being done to the farm-ers. The government should provide anaccount for Rs 9,000 crores given for pro-curement of paddy and gunny bags.

She said the government is procuring15 quintals of paddy per acre but BJP hasbeen demanding that it be hiked to 25quintals per acre.

Earlier, addressing the BJP officebearers, she said the party has to workamong the people by standing with them.As the present government has failed tofulfil its promises, people will give theappropriate reply at the right time.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

2020 turned out good for thepolice force battlingNaxalites in Chhattisgarh'sBastar district where 40Maoists were killed and 438surrendered, InspectorGeneral of Police Sundarraj P.said on Sunday.

Starting from January lastyear, 112 gunfights occurredbetween police and Naxalites,leaving 40 Maoists dead. Atotal of 438 Naxalites surren-dered with 80 weapons and290 weapons were recoveredin separate actions, he said.

Bastar Police opened 13new police camps in severelyNaxalite-affected areas. Thenumbers of Maoist violenceand attacks and casualtiesinflicted by them remainedquite low in comparison to2019, he added.

“The success againstMaoist was high because

Bastar police is working onthree fronts in better coordi-nation with other agencies.We are trying to build confi-dence in public while provid-ing peace and security,” the IGsaid.

The specialized local ini-tiatives like 'Lon Varra Tu','Manva Puna', 'Amcho BastarAmcho Police', 'TendumuntaBastar', 'Niyanar Niya Police','Amcho police' and 'AmchoSangwari' were well receivedby tribal public as the cam-paigns are in local dialect andlanguage, he added.

Bastar police also builtand resumed transport on theAranpur-Jagarguna road.Transportation on the roadwas halted for the past 16years. Police are helping inconstructing roads so thatconnectivity and developmentmay pick up pace, the officeradded.

STAFF REPORTER nBIJAPUR

ANaxalite wanted forattacks on security forceswas arrested from Bijapur inChhattisgarh on Sunday,police said.

Somlu Kashyap (40) washeld from a forest near

Kokodipara village under theMirtoor police station limitsduring a search operation bythe Chhattisgarh Armed Force(CAF) and District Force, IGBastar Sundarraj P said.

Kashyap headed theDandakaranya Adivasi KisanMazdoor Sangthan, a frontalwing of the Naxalites, and wasinvolved in six incidentsincluding the killing of twosecurity personnel near Cherlivillage in 2017 and anAssistant Constable in 2018,he said.

"He was also involved inthe killing of civilians inBijapur," the official said.

Bilaspur airport to be namedafter Bilasa Bai Kevtin: CM

Kabirdham tops in buyingpaddy from farmers in C’garh

Two held, cigarettesof `72L seized

CM lays foundation stonefor rivulet work in Raigarh

40 Naxalites killed, 438surrendered in 2020: IG

Naxalite heldin Bijapur

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

The Chhattisgarh ForestDepartment on Sundayseized precious woods valuedat Rs 30 lakh during a raid inthe Raipur Forest Range.

The officials seized pre-cious red sandalwood,Papada, rosewood,Senegalia catechu (khair)

and Sal woods from agodown of timber mer-chants Sanjay Gupta andSanjay Chhabaria in thestate capital, a press releasesaid.

Gupta and Chhabariahail from Bargarh district inOdisha, the release said.

The raid is still under-way and will be completedby tomorrow.

C'garh should give accountof Centre's `9,000 crores

Govt seizes preciouswoods valued at `30L

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Aday before the final roundof talks between the Centreand the protesting farmersover the controversial farmlaws, Congress president SoniaGandhi on Sunday launched ascathing attack on the ModiGovernment saying that for thefirst time since independencesuch an “arrogant”Government has come topower which cannot see thesufferings of the “annadatas”.

Demanding that the newfarm laws be immediately with-drawn unconditionally, Soniasaid Governments and theirleaders who ignore public sen-timents in a democracy cannotgovern for long and it is nowquite clear that the protestingfarmers will not bow in the faceof the Centre’s policy of “tireand pushover”.

The Congress has beenseeking the repeal of the threenew farm laws, alleging thatthey will ruin farming and thefarmers while the party is sup-porting the farmers’ agitationagainst the legislations.

“There is still time, theModi Government shouldleave the arrogance of powerand immediately withdraw thethree black laws uncondition-ally to end the agitation of thefarmers who are dying in thecold and rain. This isRajdharma and a true tribute tothe farmers who have lost their lives,” Sonia Gandhisaid.

The Modi Governmentshould remember that democ-racy means protecting theinterests of the people and thefarmers-workers, she said.“Along with the people of thecountry, I am also disturbedseeing the condition of the‘annadatas’ who have been agi-tating for 39 days at the bordersof Delhi in the bitter cold andrain in support of theirdemands,” she said.

In the wake of theGovernment’s apathy, so far,more than 50 farmers have losttheir lives with some even tak-

ing the step of committingsuicide due to theGovernment’s neglect, men-tioned Sonia. “But neither theheartless Modi Governmentrelented nor the Prime Ministeror any other Minister uttered aword of consolation till today.I pay my respects to all thedeceased farmer brothers andpray to the Lord to give theirfamilies the strength to bearthis sorrow,” the Congress pres-ident said.

“Since independence, thisis the first such arrogantGovernment that has come topower in the history of thecountry that, leave alone peo-ple, cannot even see the suf-ferings and struggles of ‘anna-datas’,” she said further.

It seems that ensuring prof-its for a handful of industrial-ists has become the main agen-da of this Government, Soniaalleged. The Government haspresented these laws as majoragriculture sector reformsaimed at helping farmers andincreasing their income, but theprotesting unions fear that thenew legislations will leave themat the mercy of big corporatesby weakening the MSP andmandi systems.

The grand old party alsoaccused the Centre of showingapathy as the FoodCorporation of India’s

Chhattisgarh unit was not lift-ing the rice stocks and askedwhether the procurement was“halted” because theGovernment’s “suit-bootfriends” were not involved inmanaging storage in the State.At a AICC Press conferenceCongress spokesperson GouravVallabh said that despite a pre-intimation by the FCI to pro-cure 60 lakh metric tonnes ofrice under the central pool forthe kharif season, Chhattisgarhhas not received a final consent.

The ChhattisgarhGovernment started procure-ment on December 1, and hasprocured 47 lakh tonnes from12 lakh farmers so far, but theState is yet to receive a consentfrom the Government of India,despite several requests, hesaid. This would impact closeto 21.52 lakh farmers, Vallabhsaid.

“This is a clear case ofcomplete apathy towards farm-ers who are fighting for theirrights and to save their digni-ty but the Government seemsto be occupied in filling thepockets of their friends. If theGovernment is not willing toprocure the volumes pre-inti-mated by them, even when theprotests are ongoing, what canwe expect from theGovernment once all this set-tles down?” he said.

��� +01�,0-23

Stating that the “road to aCovid-free nation is open”,Prime Minister Narendra Modicongratulated the nation andthanked the scientific andhealthcare community onSunday after the DrugsController General of India(DCGI) officially approvedOxford-AstraZeneca andBharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vac-cines for emergency use. For itspart, the BJP described theOpposition’s criticism anddoubts over the vaccine asunwarranted and “politicallymotivated”.

Taking to Twitter, Modisaid the announcement marksa “decisive turning point” inIndia’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. He said everyIndian would be proud thatboth the vaccines are “made inIndia”.

“A decisive turning point tostrengthen a spirited fight!DCGI granting approval tovaccines of Serum Institute ofIndia and Bharat Biotech accel-erates the road to a healthier

and Covid-free nation.Congratulations India.Congratulations to our hard-working scientists and innova-tors,” said the Prime Minister.

“It would make everyIndian proud that the two vac-cines that have been givenemergency use approval aremade in India! This shows theeagerness of our scientific com-

munity to fulfil the dream of anAatmanirbhar Bharat, at theroot of which is care and com-passion,” he said.

Soon after the DCGI’s go-ahead, Congress MP ShashiTharoor called the vaccineapproval as “pre-mature” andclaimed more trials were need-ed before giving them thegreen signal.

BJP leader and its IT Cellhead Amit Malviya describedthe criticism as unwarrantedsaying vaccines have under-gone all required trials.

He said the ModiGovernment had been takingall the right steps for Covid-19containment and excellentlymanaged the crisis with one ofthe lowest death rates in theworld. “We did better than thedeveloped countries includingAmerica,” he said.

Union Minister GirirajSingh also hit back at theOpposition saying it is politi-cally motivated and the criti-cism of the vaccine is made for

“other reasons”.Samajwadi party leader

Akhilesh Yadav had onSaturday said he would not takethe “BJP vaccine” which did notgo down well within theOpposition ranks itself with thelikes of NC leader OmarAbdullah coming out in sup-port of the vaccine.

While the BSP too wasquick to support the vaccines,its supremo went public inwelcoming the DCGI nod andcongratulating the scientificfraternity. She urged theGovernment to make the vac-cines available to the poor freeof cost.

On Sunday in a damagecontrol exercise Yadav said theruling party should not makea “spectacle” out of Covid-19vaccination and should launchthe inoculation drive only aftermaking solid arrangements inadvance.

Taking to Twitter, Yadavalso asked the Government toannounce the dates on whicheconomically weaker sectionsof the population will be vac-cinated.

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To make J&K a power surplusregion in the country,Memorandums of Understanding(MoUs) were signed for implemen-tation of much awaited Mega HydroPower projects, including 850 MWRatle HEP and 930 MW Kirthai-IIHEP, besides execution of longpending Sawalkot HEP (1856 MW),Uri-I (Stage-II) (240 MW) andDulhasti (Stage-II) (258 MW) onSunday.

The MoUs were signed betweenPower Development Department(PDD), J&K; National HydroelectricPower Corporation (NHPC) Ltd.and J&K Power DevelopmentCorporation , in the presence of RajKumar Singh, Union Minister ofState (Independent Charge) forMinistry of Power, New &Renewable Energy and Ministry ofSkill Development &Entrepreneurship; Manoj Sinha,Lieutenant Governor of J&K.

With the signing of these MoUs,J&K is expected to attract invest-ments worth Rs 35,000 crore in the

power sector to ensure the region’senergy security and 24-hour powersupply to the people of J&K.

The numerous hydro resourcesof Jammu & Kashmir are capable ofgenerating 14,867 MW power butthe potential had not been fullyexploited, and only 3504 MW powerwas being generated till now.

The works started now willensure that another 3498 MWpower is generated in the nextthree to fouryears.

As per the provisions of theseMoUs, the projects will be handedover back to Jammu and Kashmirafter 40 years of commercial oper-ation which was not in case of ear-lier projects allotted to NHPCLimited

The occasion also witnessedinauguration of as many as 19important projects of PDD aimed atgreater generation, efficient trans-mission and better distribution ofpower supply in J&K during theMega inauguration ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, theUnion Minister of State

(Independent Charge) for Ministryof Power, New & Renewable Energy,Raj Kumar Singh assured extendingevery support of the GoI to the J&KGovernment for various reforms inthe power sector.

Hydro electric potential suc-cessfully ushered the era of devel-opment in various states includingSikkim & Himachal Pradesh. J&Kshould replicate the model.According to the national average,electricity in rural areas is 20 hrs andin urban areas is 22-23 hrs. J&K toowill reach the milestone if the paceof development is kept the same, headded.

Locals will be trained and givenemployment in NHPC ventures;

besides NHPC will see for develop-ment of small hydro projects also, hemaintained. “We have to do our bitof duty to see electricity reachingevery household 24x7”, said theUnion MoS.

During his address, the LtGovernor, Manoj Sinha observedthat the MoUs signed today wouldattract investments worth Rs 35,000crore for Jammu & Kashmir powersector and ensure the region’s ener-gy security and 24-hour power sup-ply to the people of J&K.

“J&K is taking a quantum leapfrom being power deficit to becom-ing power surplus in the next fouryears. For uninterrupted powersupply, this is the most significant

move by the J&K gov-ernment”, said the LtGovernor.

Out of the twoagreements, the NHPCwould work in associa-tion with the adminis-tration at the first andthe languishingSawalkot project wouldbe handed over to

NHPC for completion under thesecond.

The project has been perpetu-ally postponed since its conceptionin 1984 and was expected to gener-ate 1856 MW power, he added.

SN Sahai, Union SecretaryPower; BVR Subrahmanyam, ChiefSecretary; Abhay Kumar Singh,Principal Secretary Power andInformation Department RohitKansal, Chairman & ManagingDirector, NHPC; Suresh Kumar,Chairman Chenab Valley PowerProjects Limited (CVPPL); A.K.Choudhary, Managing Director,CVPPL; Raja Yaqoob Farooq,Managing Director, JKPDC werepresent on the occasion.

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Mamata Banerjee’s biggest dreadand alleged “vote cutter of BJP,”is at last in Kolkata. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sundaycommenced his political inning inBengal with a visit to largest Muslimcongregation of the State FurfuraSharif where he met the order’sdeputy chief Pir Zada Abbas Siddiquibefore expressing his desire to contestAssembly elections in Bengal.

Emerging from a meeting withSiddiqui the AIMIM chief said hisparty would not only concentrate onMalda and Murshidabad, the twoMuslim-majority districts of the Statebut also other regions, particularlythose where the minorities have adecisive presence.

This is Owaisi’s first visit toBengal following after he announcedhis plans to contest elections in thestate.

Often dismissed by the ChiefMinister as “BJP’s vote cuttingmachine,” Owaisi said “we are apolitical party and have every right tocontest elections anywhere in India…we also have rights to form coalitionsfor that purpose and no one can stopus from doing so.”

When asked to comment onBanerjee’s recent allegations that hewas not a “vote cutter of BJP,” and his

flowing would only be limited to theUrdu-speaking minority, the AIMIMleader said, “I am here to meetSiddiqui sahib who is elder to us inexperience and I am ready to form analliance with him in order to work fora common purpose.”

Rejecting the Chief Minister’scharges he said, “I challenge theTrinamool Congress chief to provideanswers to my open questions …whatwas she doing when Gujarat wasburning … she should also answer asto how the BJP could win 18 seatsfrom Bengal in the parliamentaryelections though we were not in thefray then.”

On his party’s alleged negativerole in the Bihar elections he said“empirical evidence shows that inseats where we fought 9 were won bythe Gatbandhan, 6 were won by theNDA and we won 5 seats … so howour party could impact the voting pat-tern the way that is being suggested.”

On the issues his party would liketo focus on he said “we will raise awhole lot of issues including underdevelopment of Bengal, politicalempowerment, political partnership(read with the minorities), commu-nal peace etc.”

AIMIM State secretary ZameerulHasan said “Owaisi wanted to keepthe meeting a secret as we were appre-hensive that the TMC governmentwould stop him from exiting the air-

port. However that fortunately did nothappen. From Kolkata airport, hewent straight to Hooghly to meetAbbas Siddiqui.”

In real terms Bengal has morethan 28 percent Muslim votes thatinfluences the voting pattern of morethan 100 out of 294 seats. AIMIM’spresence in Bengal may not augur wellfor the ruling Trinamool Congresswhich has for the past one decadebeen thriving primarily on the minor-ity votes.

In the changed polarized cir-cumstances where the differencebetween the BJP and the TMC interms of vote percentage is mere 2percent the Hyderabad outfit’s pres-ence could spell disaster for the rul-ing outfit experts say.

However, TMC leader SougatoRoy once again iterated that “AIMIMwill not be able to do much harm tothe TMC as its presence will be con-fined to a limited Urudu-speakingsection.” But when reminded that hewas holding meeting with theFurufura Sharif Roy said “the Muslimsof Bengal know what MamataBanerjee has done for them … theywill remain with her instead of join-ing Owaisi who has come to add tothe divisive politics that is beingplayed by the BJP… I call upon all theMuslims to unite reject his party andunite behind TMC and MamataBanerjee.”

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BCCI president SouravGanguly who on Saturdayunderwent angioplasty aftersuffering a mild heart attackduring a workout session at hisBehala residence was doingfine on Sunday and would notrequire any by-pass surgery,doctors visiting him said.

Three arteries of Gangulysuffering from myocardialinfarction was more than 90percent blocked. While angio-plasty was done in one arterya decision would be taken onthe two others on Monday,doctors said.

Ganguly’s elder brotherand former cricketer Snehashissaid that renowned cardiologistDr Devi Sethi had been con-tacted and he might come toKolkata on Monday followingwhich a decision would betaken.

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Ajoint team of security forcesin Poonch on Sunday recov-ered a third consignment ofarms, ammunition and grenadesafter busting a terror modulewith the arrest of three overground workers from Dabbi areaof Mendhar in Poonch.

The recovery includes onepistol, three pistol magazines,thirty five bullets and five handgrenades, police said. This terrormodule is a part of the “Jammuand Kashmir Gazanvi Force”which is being operated fromPOJK

According to police, “theJammu and Kashmir GazanviForce apart from terror activitiesis now also attempting to targetreligious places with an aim totrigger communal tension in theJammu region”. The total recov-ery made so far include 13grenades, 03 pistols, 05 pistol maga-zines, 105 pistol bullets, 04 Pakistanmade balloons, 01 flag of Tehreek ulMajahideen Jammu and Kashmir and18 posters of J&K Gazanavi Force.

According to a spokesman of theJammu and Kashmir police, “theJammu and Kashmir police in Poonchdistrict along-with Army have made a

third consecutive recovery of arms,ammunition and grenades after therecent busting of a terror module andarrest of three terrorist associates inMendhar area”.

Earlier, on December 28 last year,three terrorist associates were arrestedin Balakote area near LoC where sixhand grenades were recovered from

their possession.The trio were identified as

Mustafa Khan son of Yasir Khanresident of Galuta, MohammadYaseen son of Walayat Khan andRayees Ahmed son ofMohammad Iqbal, both residentsof Dabbi Balakote.

During sustained interroga-tion of the trio, some more vitalclues were developed after whichthe Police team and Armylaunched an operation in Dabbivillage located ahead of LoCfence in Balakote from whereanother consignment of arms,ammunition and grenades wererecovered.

In the first recovery of sixhand grenades that was madefrom the arrested three persons,it was revealed that grenadeswere to be lobbed on religiousplaces in Ari and Mendhar townarea of Poonch district.

The second recovery wasmade from Dabi village wherein twopistols, seventy bullets and two grenadeswere recovered.

“ The handlers from across used todrop the consignment in hidden patch-es near the LoC and these arrested ter-rorist associates then used to pick it upfor further carriage in hinterland”,police spokesman added.

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The Union Territory ofJammu & Kashmir waspainted 'White' after a freshspell of snowfall on Sunday.

In Kashmir valley, thetourist hotspots of Gulmargand Pahalgam along withSrinagar and other districtheadquarters including NorthKashmir district of Kupwarawitnessed moderate to heavysnowfall resulting in groundingof almost all the flights.

The traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highwayalso remained suspended fol-lowing heavy accumulation ofsnow near Jawahar Tunnelarea. Deputy Commissioner,Ramban in a tweet said, “ dueto heavy snowfall and shootingstones at several locations traf-fic remains suspended. Publicis advised to avoid travel on the

highway”.In Srinagar, barring one, all

incoming and outgoing flightswere cancelled due to poor vis-ibility and accumulation ofsnow on the runway followinglight to moderate snowfallsince early this morning,” asenior airport official said.

In Jammu region, the caveshrine of Mata Vaishno Devi,tourist resorts of Patnitop andhilly districts of Doda, Kishtwarand Ramban also witnessedsnowfall.

The Met department hadalready forecasted widespreadsnowfall in many areas of thevalley on Sunday and Mondaywith heavy snowfall at isolatedplaces.

A Met departmentspokesperson said a freshWestern Disturbance (WD),which originated from theArabian Sea and approached

the region through Afghanistanand Pakistan, has hit the regionon Saturday night.He saidunder the influence of theWD, light to moderate rain andsnow is expected at most placesin Kashmir and Zojila area ofLadakh for three days fromSunday. “Weather is expectedto improve from Thursdayonwards,” he added.

Meanwhile, Medium level(Yellow alert) avalanche warn-ing for upper reaches ofPoonch & Kishtwar districtsand Low level (yellow alert)avalanche warning for upperreaches of Rajouri, Ramban,Doda, Anantnag, Kulgam,Baramulla, Kupwara,Bandipora & Kargil districtswas issued by the DisasterManagement Department.

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Having failed repeatedly in itsattempt to regain the powerwhich it lost to the DMK in 1967,the Tamil Nadu CongressCommittee has devised a strategyto address the discontentmentamong the leaders and cadre of theparty in the State. Saturday saw theAll India Congress Committeeappointing 344 office bearers tothe TNCC to navigate the GrandOld Party in the upcoming elec-tion to the Legislative Assembly.

Since the leader of the alliance,the DMK, had made it known thatit would contest at least 200assembly seats out of the 234 atstake, it is not known how muchthe Congress would be allocatedduring the seat sharing exercise.

“The defeats suffered by theCongress in the Bihar assemblyelection has weakened the party’sbargaining power. The chances ofthe Congress getting even the 40seats it was allocated during the2016 election look bleak,” saidKolahala Srenivasan, author and

political commentator.There are strong parties like

the CPI(M), CPI, VCK, MuslimLeague and fringe groups in theDMK-led front which would notsettle for anything less than twodigit figures.

“The Congress HighCommand saw the writing on thewall and appointed each andeverybody in the party some-thing or other. So all are con-tended,” said Sam Rajappa, veter-an scribe and commentator.

According to the list releasedby the AICC General secretary KC Venugopal, the TNCC wouldhave 32 vice-presidents to assistthe president, 57 general secre-taries, 104 secretaries, 56 electioncommittee members, five ex-offi-cio members and 32 district com-mittee presidents. In addition tothis, all former TNCC presidentswho are alive have been honoredwith designations. This include KS Alagiri, EVKS Elangovan, K VThangabalu, SThirunavakkarassar, MKrishnaswamy, R Prabhu, EMS

Natchiappan and RubyManoharan.

Kumari Ananthan (88) is thefather of Telangana Governor DrTamilisai Sounderarajan andbrother of late H Vasanthkumar,the Kanyakumari MP who suc-cumbed to Covid-19 recently.

Karti Chidambaram MP andson of Congress strongman PChidambaram, having failed tomake it to the list gave vent to hisfeelings through the social mediaquestioning the viability of such ajumbo list.

“This jumbo committeeserves no purpose. None willhave any authority , which meansno accountability,” Karti posted inhis social media page.

But Rajappa observed thatthe Congress High Commandcould have included some morenames in the list so that therewould not be any kind of discon-tentment in the party. “They maynot be able to enjoy the fruits ofpower as the DMK would neverallow them anywhere near the cor-ridors of power,” he said.

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The DMK had the last laughwhen reigning superstarRajinikanth declared last Mondaythat he would not launch his polit-ical outfit as he had told his fans ear-lier in December 2020. OnDecember 3, 2020, the actor accom-panied by his close friendTamilaruvi Manian and newlyappointed coordinatorArjunamurthy announced from theforefront of his Poes Garden resi-dence that ‘it will be now or never’.Everything associated with TamilNadu will change and we will see anew Tamil Nadu,” the actor had saidon that Monday noon.

But within four weeks he madea volte-face and said that doctorshad advised him not to go aheadwith the formation of politicalparty. Rajinikanth was acting in“Annaatthe”, his latest venture, theshooting of which was progressingat Hyderabad when his blood pres-sure started showing big fluctuationand was admitted to a corporatehospital. He was discharged afterthree days and the doctors advisedhim complete bed rest.

The climax of Mission-R start-ed unfurling the momentRajinikanth returned to Chennai

amidst expectations by his fansthat the important announcementwould come at any time now. OnSunday December 27, 2020, theRajini Fans Association issued arelease asking his fans and follow-ers not to be carried away by reportsthat the actor may dump his polit-ical plans. By Monday noon, theannouncement was out about theactor making a final bow before hispolitical fans.

The movie Annaatthe is beingproduced by Kalanidhi Maran, thegrand nephew of former DMKpresident and chief minister late MKarunanidhi. Arjunamurthy, whojoined Rajini’s political bandwagonwas a close associate of late‘Murasoli’ Maran, nephew of lateKarunanidhi and father of Maranbrothers, Dayanidhi and Kalanidhi.Arjunamurthy, who was a hithertoentity in Tamil Nadu shot intofame when he joined the BJP’sintellectual cell and later cast his lotwith Rajini. This is the sameArjunamurthy, who had beendemanding that “Murasoli” Maranshould be honoured with NobelPrize for Peace.

Dayanidhi, the younger of theMaran brothers, who is also a for-mer union minister, had deniedreports linking Murthy to his late

father. “There is a false news pub-lished in media that Arjunamurthywas an associate or advisor to mylate father Murasoli Maran. This iscompletely untrue. No such personhad been an advisor to my father.”But Dayanidhi’s denial had to betaken with a pinch of salt as he hadissued a legal notice to New IndianExpress and S Gurumurthy for dis-closing reports about the function-ing of an illegal telephone exchangefrom the former’s private residencein Chennai while he was the unionminister for communications. Ithas been more than ten years anda Chennai court is hearing the ille-gal telephone exchange case.

And third, Soundarya,Rajinikant’s second daughter ismarried into the family of a DMKleader late SS Ponmudi. Soundary’ssecond husband Visagan, a busi-nessman is the son of SSVanangamudi, younger brother ofPonmudi, who was close to M KStalin, the DMK chief. One of thereasons cited for Rajinikanth exit-ing the political arena before mak-ing the entry is said to be familypressure.

Tamilaruvi Manian, describedas Rajinikant’s Man Friday, refusedto be drawn into any discussion onthe topic.

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The Covid-19 daily death tally inMumbai plummeted to threeon Sunday, even as the deaths inMaharashtra dropped to 35 and thestate logged 3,282 infections.

A day after the country’s com-mercial capital recorded sevendeaths, the number of deaths slidfurther to three, while the metrop-olis logged 581 new infections asagainst 593 infected cases registeredon Saturday.

With 3 fresh infections, theCovid-19 toll in Mumbai rose from11,132 to 11,135, while the totalinfections climbed from 2,94,660 to2,95,241.

Similarly, with 35 fresh deathsin the states, the total number ofdeaths in the state went up from49,631 to 49,666. With 3,282 freshinfections, the total number ofinfected cases climbed from19,38,854 to 19,42,136.

As 2064 patients were dis-charged from the hospitals acrossthe state after full recovery, the totalnumber of people discharged from

the hospitals since the second weekof March this year went up to18,36,999. The recovery rate in thestate dropped marginally from94.64 per cent to 94.59 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of“active cases” total cases in the staterose from 53,137 to 564,317. Thefatality rate in the state stood at 2.56per cent.

Pune district, which continuedto be the worst-affected city-districtin Maharashtra, saw the total num-ber of cases increase from 3,73,727to 3,74,272, while the total numberof deaths in Pune went up from7767 to 7,770.

Thane district remained in thethird spot --after Pune and Mumbai– after the total number of infec-tions rose from 2,55,248 to2,55,678, while the total deathsclimbed from 5590 to 5593.

Of the 1,29,58,502 samplessent to laboratories, 19,42,136 havetested positive (14.99per cent) forCOVID-19 until Sunday. Currently,2,47,972 people are in home quar-antine while 2,969 people are ininstitutional quarantine.

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Amaravati: The number ofactive Covid-19 cases inAndhra Pradesh fell to the3,000 level even as the stateadded 232 fresh cases and saw352 recoveries and four deathsin 24 hours ending 9 am onSunday.

The State COVID-19 chartnow has 8,83,082 confirmedpositives, 8,72,897 recoveriesand 7,115 deaths so far, ahealth department bulletinsaid.

The active caseload was3,070, it said.

Six districts reported lessthan 10 fresh coronavirus caseseach in a day and three morebelow 20.

The current hotspot dis-tricts of Chittoor and Krishnareported 56 and 40 new infec-tions, followed by WestGodavari 31 and Guntur 27.

Chittoor, Guntur, WestGodavari districts also report-ed one more COVID-19 fatal-ity each, along withVisakhapatnam.

Prakasam, Srikakulam,Kurnool districts have less than100 active cases each whileVizianagaram has the lowest(36).

Three more districts havean active caseload of below 200each.

Only Krishna district has510 active cases, the highest inthe state, followed by Guntur475. PTI

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The stakeholders of schooleducation are anxiouslywaiting to see what theUnion Budget of 2021has in store for the stratum. Sincewe have got a new NationalEducation Policy in July 2020(NEP 2020), it is expected thatfunds will be allocated for theestablishment of a statutory bodyby the name of School EducationCommission (SEC) for streamlin-ing the schooling sector, and thatthere will be rational disburse-ment of the budget pie. The NEPmay not be able to bring aboutany positive difference in theabsence of a professional body forrunning schools across the nation.It is expected that Union FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman willconsult educationists from thehigher and school education fieldsseparately and then reach a deci-sion rationally.

There are nearly 33 crore chil-dren in schools and approxi-mately 8 crore students engagedin higher education in India.The school education consists of12 years of education whereashigher education consists of threeyears of undergraduate and twoyears of master’s programme.Besides, a few select students optfor the research degree pro-gramme. Higher education, thus,consists of at least three to fiveyears of studies. Once the recom-mendations of the NEP 2020 areimplemented, the total period ofschooling — after the three yearsof pre-school are added — willconsist of 15 years and the dura-tion of higher education willshrink to just four years.

Similarly, there are nearly 1crore teachers engaged in schoolsand, after the three years of pre-schooling are added, nearly 18lakh new teachers will be addedto the total number of existingteachers. The number of teachersin higher education, however, ismuch less. To decide the normsand standards of higher educa-tion in the country, we have aUniversity Grants Commission(UGC) but we rarely realise thatthere is no such organisationwhich decides the norms andstandards for education inschools. To put it simply, schooleducation is for the masseswhereas higher education islargely for the elite.The Schooling Network

We have been examining thevarious education boards forassessing and certifying learnersfor the secondary and senior sec-ondary levels. The Central

Government has two boards —the Central Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) for generalstudents and the NationalInstitute of Open Schooling(NIOS) for non-formal learn-ers. Most States in India havetheir own examination boardfor assessing and certifyinglearners in their State. Themandate of the boards is toconduct examinations and cer-tify the students taking thetests. These boards are notacademic bodies which havethe domain knowledge todesign and develop curriculumor textbooks. The CBSE alsoassesses learners for admis-sion to technical institutes.Some State examination boardsas well as private institutesconduct entrance tests foradmission to technical col-leges of their respective States.

It is apparent that theseboards are established to con-duct examinations but they arenot organisations with the aca-demic domain knowledgewhich can help them decideabout the academic contentand the norms of these exami-nations. To decide on the con-tent and pedagogy, we have theNational Council forEducational Research andTraining (NCERT) which is an“autonomous” but subordinatebody of the Ministry ofEducation (MOE). The NCERTworks under the direct supervi-sion of the Education Ministry.Since it may not be prudent tocomment on the functioning

of the NCERT, suffice it to saythat we have not been able toproduce children who feelproud of our country and wishto serve this great nation.

According to a recentreport, most board topping stu-dents are settled abroad. Thefirst desire and dream of everyschool pass out, it seems, is tomigrate to a developed country.The design of curriculum andthe curriculum framework, oneof the major responsibilities of the NCERT, is definitelyunder question. Similarly, theresearch on schooling, anothermajor responsibility of theNCERT, is questionable.

None of these organisa-tions is a “statutory” body, sothe norms designed by theseare not mandatory for enforce-ment by the rule of law. Weneed a statutory body (createdby an Act of Parliament) todecide on the regulations relat-ed to schools.The Government SchoolNetwork

It may not be incorrect tosay that overall, the Governmentschools have not performedwell, with the exception of theKendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) andthe Jawahar NavodayaVidyalayas (JNVs). From timeto time, a few Governmentschools in some States showpromise but, with the passage oftime, they again plunge intomediocrity as the administratoris transferred out. The firstchoice of most parents invari-ably is a private school for the

education of their children. The Governments make theirown norms and implementthem through their own schoolsbut they ha