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Democratic presidential
candidate Joe Biden on
Friday took crucial leads over
Donald Trump in the key bat-
tleground States of Georgia
and Pennsylvania, bringing
him on the cusp of a historic
victory over the incumbent
Republican US President in the
closely-fought election.
The focus on Pennsylvania,
where Biden led Trump by
more than 9,000 votes, and
Georgia, where Biden led by
more than 1,500, came as
Americans entered a third full
day after the election without
knowing who will lead them
for the next four years. The
prolonged process added to the
anxiety of a nation whose racial
and cultural divides were
inflamed during the heated
campaign. The 77-year-old for-
mer Vice President was trailing
Trump by more than 50,000
votes in Georgia till
Wednesday.
Thousands of requested
overseas and military ballots
may arrive by the deadline
Friday, and there are provi-
sional ballots left to count.
Georgia secretary of state Brad
Raffensperger said on Friday
that there will be a recount
given the tight margin.
Biden continued to main-
tain his small lead in the other
two battleground States of
Arizona and Nevada. To be
declared the winner of the US
election, either of the two can-
didates needs at least 270 of the
538 electoral college votes.
As per the latest projec-
tions, Biden has 253 electoral
college votes and Trump trails
behind with 213. But some US
media outlets have given 264
votes to Biden and 214 to
Trump.
Biden was at his home in
Wilmington, Delaware, as the
vote count continued and aides
said he would address the
nation in primetime. Trump
remained in the White House
residence as more results trick-
led in, expanding Biden’s lead
in must-win Pennsylvania. In
the West Wing, televisions
remained tuned to the news
amid trappings of normalcy, as
reporters lined up for coron-
avirus tests and outdoor crews
worked on the North Lawn on
a mild, muggy fall day.
Trump's campaign, mean-
while, was quiet — a dramatic
difference from the day before,
when it held a morning con-
ference call projecting confi-
dence and held a flurry of hasti-
ly arranged press conferences
announcing litigation in key
States.
However, Trump showed
no sign of giving up and was
was back on Twitter around
2:30 a.m. Friday, insisting the
“U.S. Supreme Court should
decide!”
In the US election, voters
decide State-level contests
rather than a single, national
one. Each US State gets a cer-
tain number of Electoral
College votes partly based on
the size of the population, with
a total of 538 up for grabs.
President Trump at a
White House news conference
accused the Democrats of mas-
sive ballot fraud and alleged
that the election was being
stolen. He did not offer any evi-
dence to back his claim.
His campaign has filed
multiple lawsuits in the States
of Pennsylvania, Michigan,
Georgia, and Nevada and has
demanded a recount of votes in
Wisconsin.
The Biden campaign has
denied the allegations.
Several American news
channels on Thursday evening
cut off the live telecast of
Trump’s White House news
conference as they believed
that his allegations of voter
fraud were without any evi-
dence. “In America, the vote is
sacred. It’s how the people of
this nation express their will.
And it is the will of the voters,
no one and not anything else
that chooses the President of
the United States. So, each bal-
lot must be counted and that’s
what is going on now. And
that’s how it should be,” Biden
said in his address to the media
in Delaware on Thursday.
“Democracy is sometimes
messy, so sometimes it requires
a little patience. But that
patience has been rewarded
now for more than 240 years
with a system of governance
that has been the envy of the
world. We continue to feel
very good about where things
stand,” he said.
Meanwhile, a senior aide of
Donald Trump on Friday said
the incumbent President does
not have plans to immediately
concede the election to Biden.
Reacting to the leads estab-
lished by Biden, the aide told
Fox News that the President’s
counsellors have been giving
him advice in both directions,
with some telling Trump that
a concession is the correct
thing to do, and others push-
ing him to continue to fight to
ensure the vote was correct and
legitimate.
The aide, who was not
identified, told Trump’s
favourite news channel that the
President is “simply skeptical.”
The aide said, though, that
the President “may ultimately
concede.” “He’s just not there
yet,” the aide added.
Reacting to the Trump
aide’s remarks that President
Trump has no plans to concede
the race, Biden spokesperson
said, “As we said on July 19th,
the American people will
decide this election.”
“The United States gov-
ernment is perfectly capable of
escorting trespassers out of
the White House,” campaign
spokesperson Andrew Bates
said in a statement.
Biden currently has a lead
of 4.1 million votes in the
count nationwide, reflecting a
1.3 per cent swing toward his
party from 2016 in the votes
counted so far.
But more than 6 million
ballots may remain to be count-
ed, many of them in California
and New York, which is likely
to increase Biden’s margin, The
Washington Post reported.
The shift toward the
Democrat in the presidential
race was small but consistent
across the country. Only eight
states and the District of
Columbia voted less
Democratic than they did four
years ago, based on current
counts.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
Bihar is going to polls for 3rd
and final phase on Saturday
for 78 seats spread over 16 dis-
tricts, many of them considered
the stronghold of the RJD-led
grand alliance.
The NDA will have to do
better than expected to make
up for the losses it is feared to
have suffered in the first round.
About 2.34 crore voters,
spread across 78 Assembly seg-
ments of the 243-strong
Assembly, will decide the fates
of 1,204 candidates, including
the Speaker and 12 members of
the State Cabinet.
Out of these 78 seats, in the
2015 Assembly elections, the
Janata Dal(U) won 24 seats, the
RJD 20, the Congress 10, and
the BJP 19 seats.
The 16 districts which are
going to the polls fall under
Seemanchal, Mithilanchal and
Koshi regions. All of them
have a heavy presence of Yadav
and Muslim voters, who form
the base of the grand alliance.
Mithilanchal has a good num-
ber of Brahmin voters. For the
first time in 15 years, the
Brahmin votes are understood
to have not gone lock, stock,
and barrel with the NDA.
The 78 seats also have a
good number of extremely
backward caste voters who
form the biggest chunk of sup-
port for the JD(U). Nitish
Kumar has cultivated this sec-
tion of voters assiduously over
the years.
The BJP has gone all out to
polarise the voters in this phase
in a repeat of the 2015 attempt
when the party gave full-page
advertisement exhibiting the
plight of the “cow
mata.”
Leading from the front,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
during his campaign speech
said on Tuesday at Forbisganj
and Saharsa that “these people
don’t like to hear Jai Shri Ram.
The opponents of Bharat Mata
have got united and are seek-
ing votes”.
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There has not been any
breakthrough in the eighth
round of talks between India
and China though both coun-
tries on Friday reaffirmed their
resolve to sustain the momen-
tum of dialogue to end the ten-
sion at the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) leading to
speedy disengagement and de-
escalation.
This commitment to per-
sist with the engagement came
during the eighth round of
Corps Commander-level talks
between the two sides at
Chushul in Ladakh. The talks
began at 9.30 am.
“As expected, there was no
immediate breakthrough dur-
ing the parleys to break the
continuing logjam in Ladakh,”
said an official.
The Indian delegation was
led by Lt General PGK Menon
while Major General Liu Lin
represented the Chinese team.
Menon was heading the talks
for the first time after taking
over as the Leh-based 14 Corps
chief in mid-October from Lt
General Harinder Singh. He led
the previous seven rounds of
talks since the face-offs began
in early May. Singh is now the
Commandant of the Indian
Military Academy (IMA),
Dehradun.
During the current round
of talks, India reiterated its
stand that disengagement has
to take place across the entire
eastern Ladakh. It also main-
tained that there should be no
effort to unilaterally change the
LAC, sources
said.
After the developments on
the South Bank of Pangong Tso
in August when the Indian
Army occupied several domi-
nating features which were
lying vacant, China has been
pressing for discussing South
Bank first and other friction
areas later.
As successive rounds of
parleys at the military and
diplomatic level have failed so
far, India is prepared for a long
haul. The Army has shored up
its supplies including winter
clothing and insulated huts to
enable the soldiers to withstand
the harsh cold when the tem-
peratures dip below minus 20
degrees. China has also ramped
up its military strength for the
winter months.
Incidentally, the two sides
in a joint statement after the
sixth round of talks on
September 21 agreed to “stop
sending more troops to the
frontline” and “refrain from
unilaterally changing the situ-
ation on the ground.” The sev-
enth round took place on
October 13. Then, the two
sides agreed to sustain the
momentum of dialogue and
maintain peace and tranquili-
ty at the LAC.
Last week, External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar said the
ties between India and China
have come under “severe stress”
and that the agreements inked
by both sides on management
of the border must be respect-
ed “scrupulously” in their
“entirety” to restore normalcy
in relations.
?C8 Q =4F34;78
The Supreme Court on
Friday asked the Centre to
ensure there is no smog in
Delhi as it was informed that
the commission on air quality
management has started func-
tioning from today.
The pollution problem has
to be dealt with by the execu-
tive as it has the power, money
and resources for this, a bench
headed by Chief Justice SA
Bobde observed and posted the
pleas related to air pollution in
Delhi-National Capital Region
(NCR) for hearing on
December 8.
The Centre on Thursday
appointed former Chief
Secretary of Delhi MM Kutty
as the chairperson of the
Commission for Air Quality
Management (AQM) in
National Capital Region and
Adjoining Areas.
Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta informed the bench,
also comprising Justices AS
Bopanna and V
Ramasubramanian, that the
Commission will start func-
tioning from Friday and the
government has appointed its
members.
“The only thing is that
you ensure that there is no
smog in the city. We are not
concerned with commission.
There are many commissions
and many brains are working
but just ensure that there is no
smog in the city,” the bench
said.
“We are a court of law. This
is a problem which has to be
dealt with by the executive.
They have the money, the
power and the resources for
this. We are not abdicating our
responsibility or functions but
understand this, we have some
limitations,” the bench
observed after one of the coun-
sel referred to the situation of
pollution in Delhi.
Mehta told the bench that
the Government is taking all
efforts on war footing to deal
with the situation.
Senior advocate Vikas
Singh, appearing for petition-
er Aditya Dubey who has
raised the issue of pollution
caused due to stubble burning
in neighbouring states of Delhi,
said the chairman of the com-
mission is a bureaucrat and it
could have been a retired judge
of the HC.
“There is no member from
the Union health ministry,”
Singh said, adding that pollu-
tion is linked to health
issues.
The bench said the com-
mission can talk to anybody in
the country. Singh contended
that there is no classification of
offence in the recent ordi-
nance on air pollution and Rs
1 crore fine and five year jail
term is a little bit arbitrary.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
While parts of north India
battles alarmingly high
levels of air pollution, a new
analysis of more than 3,000
counties in the US has sug-
gested that people with long-
term exposure to PM 2.5 may
be more likely to die from
Covid-19. The study underlines
the fact that higher air pollution
may increase episodes of
coughing and sneezing spread-
ing Covid-19 faster.
A team of the US
researchers, including Xiao Wu
from Harvard University, after
assessing the impact of long-
term exposure to air pollution
on Covid-19 death rates in
3,089 counties in the US, found
that chronic exposure to PM2.5
pollutants — tiny particles in
the air that are two-and-a-half
microns or less in width — is
linked to greater county-level
Covid-19 mortality rates.
The Harvard researchers
noted that chronic exposure to
PM 2.5 might cause overpro-
duction of ACE-2 receptor
proteins in the lungs, which the
novel coronavirus uses to enter
host cells. They believe pro-
longed exposure to air pollu-
tion might also impair people’s
immune system, compromis-
ing their abilities to fight off the
novel coronavirus
infection.
“Chronic exposure to
PM2.5 causes alveolar ACE-2
receptor over expression and
impairs host defences. This
could cause a more severe
form of Covid-19 in ACE-2-
depleted lungs, increasing the
likelihood of poor outcomes,
including death,” the Harvard
scientists wrote in the study.
But they acknowledged
that this is only a hypotheisis.
The researchers said they were
unable to account for individ-
ual-level risk factors such as
age, race, and smoking status as
such data was unavailable.
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In an effort to play a key role
in fighting coronavirus pan-
demic, India on Friday assured
the world it will use its vaccine
production capacity and is pre-
pared to help countries
enhance their cold chain and
storage capacities for delivery
of vaccines.
Foreign Secretary Harsh
Shringla made this commit-
ment while briefing the diplo-
matic corps and representatives
of international organisations
on India’s Covid-19 response
and vaccine development pro-
gramme, including interna-
tional cooperation in this
field.
“Several countries have
been approaching us for receiv-
ing vaccine supply. I reiterate
our Prime Minister’s commit-
ment that India’s vaccine pro-
duction and delivery capacity
will be used to help all human-
ity in fighting this crisis,” said
Shringla.
He also said India will also
help interested countries in
enhancing their cold chain
and storage capacities for the
delivery of vaccines.
As a first step, Shringla
said, the Government will take
a delegation of ambassadors on
a tour of vaccine and diagnos-
tic facilities in Pune to give
them a “flavour of India’s robust
and resilient progress in vac-
cine development and in the
trial process”.
On the ongoing endeavour
to develop the vaccine, he said
India is “on track” in the devel-
opment and trial of vaccines.
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New Delhi: The national
Capital’s air quality remained
“severe” for the second con-
secutive day on Friday, while
Government agencies said it is
likely to improve slightly on
Saturday.
Experts said while meteo-
rological conditions were
“moderately” favourable for
dispersion of pollutants, a
“very high” number of farm
fires in Punjab was the pri-
mary reason for the “severe”
air quality on Friday.
According to the India
Meteorological Department,
the maximum wind speed was
10 kilometres per hour on
Friday and the minimum tem-
perature 11.2 degrees Celsius.
Calm winds and low temper-
atures trap pollutants close to
the ground, while favourable
wind speed helps in their dis-
persion.
The Ministry of Earth
Sciences’ air quality monitor,
SAFAR, said the share of stub-
ble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5
pollution was estimated at 21
per cent on Friday. It was 42
per cent on Thursday, the
maximum this season so
far.
The city’s 24-hour average
air quality index (AQI) stood
at 406. On Thursday, the AQI
was 450, the highest since
November 15 last year, when
it was 458.
The neighbouring cities of
Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida,
Greater Noida and Gurugram
also recorded “very poor” to
“severe” air quality.
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Delhi Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia on Friday
slammed the Delhi University
colleges funded by the Delhi
Government as a special audit
has revealed serious financial
irregularities and violations of
UGC norms.
According to Delhi
Government officials , salaries
of the teachers and staff has not
been released, despite these
colleges showing a surplus of
crores of Sisodia who also hold
Education portfolio said that all
legal proceedings are being
considered on the basis of the
audit report. “After receiving
complaints of mismanagement
of funds, we sanctioned a spe-
cial audit to examine the fund
expenditure of five colleges
funded by the Delhi govern-
ment. Despite their resistance
to the audit, it is clear that these
colleges have been grossly mis-
managing funds, as shown by
the report of the
audit,”
He further said the special
audit, when initiated, was
obstructed by the colleges by
matters of resisting to show
their accounts books to the
audit officers. The books were
only shown when the High
Court intervened, and direct-
ed the colleges.
“Two major issues have
emerged in the Special Audit;
unauthorised payments by the
college, and surplus funds
being stashed by the colleges,”
said Sisodia while explaining
the extent of mismanagement.
The colleges that were
audited on the order of the
court are Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya College, Keshav
Mahavidyalaya, Shaheed
Sukhdev College, Bhagini
Nivedita College, and
Maharishi Valmiki college. Two
colleges, Aditi Mahavidyalaya
and Lakshmibai College,
refused to allow the audit to be
carried despite the
order.
While reading out the audit
report, Sisodia shared the fol-
lowing irregularities. “Despite
increasing the funds of these
colleges, they kept showing a
deficit. After corroboration
with the audit report, it’s clear
these colleges have been in vio-
lation of UGC norms, and
have been misappropriating
the funds.”
Multiple irregularities have
been brought out by the Special
Audit. This includes payment
of teaching, and non-teaching
staff against the posts that did
not have sanction of the
Directorate of Higher
Education, hiring of security
guards/housekeeping staff in
violation of GFR, purchase of
computers and other hardware
without following financial
normal, and hiring of cars
without following financial
norms. Moreover, the record of
the attendance of such people
was not shown.
The money spent by col-
leges was unauthorized, with-
out seeking any approval from
the Delhi Government as the
colleges continued to make
illegal payments.
Total unauthorised pay-
ments made out by these col-
leges from 2017 to 2020 -
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
College (49.88 crores), Keshav
Mahavidyalaya (29.84 crores),
Shaheed Sukhdev College
(16.52 crores), Bhagini Nivedita
College (17.23 crores), and
Maharishi Valmiki college
(10.64 crores).
Sisodia also questioned the
colleges on violating the pay
scale approved by the Ministry
of Human Resource
Department, UGC, or Delhi
Government. According to
this, Grantee Institute should
not pay its employees higher
than those applicable to simi-
lar categories of employees in
the government. “Paying
salaries of Rs 40,000 to securi-
ty guards is a clear violation of
this as standard pay is between
15k-20k,” said Sisodia. These
inflated salaries imply this was
done to hide their own misap-
propriation.
Similarly, despite receiving
the funds from the Delhi gov-
ernment, the colleges contin-
ued to stash their surplus funds,
Sisodia said at the conference.
“The ‘Pattern of Assistance” by
which the Delhi Govt makes
payment to all the Higher
Education Institutions funded
by it - including Ambedkar
University, DTU, IP University,
and 12 Delhi University col-
leges - is based on the princi-
ple of deficit funding.” The
govt, pays these higher educa-
tion institutions the net deficit
between their total expendi-
ture, and their total
income.
“Any source of earning,
and the total income received
by the college from fees has to
be declared to Delhi
Government. However, these
colleges violated this pattern of
assistance as large, undeclared
incomes in their accounts have
been found by the auditors,
which were never declared to
the Delhi Government,” said
Sisodia. “This constitutes
‘fraud’ as these colleges kept
taking funding from the gov-
ernment on false premises,” he
added.
“Despite having these sur-
plus funds, the colleges have
failed to pay the salaries of the
teachers, and staff, and contin-
ued to falsely blame the Delhi
government,” Sisodia said.
As per the Delhi govern-
ment’s audit, these colleges
have these surplus funds avail-
able to them as on 31 March
2020 - Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
College has 22.44 crores,
Keshav Mahavidyalaya has 9.38
crores, Shaheed Sukhdev
College has 31.58 crores,
Bhagini Nivedita College has
2.38 crores, and Maharishi
Valmiki college has 39 lakhs
but continue to demand the
Delhi Government to release
more funds.
As per the provision made
by the state government for
grant to colleges, the remaining
shortfall has to be paid after the
expenses from fees and income
from all other sources. After
exhausting that, remaining
funds can be stored in Fixed
Deposits.
Yet the colleges have stored
this surplus in Fixed
Deposit.
Another damning exami-
nation by the special audit
revealed that the colleges, in a
completely arbitrary manner,
created teaching/non-teaching
posts in the colleges.
Sisodia said, “In the
Grantee College as per
UGC/DU norms, only with
prior approval of Govt. of NCT
of Delhi, can any post be cre-
ated as these colleges are fund-
ed by the government.”
?=BQ 347A03D=
Many local consumers have
adopted different strate-
gies in the last few months to
shop locally while trying to
maintain physical distancing in
marketplaces as a precaution-
ary measure to contain Covid-
19 disease, especially in the
supermarkets where one has to
go regularly for the regular gro-
cery supplies. To keep up with
the shoppers and the pandem-
ic, one of the oldest supermar-
kets in Dehradun, Suvidha
Supermarket upgraded its ser-
vices across the city to provide
better service to the locals dur-
ing the Covid crisis.
According to Garvit Gupta
who is one of the operators of
this family business, they pro-
vide multiple ways to cus-
tomers to shop from their
stores with minimum interac-
tion during groceries shop-
ping. We offer in-store pickup
facilities and home delivery ser-
vices. We also have a website
and an app through which we
get online orders too. We pro-
vided such services during the
lockdown too as most of the
other supermarkets were not
fully active during the lock-
down and many are still not but
we put extra efforts during the
hard times, said Gupta.
Though the numbers of
walk-ins during the festive sea-
son are 20 per cent less than the
last year, Gupta informed that
there is over 10 per cent hike
in their daily online customers
which was previously only one
percent. Talking about Diwali
shopping in Suvidha stores,
Gupta stated that customer
walk-ins have definitely
increased ahead of Diwali as
well as the online orders but
since many prefer contactless
shopping and deliveries,
Suvidha offers home delivery at
minimum charges too. We
offer home deliveries for gro-
ceries shopping over Rs 700
with Rs 40 as delivery charges
but we do not charge for the
delivery fee for the groceries of
over Rs 1,000, he
informed.
Moreover, he also stated
that considering the approach-
ing Diwali, the customers are
mostly buying gifts of packed
dry fruits, dry fruit Thaals and
various other packed delicacies.
We have eight stores across the
city and can deliver the prod-
ucts as per the wish of the cus-
tomers. Since we are one of the
oldest supermarkets, locals find
us quite approachable and trust
our services which gives us an
added advantage over others
here, he added.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Levelling allegations of
harassment against the
director (HR) of Uttarakhand
Power Corporation Limited
(UPCL), AK Singh and his
wife in a letter to State
Commission for Protection
of Child Rights (SCPCR), an
ex-lineman Basant Kaushik
stated that he lost his job in the
corporation last year which is
severely affecting the future of
his five year old daughter and
his family.
According to the letter,
Singh and his wife had forced
Kaushik to carry out domes-
tic works regularly at their
home. Kaushik has claimed in
the letter that he has pieces of
evidence that show that
Singh's wife had called him
multiple times for domestic
chores until the last year. He
added that he resigned from
his job in July last year after
being forced to do so by Singh.
As per the letter, Kaushik's
wife filed a complaint in
Patelnagar police station last
year and he also wrote com-
plaints to Uttarakhand Human
Rights Commission and
Labour Commissioner’s office
but he added that most of his
complaints have been dis-
missed so far. Taking cogni-
sance of the complaint, the
chairperson of SCPCR, Usha
Negi has instructed Singh to
present his side before the
commission on November 23.
?=BQ AA:44
The first MS Dhoni
Cricket Academy
(MSDCA) in Uttarakhand
will open at Roorkee on
December 3. Currently,
the process of registra-
tion for the academy is
underway.
Addressing the media
here on Friday, the crick-
et academy’s manager and
former international crick-
eter, Mihir Diwakar said
that the academy’s attempt
is to facilitate good crick-
et coaching even in small
towns. MSDCA is an insti-
tute of Aarka Sports founded in
2014. Diwakar said that so far
about 35 academies have been
opened across the nation.
Children aged above six years
are coached in cricket in the
academy. If some child is tal-
ented but lacks financial sup-
port, scholarship will also be
facilitated in such cases, he
added.
Ankit Mendiratta of VG
Sports, operating the academy
in Roorkee, said that the
attempt will be to nurture tal-
ent like Rishabh Pant in
Roorkee itself. The MSDCA is
being set up about three kilo-
metres from Roorkee city along
Haridwar Road. While regis-
trations are currently under-
way, the coaching will start
with the inauguration on
December 3.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Surendra Singh Suthar, an
associate professor in Doon
University has been named in
the elite list of scientists pub-
lished by Stanford university of
USA. The list has the names of
top two percent of scientists of
the world. Suthar has 100
papers to his credit and with a
worldwide subject rank of 220
among scientists with C score
2.774. He is also ranked second
in India in the subject of
Environmental Science. He has
worked on solid waste man-
agement, biomass energy pro-
duction and eco-toxicology.
Expressing happiness on the
development the Vice
Chancellor (VC) of Doon
University A K Karnataka said
that the feat of Suthar is unbe-
lievable. The Registrar of the
University M S Mandarwal
said that his achievement
would motivate young scholars
of the university. The Dean
Student Welfare and head of
department of management, H
C Purohit also congratulated
Suthar for the unique feat. It is
worth mentioning here that
Stanford University conducted
an analysis using ELSEVIER
data set and created a database
of over one lakh top scientists
of the world on the basis of
standardized citation indicators
which include information on
citations, H-index, co-author-
ship, and a composite indica-
tor.
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- 1. <8;8C0=2H8B3424?C8=) 4G?D;F00D;CA0 BaX]PVPa) 0[^RP[X[XcP]cfW^ bdaaT]STaTSSdaX]VP]T]R^d]cTa X]?d[fPPSXbcaXRc^U9Pd :PbWXaTg_aTbbTSVaPcXcdSTc^ _^[XRTP]SbTRdaXchU^aRTbU^a VXeX]VWXP]^cWTaRWP]RTc^[XeT [XUTP]SP__TP[TSc^P[[d[caPbc^ bWd]cWT_PcW^UX[XcP]Rh bPhX]VXcXbP°STRT_cX^]± 20?BD;4 ?C80?Q F0B78=6C= Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday took crucial leads over Donald Trump in the key bat- tleground States of Georgia and Pennsylvania, bringing him on the cusp of a historic victory over the incumbent Republican US President in the closely-fought election. The focus on Pennsylvania, where Biden led Trump by more than 9,000 votes, and Georgia, where Biden led by more than 1,500, came as Americans entered a third full day after the election without knowing who will lead them for the next four years. The prolonged process added to the anxiety of a nation whose racial and cultural divides were inflamed during the heated campaign. The 77-year-old for- mer Vice President was trailing Trump by more than 50,000 votes in Georgia till Wednesday. Thousands of requested overseas and military ballots may arrive by the deadline Friday, and there are provi- sional ballots left to count. Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said on Friday that there will be a recount given the tight margin. Biden continued to main- tain his small lead in the other two battleground States of Arizona and Nevada. To be declared the winner of the US election, either of the two can- didates needs at least 270 of the 538 electoral college votes. As per the latest projec- tions, Biden has 253 electoral college votes and Trump trails behind with 213. But some US media outlets have given 264 votes to Biden and 214 to Trump. Biden was at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, as the vote count continued and aides said he would address the nation in primetime. Trump remained in the White House residence as more results trick- led in, expanding Biden’s lead in must-win Pennsylvania. In the West Wing, televisions remained tuned to the news amid trappings of normalcy, as reporters lined up for coron- avirus tests and outdoor crews worked on the North Lawn on a mild, muggy fall day. Trump's campaign, mean- while, was quiet — a dramatic difference from the day before, when it held a morning con- ference call projecting confi- dence and held a flurry of hasti- ly arranged press conferences announcing litigation in key States. However, Trump showed no sign of giving up and was was back on Twitter around 2:30 a.m. Friday, insisting the “U.S. Supreme Court should decide!” In the US election, voters decide State-level contests rather than a single, national one. Each US State gets a cer- tain number of Electoral College votes partly based on the size of the population, with a total of 538 up for grabs. President Trump at a White House news conference accused the Democrats of mas- sive ballot fraud and alleged that the election was being stolen. He did not offer any evi- dence to back his claim. His campaign has filed multiple lawsuits in the States of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and Nevada and has demanded a recount of votes in Wisconsin. The Biden campaign has denied the allegations. Several American news channels on Thursday evening cut off the live telecast of Trump’s White House news conference as they believed that his allegations of voter fraud were without any evi- dence. “In America, the vote is sacred. It’s how the people of this nation express their will. And it is the will of the voters, no one and not anything else that chooses the President of the United States. So, each bal- lot must be counted and that’s what is going on now. And that’s how it should be,” Biden said in his address to the media in Delaware on Thursday. “Democracy is sometimes messy, so sometimes it requires a little patience. But that patience has been rewarded now for more than 240 years with a system of governance that has been the envy of the world. We continue to feel very good about where things stand,” he said. Meanwhile, a senior aide of Donald Trump on Friday said the incumbent President does not have plans to immediately concede the election to Biden. Reacting to the leads estab- lished by Biden, the aide told Fox News that the President’s counsellors have been giving him advice in both directions, with some telling Trump that a concession is the correct thing to do, and others push- ing him to continue to fight to ensure the vote was correct and legitimate. The aide, who was not identified, told Trump’s favourite news channel that the President is “simply skeptical.” The aide said, though, that the President “may ultimately concede.” “He’s just not there yet,” the aide added. Reacting to the Trump aide’s remarks that President Trump has no plans to concede the race, Biden spokesperson said, “As we said on July 19th, the American people will decide this election.” “The United States gov- ernment is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House,” campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement. Biden currently has a lead of 4.1 million votes in the count nationwide, reflecting a 1.3 per cent swing toward his party from 2016 in the votes counted so far. But more than 6 million ballots may remain to be count- ed, many of them in California and New York, which is likely to increase Biden’s margin, The Washington Post reported. The shift toward the Democrat in the presidential race was small but consistent across the country. Only eight states and the District of Columbia voted less Democratic than they did four years ago, based on current counts. 3ZUV_eRVdZ_dfc^`f_eRS]V]VRU 'HPRFUDW FDQGLGDWH RQ FXVS RI 86 SUHVLGHQF ZLWK JDLQ LQ 3HQQVOYDQLD 3T^RaPcXR_aTbXST]cXP[RP]SXSPcTU^aTaEXRT?aTbXST]c9^T1XST]fPeTbPbWTVTcbX]c^WXb^c^aRPST^]CWdabSPh 0? ?=BQ =4F34;78 Bihar is going to polls for 3rd and final phase on Saturday for 78 seats spread over 16 dis- tricts, many of them considered the stronghold of the RJD-led grand alliance. The NDA will have to do better than expected to make up for the losses it is feared to have suffered in the first round. About 2.34 crore voters, spread across 78 Assembly seg- ments of the 243-strong Assembly, will decide the fates of 1,204 candidates, including the Speaker and 12 members of the State Cabinet. Out of these 78 seats, in the 2015 Assembly elections, the Janata Dal(U) won 24 seats, the RJD 20, the Congress 10, and the BJP 19 seats. The 16 districts which are going to the polls fall under Seemanchal, Mithilanchal and Koshi regions. All of them have a heavy presence of Yadav and Muslim voters, who form the base of the grand alliance. Mithilanchal has a good num- ber of Brahmin voters. For the first time in 15 years, the Brahmin votes are understood to have not gone lock, stock, and barrel with the NDA. The 78 seats also have a good number of extremely backward caste voters who form the biggest chunk of sup- port for the JD(U). Nitish Kumar has cultivated this sec- tion of voters assiduously over the years. The BJP has gone all out to polarise the voters in this phase in a repeat of the 2015 attempt when the party gave full-page advertisement exhibiting the plight of the “cow mata.” Leading from the front, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his campaign speech said on Tuesday at Forbisganj and Saharsa that “these people don’t like to hear Jai Shri Ram. The opponents of Bharat Mata have got united and are seek- ing votes”. %LKDU¶V ILQDO SKDVH SROOV LQ 0 EHOW )DWH RI FDQGLGDWHV WR EH VHDOHG WRGD ?=BQ =4F34;78 There has not been any breakthrough in the eighth round of talks between India and China though both coun- tries on Friday reaffirmed their resolve to sustain the momen- tum of dialogue to end the ten- sion at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) leading to speedy disengagement and de- escalation. This commitment to per- sist with the engagement came during the eighth round of Corps Commander-level talks between the two sides at Chushul in Ladakh. The talks began at 9.30 am. “As expected, there was no immediate breakthrough dur- ing the parleys to break the continuing logjam in Ladakh,” said an official. The Indian delegation was led by Lt General PGK Menon while Major General Liu Lin represented the Chinese team. Menon was heading the talks for the first time after taking over as the Leh-based 14 Corps chief in mid-October from Lt General Harinder Singh. He led the previous seven rounds of talks since the face-offs began in early May. Singh is now the Commandant of the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun. During the current round of talks, India reiterated its stand that disengagement has to take place across the entire eastern Ladakh. It also main- tained that there should be no effort to unilaterally change the LAC, sources said. After the developments on the South Bank of Pangong Tso in August when the Indian Army occupied several domi- nating features which were lying vacant, China has been pressing for discussing South Bank first and other friction areas later. As successive rounds of parleys at the military and diplomatic level have failed so far, India is prepared for a long haul. The Army has shored up its supplies including winter clothing and insulated huts to enable the soldiers to withstand the harsh cold when the tem- peratures dip below minus 20 degrees. China has also ramped up its military strength for the winter months. Incidentally, the two sides in a joint statement after the sixth round of talks on September 21 agreed to “stop sending more troops to the frontline” and “refrain from unilaterally changing the situ- ation on the ground.” The sev- enth round took place on October 13. Then, the two sides agreed to sustain the momentum of dialogue and maintain peace and tranquili- ty at the LAC. Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the ties between India and China have come under “severe stress” and that the agreements inked by both sides on management of the border must be respect- ed “scrupulously” in their “entirety” to restore normalcy in relations. ?C8 Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to ensure there is no smog in Delhi as it was informed that the commission on air quality management has started func- tioning from today. The pollution problem has to be dealt with by the execu- tive as it has the power, money and resources for this, a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde observed and posted the pleas related to air pollution in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) for hearing on December 8. The Centre on Thursday appointed former Chief Secretary of Delhi MM Kutty as the chairperson of the Commission for Air Quality Management (AQM) in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, that the Commission will start func- tioning from Friday and the government has appointed its members. “The only thing is that you ensure that there is no smog in the city. We are not concerned with commission. There are many commissions and many brains are working but just ensure that there is no smog in the city,” the bench said. “We are a court of law. This is a problem which has to be dealt with by the executive. They have the money, the power and the resources for this. We are not abdicating our responsibility or functions but understand this, we have some limitations,” the bench observed after one of the coun- sel referred to the situation of pollution in Delhi. Mehta told the bench that the Government is taking all efforts on war footing to deal with the situation. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for petition- er Aditya Dubey who has raised the issue of pollution caused due to stubble burning in neighbouring states of Delhi, said the chairman of the com- mission is a bureaucrat and it could have been a retired judge of the HC. “There is no member from the Union health ministry,” Singh said, adding that pollu- tion is linked to health issues. The bench said the com- mission can talk to anybody in the country. Singh contended that there is no classification of offence in the recent ordi- nance on air pollution and Rs 1 crore fine and five year jail term is a little bit arbitrary. (QVXUH QR VPRJ LQ 'HOKL 6 WR HQWUH ?=BQ =4F34;78 While parts of north India battles alarmingly high levels of air pollution, a new analysis of more than 3,000 counties in the US has sug- gested that people with long- term exposure to PM 2.5 may be more likely to die from Covid-19. The study underlines the fact that higher air pollution may increase episodes of coughing and sneezing spread- ing Covid-19 faster. A team of the US researchers, including Xiao Wu from Harvard University, after assessing the impact of long- term exposure to air pollution on Covid-19 death rates in 3,089 counties in the US, found that chronic exposure to PM2.5 pollutants — tiny particles in the air that are two-and-a-half microns or less in width — is linked to greater county-level Covid-19 mortality rates. The Harvard researchers noted that chronic exposure to PM 2.5 might cause overpro- duction of ACE-2 receptor proteins in the lungs, which the novel coronavirus uses to enter host cells. They believe pro- longed exposure to air pollu- tion might also impair people’s immune system, compromis- ing their abilities to fight off the novel coronavirus infection. “Chronic exposure to PM2.5 causes alveolar ACE-2 receptor over expression and impairs host defences. This could cause a more severe form of Covid-19 in ACE-2- depleted lungs, increasing the likelihood of poor outcomes, including death,” the Harvard scientists wrote in the study. But they acknowledged that this is only a hypotheisis. The researchers said they were unable to account for individ- ual-level risk factors such as age, race, and smoking status as such data was unavailable. BC0C4B CC0;20B4B340C7BA42E4A43 PWPaPbWcaP # ##(%$ $%!#! :Pa]PcPZP '# ''( #(!# 0]SWaP?aPSTbW ''% %%''( CPX[=PSd ( # !((''#% DccPa?aPSTbW #($! $$#%!# :TaP[P ##%( %# ''$# 3T[WX # %%$ %%( $$ FTbc1T]VP[ (#%% $#! SXbWP !('%' ##%!'$ # CT[P]VP]P !#!'# %%!!%%#% 1XWPa !!((! !( ! !( 0bbP !'$# (# ((#$$ APYPbcWP] !$( (%% '($# 2WWPccXbVPaW (%! !% % 7PahP]P '# '' % % 6dYPaPc $(' $ %!(#% 20B4B) '##'%!( 340C7B) !$#$$ A42E4A43) '' 02C8E4)$ $$ 4`gZU* :?:?5:2 CC0; ?=BQ =4F34;78 In an effort to play a key role in fighting coronavirus pan- demic, India on Friday assured the world it will use its vaccine production capacity and is pre- pared to help countries enhance their cold chain and storage capacities for delivery of vaccines. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla made this commit- ment while briefing the diplo- matic corps and representatives of international organisations on India’s Covid-19 response and vaccine development pro- gramme, including interna- tional cooperation in this field. “Several countries have been approaching us for receiv- ing vaccine supply. I reiterate our Prime Minister’s commit- ment that India’s vaccine pro- duction and delivery capacity will be used to help all human- ity in fighting this crisis,” said Shringla. He also said India will also help interested countries in enhancing their cold chain and storage capacities for the delivery of vaccines. As a first step, Shringla said, the Government will take a delegation of ambassadors on a tour of vaccine and diagnos- tic facilities in Pune to give them a “flavour of India’s robust and resilient progress in vac- cine development and in the trial process”. On the ongoing endeavour to develop the vaccine, he said India is “on track” in the devel- opment and trial of vaccines. ,QGLD DVVXUHV ZRUOG RI KHOS RQ YDFFLQH ,QGLD UHLWHUDWHV GLVHQJDJHPHQW KDV WR WDNH SODFH DFURVV HQWLUH HDVWHUQ /DGDNK =^QaTPZcWa^dVWX]'cWa^d]S^U ;02 cP[Zb_Pa[Thbc^R^]cX]dT New Delhi: The national Capital’s air quality remained “severe” for the second con- secutive day on Friday, while Government agencies said it is likely to improve slightly on Saturday. Experts said while meteo- rological conditions were “moderately” favourable for dispersion of pollutants, a “very high” number of farm fires in Punjab was the pri- mary reason for the “severe” air quality on Friday. According to the India Meteorological Department, the maximum wind speed was 10 kilometres per hour on Friday and the minimum tem- perature 11.2 degrees Celsius. Calm winds and low temper- atures trap pollutants close to the ground, while favourable wind speed helps in their dis- persion. The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, said the share of stub- ble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution was estimated at 21 per cent on Friday. It was 42 per cent on Thursday, the maximum this season so far. The city’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 406. On Thursday, the AQI was 450, the highest since November 15 last year, when it was 458. The neighbouring cities of Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Gurugram also recorded “very poor” to “severe” air quality. 2P_XcP[´bPXaaTPX]b³bTeTaT´ $LU SROOXWLRQ PD LQFUHDVH HSLVRGHV RI FRXJKLQJ WKXV VSUHDGLQJ RYLG DGGV 86 VWXG 9ZXYA#efc_d4`gZU^`cVWReR] E`RddZdeT`f_ecZVd V_YR_TVT`]UTYRZ_ /CWT3PX[h?X^]TTa UPRTQ^^ZR^SPX[h_X^]TTa7`]]`hfd`_+ fffSPX[h_X^]TTaR^ X]bcPVaPR^SPX[h_X^]TTa ;PcT2Xch E^[ #8bbdT ' 0XaBdaRWPaVT4gcaPXU0__[XRPQ[T ?dQ[XbWTS5a^ 34;78;D2:=F 17?0;17D10=4BF0A A0=278A08?DA 270=3860A7 347A03D= 7H34A0103E890HF030 4bcPQ[XbWTS '%# 51, 1R 5HJQ 877(1* 5(*' 1R 8$'2''1 347A03D=B0CDA30H=E414A !!*?064B !C! m @A:?:@?' 5A6CC4= ;4BB=B50I03 H@C=5) 278=0B;0BDB5A34;8BC8=6 G8=980=6³B4C80BC4AAA8BCDC58C m DA@CE# 1DA078BFA;3B 14BCC!1F;4A) 1=3 =EC939C =I8?22I* 2?=19B19 ! F9F139DI
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According to Delhi Government officials , salaries of the teachers and staff has not been released, despite these colleges showing a surplus of crores of Sisodia who also hold Education portfolio said that all legal proceedings are being considered on the basis of the audit report. “After receiving complaints of mismanagement of funds, we sanctioned a spe- cial audit to examine the fund expenditure of five colleges funded by the Delhi govern- ment. Despite their resistance to the audit, it is clear that these colleges have been grossly mis- managing funds, as shown by the report of the audit,” He further said the special audit, when initiated, was obstructed by the colleges by matters of resisting to show their accounts books to the audit officers. The books were only shown when the High Court intervened, and direct- ed the colleges. “Two major issues have emerged in the Special Audit; unauthorised payments by the college, and surplus funds being stashed by the colleges,” said Sisodia while explaining the extent of mismanagement. The colleges that were audited on the order of the court are Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Shaheed Sukhdev College, Bhagini Nivedita College, and Maharishi Valmiki college. Two colleges, Aditi Mahavidyalaya and Lakshmibai College, refused to allow the audit to be carried despite the order. While reading out the audit report, Sisodia shared the fol- lowing irregularities. “Despite increasing the funds of these colleges, they kept showing a deficit. After corroboration with the audit report, it’s clear these colleges have been in vio- lation of UGC norms, and have been misappropriating the funds.” Multiple irregularities have been brought out by the Special Audit. This includes payment of teaching, and non-teaching staff against the posts that did not have sanction of the Directorate of Higher Education, hiring of security guards/housekeeping staff in violation of GFR, purchase of computers and other hardware without following financial normal, and hiring of cars without following financial norms. Moreover, the record of the attendance of such people was not shown. The money spent by col- leges was unauthorized, with- out seeking any approval from the Delhi Government as the colleges continued to make illegal payments. Total unauthorised pay- ments made out by these col- leges from 2017 to 2020 - Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College (49.88 crores), Keshav Mahavidyalaya (29.84 crores), Shaheed Sukhdev College (16.52 crores), Bhagini Nivedita College (17.23 crores), and Maharishi Valmiki college (10.64 crores). Sisodia also questioned the colleges on violating the pay scale approved by the Ministry of Human Resource Department, UGC, or Delhi Government. According to this, Grantee Institute should not pay its employees higher than those applicable to simi- lar categories of employees in the government. “Paying salaries of Rs 40,000 to securi- ty guards is a clear violation of this as standard pay is between 15k-20k,” said Sisodia. These inflated salaries imply this was done to hide their own misap- propriation. Similarly, despite receiving the funds from the Delhi gov- ernment, the colleges contin- ued to stash their surplus funds, Sisodia said at the conference. “The ‘Pattern of Assistance” by which the Delhi Govt makes payment to all the Higher Education Institutions funded by it - including Ambedkar University, DTU, IP University, and 12 Delhi University col- leges - is based on the princi- ple of deficit funding.” The govt, pays these higher educa- tion institutions the net deficit between their total expendi- ture, and their total income. “Any source of earning, and the total income received by the college from fees has to be declared to Delhi Government. However, these colleges violated this pattern of assistance as large, undeclared incomes in their accounts have been found by the auditors, which were never declared to the Delhi Government,” said Sisodia. “This constitutes ‘fraud’ as these colleges kept taking funding from the gov- ernment on false premises,” he added. “Despite having these sur- plus funds, the colleges have failed to pay the salaries of the teachers, and staff, and contin- ued to falsely blame the Delhi government,” Sisodia said. As per the Delhi govern- ment’s audit, these colleges have these surplus funds avail- able to them as on 31 March 2020 - Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College has 22.44 crores, Keshav Mahavidyalaya has 9.38 crores, Shaheed Sukhdev College has 31.58 crores, Bhagini Nivedita College has 2.38 crores, and Maharishi Valmiki college has 39 lakhs but continue to demand the Delhi Government to release more funds. As per the provision made by the state government for grant to colleges, the remaining shortfall has to be paid after the expenses from fees and income from all other sources. After exhausting that, remaining funds can be stored in Fixed Deposits. Yet the colleges have stored this surplus in Fixed Deposit. Another damning exami- nation by the special audit revealed that the colleges, in a completely arbitrary manner, created teaching/non-teaching posts in the colleges. Sisodia said, “In the Grantee College as per UGC/DU norms, only with prior approval of Govt. of NCT of Delhi, can any post be cre- ated as these colleges are fund- ed by the government.” ?=BQ 347A03D= Many local consumers have adopted different strate- gies in the last few months to shop locally while trying to maintain physical distancing in marketplaces as a precaution- ary measure to contain Covid- 19 disease, especially in the supermarkets where one has to go regularly for the regular gro- cery supplies. To keep up with the shoppers and the pandem- ic, one of the oldest supermar- kets in Dehradun, Suvidha Supermarket upgraded its ser- vices across the city to provide better service to the locals dur- ing the Covid crisis. According to Garvit Gupta who is one of the operators of this family business, they pro- vide multiple ways to cus- tomers to shop from their stores with minimum interac- tion during groceries shop- ping. We offer in-store pickup facilities and home delivery ser- vices. We also have a website and an app through which we get online orders too. We pro- vided such services during the lockdown too as most of the other supermarkets were not fully active during the lock- down and many are still not but we put extra efforts during the hard times, said Gupta. Though the numbers of walk-ins during the festive sea- son are 20 per cent less than the last year, Gupta informed that there is over 10 per cent hike in their daily online customers which was previously only one percent. Talking about Diwali shopping in Suvidha stores, Gupta stated that customer walk-ins have definitely increased ahead of Diwali as well as the online orders but since many prefer contactless shopping and deliveries, Suvidha offers home delivery at minimum charges too. We offer home deliveries for gro- ceries shopping over Rs 700 with Rs 40 as delivery charges but we do not charge for the delivery fee for the groceries of over Rs 1,000, he informed. Moreover, he also stated that considering the approach- ing Diwali, the customers are mostly buying gifts of packed dry fruits, dry fruit Thaals and various other packed delicacies. We have eight stores across the city and can deliver the prod- ucts as per the wish of the cus- tomers. Since we are one of the oldest supermarkets, locals find us quite approachable and trust our services which gives us an added advantage over others here, he added. ?=BQ 347A03D= Levelling allegations of harassment against the director (HR) of Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), AK Singh and his wife in a letter to State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), an ex-lineman Basant Kaushik stated that he lost his job in the corporation last year which is severely affecting the future of his five year old daughter and his family. According to the letter, Singh and his wife had forced Kaushik to carry out domes- tic works regularly at their home. Kaushik has claimed in the letter that he has pieces of evidence that show that Singh's wife had called him multiple times for domestic chores until the last year. He added that he resigned from his job in July last year after being forced to do so by Singh. As per the letter, Kaushik's wife filed a complaint in Patelnagar police station last year and he also wrote com- plaints to Uttarakhand Human Rights Commission and Labour Commissioner’s office but he added that most of his complaints have been dis- missed so far. Taking cogni- sance of the complaint, the chairperson of SCPCR, Usha Negi has instructed Singh to present his side before the commission on November 23. ?=BQ AA:44 The first MS Dhoni Cricket Academy (MSDCA) in Uttarakhand will open at Roorkee on December 3. Currently, the process of registra- tion for the academy is underway. Addressing the media here on Friday, the crick- et academy’s manager and former international crick- eter, Mihir Diwakar said that the academy’s attempt is to facilitate good crick- et coaching even in small towns. MSDCA is an insti- tute of Aarka Sports founded in 2014. Diwakar said that so far about 35 academies have been opened across the nation. Children aged above six years are coached in cricket in the academy. If some child is tal- ented but lacks financial sup- port, scholarship will also be facilitated in such cases, he added. Ankit Mendiratta of VG Sports, operating the academy in Roorkee, said that the attempt will be to nurture tal- ent like Rishabh Pant in Roorkee itself. The MSDCA is being set up about three kilo- metres from Roorkee city along Haridwar Road. While regis- trations are currently under- way, the coaching will start with the inauguration on December 3. ?=BQ 347A03D= Surendra Singh Suthar, an associate professor in Doon University has been named in the elite list of scientists pub- lished by Stanford university of USA. The list has the names of top two percent of scientists of the world. Suthar has 100 papers to his credit and with a worldwide subject rank of 220 among scientists with C score 2.774. He is also ranked second in India in the subject of Environmental Science. He has worked on solid waste man- agement, biomass energy pro- duction and eco-toxicology. Expressing happiness on the development the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Doon University A K Karnataka said that the feat of Suthar is unbe- lievable. The Registrar of the University M S Mandarwal said that his achievement would motivate young scholars of the university. The Dean Student Welfare and head of department of management, H C Purohit also congratulated Suthar for the unique feat. It is worth mentioning here that Stanford University conducted an analysis using ELSEVIER data set and created a database of over one lakh top scientists of the world on the basis of standardized citation indicators which include information on citations, H-index, co-author- ship, and a composite indica- tor. 3^^]D]XeTabXchUPRd[chTQTa ]PTSX]T[XcT[Xbc^UbRXT]cXbcb 4g[X]TP]PRRdbTb D?2;SXaTRc^aWXb fXUT^UWPaPbbT]c 6XSHUPDUNHW XSJUDGHV VHUYLFHV WR PHHW FXVWRPHU QHHGV B320c^bcPacX]A^^aZTTUa^3TR 8aaTVd[PaXcXTbX]$3DR^[[TVTb
- 3. RP_XcP[347A03D=kB0CDA30H k=E414A!! ?=BQ 347A03D= The number of novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) patients in Uttarakhand increased to 64538 on Friday with the state health depart- ment reporting 473 fresh cases of the disease. The depart- ment also reported the death of nine patients of the disease which increased the death toll to 1056 in the state. The authorities discharged 404 patients of the disease after their recovery on the day. A total of 59227 patients have so far recovered from the disease in the state. The recovery per- cent of Covid-19 in the state is now at 91.77 and the sample positivity rate is at 5.92 percent. Three patients of Covid-19 were reported dead at HNB base hospital Srinagar on the day. Similarly two patients of the disease expired at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh. One patient each of the disease was reported dead at Sushila Tiwari government hospital Haldwani, Himalayan hospital Dehradun, Military Hospital Pithoragarh and CMI Hospital Dehradun on Friday. Out of 404 patients discharged on the day, 98 were from Dehradun and 73 from Pithoragarh. The authorities reported 163 patients from Dehradun, 57 from Udham Singh Nagar, 55 Haridwar, 48 from Chamoli, 40 from Pauri Garhwal, 39 from Nainital, 17 from Almora, 16 from Rudraprayag, 14 from Pithoragarh, 12 from Tehri, seven from Uttarkashi and three from Champawat and two from Bageshwar on Friday. Uttarakhand now has 3736 active patients of the disease. Dehradun district with 697 active cases is at top of table while with 532 active cases Pauri district is on second position. Haridwar has 439, Nainital 339, Rudraprayag 334, Tehri 258, Udham Singh Nagar 233, Chamoli 225, Uttarkashi 165, Pithoragarh 152, Almora 139 and Bageshwar 119 active cases of the disease. With 104 active cases of Covid-19, Champawat is now at the bot- tom of the table. ?=BQ 347A03D= In what can be termed as a disturbing trend, the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) has entered the mountainous dis- tricts of the state in a major way. Though the contagion of the virus is showing clear signs of slowing down in the plain districts of the state from last many days, the cases of the dis- ease are increasing alarmingly in the districts of Rudraprayag, Pauri and Chamoli. In fact the chiefly mountainous district of Pauri has now raced to second place in the list of active cases of the disease. What is causing concern is the fact that a small district like Rudraprayag has reported as many as 264 cases in the last seven days. This district has a population of only 2.47 lakh which means that it has had a staggering 107 cases per lakh in the last seven days. In Pauri 54 cases per lakh of population were reported while Chamoli had 54 cases per lakh during this period. A total of 2499 cases were reported in the state during this period (October 30 to November 5). The data released by the Social Development for Communities Foundation (SDCF) shows that Uttarakhand had 22 cases of Covid-19 per lakh of popula- tion during the last seven days. It clearly shows that Rudraprayag has five times more cases than the state per lakh of population while Pauri has 2.5 times more cases as compared with the average of the state. With only eight cases per lakh of population during the last seven days Udham Singh Nagar is at the bottom of this table. This district has a popula- tion of 20.11 lakh and in the last seven days only 166 cases were reported here. The founder of SDCF, Anoop Nautiyal said that the state government should put extra focus on the hill districts since the cases of Covid-19 are rising rapidly there. He added that the effort should be made to allot urgent resource allocation and mobilisation for mountainous districts. A04B7?:7A8H0;³=8B70=:´ Nestled in the lap of the Himalayas where Gods themselves are said to reside lies my home State of Uttarakhand. A State known for its towering mountains, verdant valleys, meandering rivers and hill stations which light up the night sky, Uttarakhand attracts droves of people all year round to admire and revel in its beauty. There’s a reason why the hill station of Kausani was called ‘Switzerland of India’ by Mahatma Gandhi. However, as layers are peeled off, one realises that there is more to the state and its peo- ple than meets the eye. Culturally, the region boasts of a richness and diver- sity partly due to the separation of the region into administra- tive units of Garhwal and Kumaon. The Garhwal and Kumaon regions are inter- twined, the complementary nature of their cultures, economies, language and geog- raphy wove them into an immutable bond which only got consolidated with the Uttarakhand movement for statehood in the 1990s. An area that is a part of the Garhwal region geographically yet stands out for the novelty of its cultural practices is the Jaunsar- Bawar region. It’s inhabited by the predominant groups of Jaunsaris who live in the lower regions and Bawaris residing in the snow-clad upper region. Tracing their ethnic origins to the Pandavas and Kauravas respectively, the community has retained its original culture. Festive sports and folk dances like Barada Nati/Harul consti- tute an important aspect of their culture. The state is also home to ethnic groups like Bhotias, Tharus, Bokshas and Rajis, while native languages of Garhwali and Kumaoni are widely spoken, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi also find many speakers. Perhaps, amidst this thriving diversity under con- ditions of harmonious coexis- tence, it wouldn’t be entirely incorrect to allude that Uttarakhand is a microcosm of India. The community’s festivals and fairs are simple yet imbued with cultural significance. Every season and agricultural periods are welcomed with songs and folk dances. Dances like Bhotia dance, Chhopati, Choliya, Jagar are performed on varied occasions. The Maha Kumbh festival held after every 12 years on the banks of the Ganga river in Haridwar attracts a huge footfall. The art and cultural imprint of the people finds manifestation in Garhwal school of painting, murals like Aipan, Rambans handicraft which uses jute and hemp to create art. Uttarakhand’s cuisine is high- ly nutritious while being adap- tive to changing weather con- ditions. Thus, Til Laddoos or Mandua Rotis are relished in winters with Dubkas and Cholia Rotis being savored in the summer season. The topography of the state creates ample opportunities for leveraging the tourism sec- tor to power the economy of the state. At present, it con- tributes over 50% of total GSDP from 2006-7 to 2016-17. With its hill stations like Nainital, Mussoorie, pilgrimage sites like Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib, its wildlife and bird sanctuaries like Corbett which has largest tiger population among 50 tiger reserves, Rajaji National Park, UNESCO World Heritage site Nanda Devi National Park, the possi- bilities are unparalleled and multi-faceted. Taking cogni- sance of this, the state govern- ment in 2018 released the Uttarakhand Tourism Policy which envisages developing the state’s image as a safe, secure and friendly destination for tourists. Uttarakhand also boasts of all agro-geo climatic zones which provide commer- cial opportunities for floricul- ture and horticulture. This vision of a promising state proactively utilising opportunities for growth has- n’t always been there. The jour- ney to the present has been marked by struggles of our forefathers who, in their demands for a separate state for the mountainous region, sought crystallisation of a gov- ernment which was more rep- resentative of the people whose voices it claimed to stand for, conceptualised a hill centric model of development while being responsive to founda- tional demands such as educa- tion, health, agriculture. The demand first found its articu- lation in 1923 in a letter addressed to the governor of Joint Province which entreated Uttarakhand to be recognised as a separate unit. The demand persisted henceforth, going in full swing in the 1990s. It was followed by consciousness- raising by leaders, mobilisa- tions, protests and at times despicable acts of violence on part of state government. The state of Uttarakhand came into existence on November 9, 2000 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. Thus, on this historic occasion, what was once a dream for the hill people became a reality. Presently, Uttarakhand is one of the fastest growing states. The state's GSDP rose at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.34% between FY 12-18. The government has undertaken measures tai- lored to the state’s progress. Thus, the government seeks to develop Uttarakhand as an energy state to tap the hydropower electric potential of over 25,000 MW. The gov- ernment has also undertaken measures to promote Uttarakhand as a major invest- ment hub like the Investor Summit of October 2018, owing to which the state received Rs 17,246 crore invest- ment and generated 45,000 jobs in various sectors. It finds resonance in the well laid out physical infrastructure with 39,000 kms of road network, two domestic airports, 345.23 kms of rail routes. Further, with the establishment of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) earth station at Dehradun, Uttarakhand now offers high-speed connectivity. It finds an echo in Uttarakhand’s favorable com- parative assessment with its more developed counterpart of HP with Uttarakhand per- forming better in terms of food production, length of roads constructed, electricity and number of tourists. The considerable headway made by Uttarakhand warms my heart. The state’s commit- ted citizenry and dedicated leadership deserve the appro- bation. Despite being replete with picturesque locales, for me, Uttarakhand’s allure transcends its natural beauty. It lies in the grit and determination of the State’s people who’ve always stood for just causes be it active participation in the Chipko Movement or the unequivocal dedication to national service implied by a high level of enrollment in armed forces. It lies in the peo- ple’s assertion of their identity as Uttarakhand natives despite the ethnic and cultural diver- sity which characterizes this state. It lies in Uttarakhand being a site for spiritual fulfill- ment. It also finds a place in the art the populace creates and the nourishing delicacies of Buransh Juice, Mandwa and Jhangora. In the everyday lives and simplicity lies the charm of my Uttarakhand. (The writer is the Union Education Minister) 6dTbc2^[d] =X]TSTPcWb #UaTbW RPbTb aT_^acTS ^]5aXSPh AdSaP_aPhPV ?PdaX 2WP^[X SXbcaXRcb d]STa b_T[[^UcWT SXbTPbT 0[PaX]VaXbTX]2^eXSRPbTb X]^d]cPX]^dbSXbcaXRcb Dehradun: Further action will be taken soon on the subject of ropeways and metro rail in the state. The State’s Urban Development and Housing minister Madan Kaushik said this after chairing a meet to review the departmental works here on Friday. Kaushik said that in Haridwar, the construction of a ropeway from near Har Ki Paidi to Chandidevi has been granted approval. Instructions have been issued to start the tender process soon. The offi- cials concerned have also been directed to ensure timely com- pletion of this work. Officials were also instructed to prepare plans for construction of rope- ways at three locations between Neelkanth and Rishikesh- the railway station, roadways sta- tion and the Triveni Ghat. Regarding the metro rail ser- vice in Dehradun, a meeting will be held again for holding talks with the Government of India, informed the minister. The matter of the expan- sion of urban local bodies was also discussed in the meeting. The issues discussed included expansion of Rishikesh local body, making Srinagar a municipal corporation, expan- sion of Bhagwanpur local body and development of new local bodies in Imlikheda, Rampur, Padligurjar and Dhandhera. In addition to these, dis- cussions were held on the expansion of a total of 13 local bodies including Lalpur, Sirorikala and Nagla in Udham Singh Nagar, Garud in Bageshwar and Thalisain in Pauri. The district magistrates concerned attending the meet- ing through video conferencing were directed to submit a report regarding the expan- sions within a week. The Housing secretary Shailesh Bagauli, additional secretary Harish Chandra Semwal and other officials concerned were also present in the meeting. PNS $FWLRQ RQ PHWUR UDLO DQG URSHZDV VRRQ .DXVKLN ?=BQ 347A03D= While the senior officials of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) have appealed to the locals on several occasions to use digital modes for their work in the corporation and to interact with the corporation like filing complaints among other things, the MCD's own app has not been working for several months now. Many locals have even shown disap- pointment and opined that though the government talks about digital India, the gov- ernment bodies fail to even maintain a simple app for pub- lic use. However, the senior offi- cials had stated that this issue will be resolved soon. According to the municipal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey, the corporation could not pay attention to the app's working issue due to Covid-19 but it will be revived soon. Explaining further about it, the chief municipal health officer Dr Kailash Joshi stated that the corporation recently invited tenders to manage such pro- jects and the process is almost finished and hence, the said app will be active again in the near future. The corporation is also plan- ning to connect the app with the upcoming Swachh Survekshan campaign so that the officials can get the public feedback about various facilities like sanitation and hygiene facilities in the city, informed Joshi. ?=BQ 347A03D= Pramod K Mishra, principal sec- retary to the Prime Minister and Sasakawa Laureate for Disaster Risk Reduction said that the Covid- 19 pandemic has underscored the need to learn from the traditional practice of disaster risk manage- ment and its relevance in the 21st century. He said this while delivering the first Professor Jai Krishna Memorial Lecture organ- ised online by the Centre of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation and Management (CoEDMM), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee. He said that the resolve of Indians to bounce back from events that have caused a lot of human suffering and economic and environmental impact is inspiring. India's efforts to combat cyclones have been lauded globally. However, there is a need for establishing a multi-tiered dis- aster risk system in each country and at the regional and local levels, he said. Summarising his lecture, he said, Risk is global but resilience in local. There is a need for a systemic resilience by building redundancies, a strong feedback mechanism and a robust mod- ular system at the local level. Special representative to UN Secretary- General and Head, UNDRR, Mami Mizutori congratulated IIT Roorkee for the initiative. She said, “Late professor Jai Krishna was a giant of earthquake engineering. There is a need to put people at the centre of the narrative as disaster management is not a technical but political issue. Political leaders need to be involved in it as dis- asters lead to massive human suffering. Guest of honour on the occasion and Jai Krishna’s son, professor Prem Krishna and the institute director AK Chaturvedi also expressed their views on the occasion. 23bX]PRcXeTP__c^QTaTeXeTSb^^] BYc[YcW_RQRedbUcYYU^SUY^ _SQ^UUTUTcQic@Cd_@= ?=BQ 347A03D= The speaker of Uttarakhand assembly Premchand Agarwal has said that Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has taken a his- toric decision of making Gairsain as summer capital of the state and now it is the responsibility of the youth to nurture it further. He was addressing the inaugural ses- sion of the fourth session of Uttarakhand Yuva Vidhan Sabha on Friday. Addressing the young- sters who were attending the session as young legislatures, the speaker expressed hope that they would engage in fruitful legislative discussions while keeping the culture and nature and the society of the state in mind. Lauding the effort of the Yuva Avahan Sansthan for providing a platform to the youth by organising the event, the speaker said that the talent and the leadership qualities of the youth are getting enhanced by it. He said that the organi- sation is organising the Yuva Vidhan Sabha from the last four years by which the youth are getting acquainted with the plan of policy making and the manner in which the house functions. Speaking on the occasion, the president of theorganisationPrakashGaur said that the young leaders have assembledheretoengage in democratic discussion and they would interact on many issuesandbillsinthenextfour days. The speaker also admin- istered the members the oath of secrecy. The Yuva Vidhan Sabha is being organised at Gairsain from November 6 to 9. RXWK VKRXOG QXUWXUH WKH 6XPPHU DSLWDO 6SHDNHU CWTU^dacWbTbbX^] ^UDccPaPZWP]S HdePEXSWP]BPQWP d]STaPTVXb^UHdeP 0ePWP]BP]bcWP] bcPacbPc6PXabPX] DccPaPZWP]ST]R^_PbbTbPX]X8]SXP 4`gZUaReZV_edZ_TcVRdV e`'%$)Z_FeeRcRYR_U
- 4. ]PcX^]#347A03D=kB0CDA30H k=E414A!! ?=BQ =4F34;78 With the Covid-19 vaccine likely to be made avail- able early next year, the Government has prepared a blueprint envisaging the use of various primary and sec- ondary schools, anganwadis and panchyat buildings dotted across the country to function as temporary vaccination sites in the anti-coronavirus inoc- ulation drive that would be monitored by the Union health ministry’s digital plat- form. As per the country’s Covid-19 immunisation pro- gramme, various digital tools such as QR code certificate and delivery of SMS to vaccine beneficiaries among others will be utilised to make the system efficient and foolproof to keep a track on the benefi- ciaries. “The vaccination sites will not be limited to just healthcare facilities. Such cen- tres would also be set up in anganwadi centres, schools, panchayat buildings and other such setups as identified by State Governments,” said an official from the Ministry. Currently, the Ministry’s existing digital platform eVIN is being used for the UIP which is now being enhanced for Covid-19 vaccine distrib- ution and delivery, through which SMSes would be sent to recipients informing the time, date and venue to get the shots and digitally connect them and also track them. Each person in the immu- nisation list would be linked with their Aadhaar cards to avoid duplication and to track beneficiaries. However, in case a person doesn’t have an aad- haar card, a Government photo identity can be used, as per the blueprint. A QR generated certificate will be produced once a per- son has been vaccinated and no side effects of the vaccine are reported. Beneficiaries will also be given an opportunity to store their Covid-19 immu- nisation certificate in DigiLocker which is another digital tool devised by the Government. The coronavirus vaccine, once available, would be dis- tributed under a special COVID-19 inoculation pro- gramme, using the processes, technology and network of the existing UIP. States have been asked not to chart separate pathways of procurement. “The Centre will procure the vaccine direct- ly to make it available to the priority groups through the existing network of states and districts. The vaccine is being planned to be administered to the priority groups free-of- cost,” said the official. Presently, facilities of cold chain in over 28,000 locations are being used under the UIP. Presently the group is engaged with mapping the private sec- tor facilities for augmenting the capacity. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said last month that the Centre esti- mates to receive and utilise 40- 50 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine covering 20-25 crore people by July next year. 8`ge]ZdedacZ^RcjdTY``]dR_XR_hRUZdRdgRTTZ_ReZ`_dZeVd ?=BQ =4F34;78 India’s single-day Covid-19 recoveries exceeded daily new infections successively for the last five weeks, while active cases are on a sustained decline and comprise only 6.19 per cent of the country’s total case- load. However, some States like Maharashtra, Kearala and Delhi remain a cause of worry with higher cases and deaths. The Union Health Ministry said on Friday that less than 50,000 new cases of the coronavirus infection have been reported in the country in a span of 24 hours, whereas the daily new recoveries have exceeded 54,000. “A total of 54,157 Covid-19 patients have recovered and were discharged in a span of 24 hours as against 47,638 new infections being reported dur- ing the same period,” said a senior Health Ministry official adding that “India is reporting new recoveries more than the daily new cases successively for the last five weeks now.” There is a continuous decline in average daily new cases for the last five weeks. From registering more than 73,000 average daily new cases in the first week of October, the average daily new cases have declined to 46,000 cases. The active cases stand at 5,20,773 as on date and now comprise only 6.19 per cent of the total COVID-19 caseload, it stated. The recoveries have surged to 77,65,966 and exceed active cases by 72,45,193 as on date. The national recovery rate has further improved to 92.32 per cent. The ministry said that 80 per cent of the new recovered cases are observed to be con- centrated in 10 states and union territories with Maharashtra topping the list at over 11,000 single day recoveries. Seventy-nine per cent of new cases are also from 10 states and union territories. Again, Maharashtra is reporting a very high number of new cases with more than 10,000 cases fol- lowed by Kerala with more than 9,000 cases. Besides, 670 c a s e fatalities have been reported in a span of 24 hours. Of these, 10 States and union territories account for nearly 86 per cent. More than 38 per cent of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra at 256 deaths fol- lowed by Delhi with 66 new deaths. India’s Covid-19 caseload mounted to 84,11,724 with 47,638 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,24,985 with 670 new fatalities. 8]SXPaTR^aSb^aTbX]V[TSPh2^eXSaTR^eTaXTbcWP]SPX[h]TfX]UTRcX^]b 0=C82E838=2D;0C8=3A8E4 ?=BQ =4F34;78 Sounding a note of warning, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)General Bipin Rawat on Friday did not rule out the pre- sent tension at the Line of Actual(LAC) flaring up into a “larger conflict” with China even as he asserted that India will never accept a change in the present LAC. His tough talk came on a day when the Corps Commanders of the two coun- tries were holding the eighth round of talks to break the six month logjam at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. In his address to the pres- tigious National Defence College(NDC), Rawat said a “larger conflict” with China cannot be ruled out if border confrontations and unprovoked military actions spiraled. “In the overall security calculus: border confrontations, transgressions, unprovoked tactical military actions -- spiralling into a larg- er conflict therefore cannot be discounted,” he said. Rawat also said China and Pakistan acting in collusion meant an omnipresent danger of regional instability with potential for escalation. Referring to China’s ambi- tions as an aggressive pursuit of hegemonic interests, the CDS said the situation along the LAC remained tense amid trans- gressions and belligerent action by the Chinese. ;02U[PaTd_Phcda]X]c^P[PaVTaR^]U[XRc)6T]APfPc ?=BQ =4F34;78 The first phase of the pres- tigious Malabar series of naval exercises ended on Friday with the navies of India, US, Japan and Australia par- ticipating in the drill off Visakhapatnam. Australia is participating in the event for the first time after India invit- ed it despite China’s strong objection. It claimed the Quad coalition of the four countries was getting militarised and posed a threat in the Indo- Pacific region. The present edition of the exercise took place amidst ongoing tension at the Line of Actual Control(LAC)in Ladakh. The four navies conducted complex drills in the Bay of Bengal off Visakhapatnam for four days starting November 3. Reacting to the latest event , China had said it hoped the endeavour will be conducive to regional peace and stabil- ity instead of the contrary. Held annually, this year’s Malabar series of exercise will be held in two phases. The second phase will take place in mid November in the Arabian Sea. The current edition is unique as the Australian Navy is taking part despite China expressing reservations claim- ing that the Quad countries are trying to militarise the coalition and pose a threat in the Indo-Pacific region. In 2007, Australia was invited for the Malabar event leading to a strong protest by China to India, US, Japan and Australia. Australia was keen to take part in the joint exer- cise and the US and Japan also favoured its inclusion. 5Xabc_WPbT^UP[PQPabTaXTb ^U]PeP[TgTaRXbTbT]Sb ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Congress on Friday accused the Modi Government of “fake national- ism” and alleged that it has betrayed the armed forces by “snatching away” the pension of army officers. Congress’ chief spokesper- son Randeep Surjewala said the Modi Government is deliber- ately hurting the morale of army officers by “snatching away” their pension and demanded immediate reversal of the decision. “We demand that Prime Minister Modi comes forward and clarifies his stand on the issue and takes back its anti- army decision of October 29,” Surjewala said at AICC Press briefing. The Congress general sec- retary said while the Modi gov- ernment is habitual of seeking votes on the sacrifice of brave soldiers and on “fake national- ism”, it has become the first regime in the country’s history to “steal the pension” and alter- nate career choice of those offi- cers who protect our mother- land. “This Diwali, PM Modi exhorted the nation to light a diya for our soldiers, but has ensured darkness in their lives by attempting to reduce their pension by half. If this is not BJP’s ‘fake nationalism’, then what is it,” he asked. “The Modi Government’s fresh attack on the forces has exposed the anti-army face of the ‘fake nationalists’,” he alleged. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Citing limited data and the small size of Phase 2 clin- ical trials, the top drug regula- tor’s subject expert committee has rejected Zydus Cadila’s application for emergency use authorisation for its biological therapy, Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b or ‘PegiHepTM’ as a treatment of moderate Covid- 19 patients. The company had submitted data from its Phase 2 clinical trial on 40 mild to moderately ill Covid-19 patients. Pegylated Interferon Alfa 2b injection, biological thera- py is used for the treatment of Hepatitis B and C. The drug is being seen as a potential treat- ment option for mild to mod- erate COVID-19 infection. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on Friday said India’s new National Education Policy (NEP) is based on the concepts of equi- ty, quality and accessibility. He also cited the country’s “diverse” nature in terms of regional languages to stress the benefits of having primary education in a child’s mother tongue. Speaking at the inaugural session of Amity University’s two-day conference on “Implementation of National Education Policy 2020 for Transforming India”, Pokhriyal said there is awareness and excitement regarding the implementation of the NEP not only in the country but also globally. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The ministry of consumer affairs on Friday said about 4.39 crore bogus ration cards have been weeded out since 2013 for rightful targeting of beneficiaries under the National FoodSecurityAct(NFSA).New ration cards are regularly issued to genuine and rightfully eligi- ble beneficiaries or households against the deleted ration cards, it said in a statement. These ration cards were cancelled as part of the tech- nology-driven PDS reforms ini- tiated across the country to modernise the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and to improve transparency and efficiency in operations. This was taken up through digi- tisation of ration cards/benefi- ciaries database, Aadhaar seed- ing,detectionofineligible/bogus ration cards, prevention of duplication of digitised data, updating migration/deaths of beneficiaries during the run-up to the implementation of NFSA. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth over C3 crore of former Medical Superintendent of Patna Medical College and Hospital in a money laundering case. The ED’s attachment order for movable and immovable assets worth C3.14 crore under Prevention of Money Laundering Act came in con- nection with a criminal mis- conduct and cheating alleged- ly involving Om Prakash Choudhary, former Medical Superintendent, Patna Medical College and Hospital and oth- ers. The attached immovable properties are in the form of plots, flats in Patna, Ghaziabad, Pune and Bangalore. The mov- able assets are in the form of three four wheelers and bal- ances in bank accounts. The ED initiated investi- gation under PMLA against Choudhary and others on the basis of FIRs registered by Special Vigilance Unit, Bihar . 2^]VPRRdbTb ^SX6^ec^U UPZT]PcX^]P[Xb 4g_Tac_P]T[ST]XTbTTaVT]Rh P__a^eP[U^aIhSdb2PSX[P´b7T_2 SadVPb2^eXS (caTPcT]c 43PccPRWTbCRaPbbTcb^U Tg?27bd_TaX]cT]ST]c #(RaQ^VdbaPcX^]RPaSb fTTSTS^dcbX]RT! =4?QPbTS^]cWT R^]RT_cb^UT`dXch `dP[Xch)X]XbcTa ?=BQ =4F34;78 Asserting that India has full potential to emerge as a global hub for electric vehicles by 2025, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday asked automobile man- ufacturers to reduce costs and forego profits initially to cap- ture market and fuel growth. Promising all support to manufacturers in the initiative aimed at cutting India’s huge import costs of crude and arresting pollution, Gadkari expressed confidence that once the market picks up there will not be any looking back The minister said he is scheduled to make an hour- long presentation on EVs before the Chief Justice of India post- Diwali. “E-mobility is going to be the future mode of economic transport...There is economic viability for manufacturers, but presently they are not in a mood to reduce cost. Reducing cost may result in some losses initially, but will bring great benefits. As a marketing strat- egy you have to reduce the cost to get numbers,” Gadkari said addressing a virtual “Electric Mobility Conference 2020 - The Spark Revolution in India”. He also said that India has the potential to become the largest EV producer in the world in the next five years. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Friday said that talks with the NSCN- IM for final settlement of the decades-long Naga issue are in an advanced stage and the Centre is providing all assis- tance to the North Eastern states to deal with rebel groups. Speaking at the diamond jubilee webinar organised by the National Defence College here, he said the Central Government is in peace nego- tiations with almost all groups of the North East including the ULFA and the major ones who could have been potentially used by China are holding talks. “There could be potential but not that much. These peo- ple (insurgents) have lost that kind of massive support. The leadership of ULFA is back in Assam and talking to the Government. The NSCN peo- ple, after the ceasefire, are sit- ting in Delhi and talking to us for the final settlement. We don’t see that kind of major dis- ruptions coming,” he said in reply to a question on whether the Government foresees China’s involvement in the eastern sector after the Ladakh standoff. The Home Secretary said the situation in the North Eastern region is “well under control” and the central gov- ernment is providing assis- tance to the state governments in dealing with the insurgent groups. CP[ZbfXcW=B2=8 X]PSeP]RTSbcPVTc^ aTb^[eT=PVPXbbdT) D]X^]7^TBTRh ?C8Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court has directed the trial courts to consider granting protection to witnesses in cases against sitting and former lawmakers under Witness Protection Scheme without their making any specific application in this regard. A three-judge bench of Justices N V Ramana, Surya Kant and Anirudhha Bose, said the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018, approved by it should be strictly enforced by the Union, States and Union Territories. Keeping in mind the vul- nerability of the witnesses in such cases, the Trial Courts may consider granting pro- tection under the said to wit- nesses without their making any specific application in this regard, the bench said. The apex court noted that most witnesses are unwilling to appear before the respec- tive Courts to make deposi- tions in courts. It directed that no unnec- essary adjournments be granted in cases related to lawmakers keeping in mind the public interest involved in these matters. At the cost of repetition, it is clarified that the direc- tions in the present writ pro- ceedings are applicable to both sitting as well as former legislators (MPs and MLAs), the bench said. The apex court also granted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, one more week's time to file a reply to submit the status report relating to investigations against law- makers by special agencies. The bench was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking speedy disposal of cases against the lawmakers. 2^]bXSTafXc]Tbb_a^cTRcX^]PVPX]bc[PfPZTab)B2c^R^dacb 5^aTV^_a^UXcbc^ RP_cdaTPaZTc) 6PSZPaXc^Pdc^PZTab
- 5. ]PcX^]$347A03D=kB0CDA30H k=E414A!! Srinagar: A local militant who surrendered during an encounter in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday expressed gratitude to police and security forces for giving him another chance to live life and appealed to all ultras to shun the path of militancy, saying it is a “deception”. Khawar Sultan Mir, a res- ident of the Drangbal area of Pampore in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, laid down his arms before the security forces during the encounter at Lalpora in Pampore, in which two militants were killed. A civilian also lost his life while another was injured during the exchange of fire. Mir, who had joined the militancy on September 1 this year, surrendered after numerous appeals by the security forces. In a video of the surrender, put on Twitter by police, Mir is seen coming out of a building holding his arms in the air. In another video, he expresses gratitude to police and securi- ty forces for offering him to surrender during the gunbattle. “I am thankful to JK Police and forces, Army, who gave me another chance to live my life. They told me to come out, took me out alive and treated me well. They did not torture me and treated me like their broth- er. Whatever (arms) I had, I left it there only (at the encounter site),” Mir says in an over-a- minute video clip uploaded by the Kashmir Police on its Twitter handle. He appealed to militants to give up arms, saying the path of militancy was a “deceit” and a “deception”. “I appeal all my brothers that this (militancy) is a deceit, this bloodshed is a lie, a deception…there is nothing in it,” he said. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar described the surrender of the local militant as a success for the security forces. “#Surrender over #Death! #Success of Police SFs is that they are getting #misguided youth back. This year has been #suc- cessful as they are returning, know well that they are being honorably welcomed (sic),” the IGP Kashmir said in a tweet on the Kashmir Zone Police's Twitter handle. In the last few months, several local militants have surrendered before the security forces during live encounters. Agencies CTaa^aXbXb³STRT_cX^]bPhbd[caPfW^ bdaaT]STaTSSdaX]V?d[fPPT]R^dcTa 80=BQ 6DF070C8B8;270A With Assam Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asserting on Friday that pro-Pakistan slo- ganeering by some persons at southern Assam's Silchar airport would be probed, police officials in Guwahati and Silchar confirmed that they were investigating the matter. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which found itself at the centre of the controversy, denied the charge that its supporters shouted such slogans and dubbed it a “cheap tactics of the BJP”. Talking to the media, the Minister said that the same set of people earlier also had indulged in similar acts in Assam and had resumed their campaign on religious lines in view of the Assembly elections next year. “I have asked the police to take actions against all those who raised slo- gans in favour of Pakistan. Law will take its own course,” Sarma said in Guwahati. The Minister had tagged with his tweet a video clip that went viral on Friday wherein some persons were allegedly heard raising “Pakistan zind- abad” slogan at the Silchar Airport while welcoming All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) President and Lok Sabha member Badruddin Ajmal who represents Dhubri con- stituency in Assam. “Look at the brazenness of these fun- damentalists anti-national people who are shouting PAKISTAN ZINDABAD while they welcome MP Badruddin Ajmal. This thoroughly exposes @INCIndia which is encouraging such forces by forging an alliance. We shall fight them tooth and nail. Jai Hind,” read the post. Ajmal is in Silchar on a four- day visit to do ground work for the Assembly elections expected to be held in April-May 2021. Meanwhile, AIUDF General Secretary Aminul Islam on Friday main- tained that party workers had only raised slogans to welcome party chief Badruddin Ajmal and MLA Aziz Khan from South Karimganj seat. “A huge number of people went to the Silchar airport. There may have been persons from the BJP or other groups among the gathering who shouted anti- national slogans. This may be a political conspiracy hatched by the BJP leaders. This issue must be probed,” Islam told the media. He said: “When the Congress, AIUDF and other parties are forging a grand alliance before the Assembly elec- tions, certain quarters are trying to thwart the process.” Srinagar: Two terrorists and one civilian were killed in an encounter at Pampore in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said on Friday. One terrorist surrendered before the security forces. The encounter started on Thursday night in the Lalpora area after security forces laid a cordon-and-search operation on a specific input about the presence of terrorists in that area. “One more terrorist killed (total 2) during Pampore encounter. Incriminating mate- rial, including arms and ammunition seized. Search going on,” police said. The security forces earlier in the day said that one terror- ist had been killed in an encounter. Earlier on Friday, a civilian injured in the militant attack just before the encounter start- ed on Thursday night suc- cumbed in a hospital. Police said Abid Mir, 22, was injured when militants fired at the search party. He was immedi- ately rushed to the hospital, but succumbed to injuries. The forces had made repeated announcements to ask the holed up militants to surrender. IANS Aligarh: The bail process in Aligarh has started in the sedition case filed against the detained JNU student leader Sharjil Imam in Delhi Tihar Jail. After the dismissal of bail from the lower court, a bail appli- cation has been filed in the Sessions Court, the hearing for which will be on November 12. During the anti-CAA-NRC protest, a video of Sharjil Imam, who came to address the students at AMU, went viral in which he was stated about the division of the country. He also made similar statements in Delhi and Assam. Separate sedition cases have been filed in Civil Lines, Delhi and Assam. PNS Hathras: An envelope of for- mer Congress president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Vadra has not yet been opened by the victims of the Bulgadhi case. The cheque was said to be worth Rs 10 lakh. The excuse of not opening the envelope even after a month is not digestible. The family members of the victims make an excuse for not getting the time to visit the bank. A girl was attacked on 14 September in Bulgadhi, who died on 29 October. On this, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra came to Hathras on October 3 during a ruckus across the country and reached Bulgadhi and met the deceased's family members in a closed room for about an hour. PNS ?A0344?B0G4=0Q 70C7A0B The family has objections over the line of investiga- tions taken by the CBI. Victim's family feels that the way the investigation agency is ques- tioning the family indicates that their focus is on honour killing. According to the victim's brother, the CBI officials are questioning the relatives about the victim’s character. Also the victim’s relatives told that the officials are allegedly putting words into their mouth and are allegedly trying to pin the blame on them. This is the reason why the victim's family is unhappy with the way CBI is doing the investigation. Patna: Three persons were killed and 21 others seriously injured when a vehicle they were returning in after attend- ing a Congress rally overturned in Purnia district, police said on Friday. The group was returning from a public rally of Congress candidate Abdul Jalil Mastan in Amour when the driver lost control over the vehicle around 7.30 pm on Thursday and it overturned. Mohammed Dilshad and Mohammed Abul died on the spot while Mohammed Dilfaraz succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The 21 per- sons who sustained critical injuries were battling for their lives in hospital. IANS #f]ecRdTZgZ]ZR_ Z]]VUZ_RdY^Zc V_T`f_eVc CWaTTZX[[TS ! X]YdaTSX] 1XWPaa^PS PRRXST]c 7PcWaPbeXRcXb UPX[h]^c WP__hfXcW218 X]eTbcXVPcX^] APWd[³bT]eT[^_T ]^chTc^_T]TS TeT]PUcTaP^]cW BWPaYX[8P´bQPX[ WTPaX]V^]=^e ! X]BTbbX^]b2^dac 80=BQ C78ADE0=0=C70?DA0 Kerala on Friday reported 7,002 new Covid-19 cases after 63,384 sam- ples were tested in the past 24 hours, health officials said. The pattern of new Covid cases continue to remain showing signs of a sort of containment with the test pos- itivity rate hovering around 11 per cent, down from 15 in the past month. In a statement issued here by State Health Minister K.K.Shailaja it said 7,854 turned negative taking the total cured to 3,88,504, while there were 83,208 active cases. 27 Covid deaths was reported taking the toll to 1,640. Across the state 3,07,828 people were under observation which includes 21,148 at hospitals. The state has 636 hotspot areas. :TaP[PbTTb! ]Tf2^eXSRPbTb Panaji: Goa's Covid-19 related death count appears high compared to other states, because the coastal state has a 100 per cent births and deaths registration record, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday. Sawant also said that even dead bodies are tested in Goa for coronavirus as a precautionary measure. “Even though our death rate is more in comparison to other states, Goa is the only state which records 100 per cent births and deaths,” Sawant told a function organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in Goa. “In bigger states, there may be many more deaths. In Goa, even dead bodies brought to the Goa Medical College are subjected to throat swabs. We are worried about the people who came in contact with the deceased, including fami- ly members, to ensure that the infection is not passed on,” Sawant also said. Sawant also said that Goa's test- ing rate is also one of the highest in the country. “Even though our death rate is high, our testing rate is high too. 3.5 lakh persons out of the 15 lakh population have been tested in Goa,” the Chief Minister said.IANS *RD V GHDWK UDWH KLJK EHFDXVH RI ELUWK GHDWK UHJLVWUDWLRQ 0 Guwahati/Silchar (Assam), Aizawl: Central Paramilitary Force (CPMF) personnel are being deployed along the Assam-Mizoram border as the 10-day-long tension in these areas persisted on Friday. “Central forces have arrived and those are being deployed along the Assam- Mizoram inter-state borders. “We are hopeful that the inter-state border troubles would be resolved after the deployment of the CPMF,” Assam Home Secretary Gyanendra Dev Tripathi told the media in Guwahati. The blockade along the National Highway (NH) 306, the lifeline of Mizoram, con- tinued for the 10th day on Friday while Mizoram has refused to withdraw its forces unless the situation is normal. Increasing the tension, Intyaz Ali from Lailapur in southern Assam died in Mizoram custody earlier this week. While Assam officials stated that he died at the hands of miscreants on the other side of the border, Mizoram Home Secretary Lalbiaksangi said that Ali was apprehended with drugs and he was found dead at a hospital on Monday after he referred to the health centre for medical checkup. IANS Kolkata: Tension prevailed in Bengal's Cooch Behar district on Friday following a violent clash between two factions of the Mamata Banerjee-led rul- ing Trinamool Congress, police said. The Trinamool activists also set some motorcycles on fire, hurled crude bombs and opened fire at each other over capturing political control of an area in Dinhata, police said. Sources said many party workers received injuries and empty cartridges were found at the clash site. IANS 80=B Q 14=60;DAD Karnataka has decided to ban the sales and bursting of firecrackers during Diwali this year in view of the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said on Friday. “The formal ban order will soon be issued,” he said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of signing of Karnataka's pact with a consortium led by Tata Technologies here. Yeddyurappa said that the state government had discussed the fire- cracker ban with health experts and thereafter arrived at the decision. Odisha, West Bengal and Rajasthan have already banned the sale and bursting of firecrackers dur- ing Diwali. Haryana has cracked down on the sale of imported fire- crackers. State Health and Family Welfare Minister K Sudhakar on Wednesday said that the state was seriously con- sidering the statewide ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers during the 17-day Diwali festival. The final decision on ban would however be taken only after consul- tations with Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, he had added. Maharashtra too has asked peo- ple to avoid bursting of firecrackers this Diwali, though it has not banned them. “Instead, people cam light lamps on a big scale and celebrate the festi- val,” the Maharashtra Home Department said on Thursday. EX^[T]cR[PbW QTcfTT]cf^C2 UPRcX^]bb_PaZb cT]bX^]X]1T]VP[ Lucknow: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to slash power tariff for farm- ers, artisans, weavers and small- scale industries. In a statement, she said that there was a 'terror' of rising electricity bills and of meters in the whole of UP. Priyanka said that in the last eight years, the rates for rural household consumers have increased by 500 per cent, urban domestic electricity rates have risen by 84 per cent and for farmers the rates have increased by 126 per cent. She said Uttar Pradesh has become a 'laboratory' for elec- tricity meters which have been found to run many times faster than they should. Even for houses that are locked a bill of Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 is generated, she alleged. In many districts of the state, it was also seen that bills came without electricity meters being installed, she said. Priyanka said that the peo- ple are already reeling under the impact of price rise, the business of small enterprises has collapsed and farmers' crops are not being sold at a good price. She said that the farmers are not getting assis- tance during floods, hailstorms and natural disasters while the crop insurance scheme has only become a source of income for big companies. “In such a situation, elec- tricity prices are constantly increasing and consumers can no longer bear the brunt of irregularities,” Priyanka said. The Congress leader said that the electricity bills of farm- ers should have been waived and weavers, artisans, small- scale industries should be given concession in electricity bills. She demanded that the electricity rates for farmers be halved and those responsible for irregularities in metering should be booked. IANS @bYiQ^[QTU]Q^TcSed Y^`_gUbdQbYVVY^E@78C:0=370A8Q 90D Two main constituents of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) organised a meeting of party workers in Jammu ahead of holding a formal meeting in Jammu on Saturday. Both Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah addressed a meeting of party workers here at their party head- quarters in the old city area of Jammu while PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti addressed a small gathering inside heavily guarded party office in Gandhi Nagar. Due to recent incidents of flag hoisting outside the PDP headquarters in Jammu thick posse of security per- sonnel were deployed and concertina wires were spread to prevent entry of outsiders in the secured zone. In their separate speeches, Kashmir based leaders targeted the Centre gov- ernment and warned the people of the region not to fall prey to their false pro- paganda against Kashmir based region- al parties. Addressing party workers National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah said, he won't die until con- stitutional rights of the people of the erstwhile state are restored. The National Conference (NC) president also assailed the BJP for “mis- leading the country” and making “false promises” to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as well as those in Ladakh. “I will not die until the rights of my people are given back.... I am here to do something for the people and the day I will finish my work, I will leave this world”. Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said an impression has been created with the help of the sec- tion of media that we are a Kashmir based party. He said in reality we are the only party with its roots in all Jammu,Kashmir and Ladakh. Launching a scathing attack against the centre, the PDP Chief said the Government of India will regret scrap- ping Article 370 and that one day they will restore the special status of the erst- while state. “Time will come when they will restore not only Art 370 and 35A, but they will also ask the people of JK what else they want from us (GoI) besides special status”. . WDND ZLOO EDQ ILUHFUDFNHUV GXULQJ 'LZDOL VDV 0 A5A?4`cXR_ZdVaRcej h`cVcd^VVeZ_;R^^f ?C8 Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court on Friday directed that the November 9 e-auction of 37 coal blocks, includ- ing five in Jharkhand, shall be subject to its final order. A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked the Centre to inform the bidders that benefits of any nature to them will be provisional and subject to the orders of the apex court. Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said no trees will be cut in the area. On November 4, the top court had said it intended to pass an order that any proposed min- ing block within the 50 kilometer radius of an eco- sensitive zone will not be e-auctioned for com- mercial purposes in Jharkhand. Maintaining that it only wants to ensure “forests are not destroyed”, the top court also said it was mulling over setting up of an expert com- mittee to examine whether an area near the pro- posed mining sites in Jharkhand qualifies as eco- sensitive zone. New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the direction of the Allahabad High Court asking the Election Commission to hold the bypoll in Suar assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh which fell vacant after the annulment of Abdullah Azam Khan''s elec- tion.The high court had annulled the election of the son of Samajwadi Party MP Mohammad Azam Khan on the grounds of being under age. Later, the high court also asked the ECI to start the process forthwith for holding by- election in the constituency. A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said the high court''s order “directing the ECI to start the process of holding by-election for Suar assembly con- stituency is stayed”. The apex court is seized of two appeals filed by Abdullah Azam Khan against the high court order in the case. The SP leader has chal- lenged the setting aside of his election as an MLA and the direction to the poll panel for a fresh bypoll for the seat. PTI 4PdRcX^]^UR^P[ Q[^RZbfX[[QT bdQYTRcc^B2^aSTab B2bcPhb0[[PWPQPS72 ^aSTaSXb`dP[XUhX]V0iP:WP] b^]bT[TRcX^]Ua^BdPa C=A067D=0C70Q D108 Amid a vehement opposition bytheNDAGovernment to theUddhavThakeraydispensa- tion’sdecisiontorelocatethepro- posed Mumbai Metro-III at Kanjurmarg, the ruling CongressonFridayputtheonus of shifting the car shed project from Aarey colony in north Mumbai to Kanjourmarg in north-east Mumbai on the pre- vious BJP-led saffron allianceGovernment. Less than a fortnight after the Centre joined issue with the Shiv Sena-led MVA govern- ment’s decision to relocate the car shed project and Kanjurmarg and claimed that the land belonged to it, the Maharashtra Congress made a counter claim that it was the previous BJP-led gov- ernment that planned to shift the project to Kanjurmarg and the land belonged to the Maharashtra government and that there was no dispute over the land as was being made out by the Opposition BJP now. “The BJP and the previous Fadnavis government mis- guided Mumbaikars regard- ing the issue of the Metro carshed at Aarey. The manner in which the previous Fadnavis government deliberately lied to Mumbaikars is shocking and condemnable,” Maharashtra Congress secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.A major controversy had broken out early this week over a letter written by the Centre’s Department of Promotion of Industry Internal Trade (DPIIT) to the state government opposing the location of the car shed project at Kanjurmarg would be “against the interest of the Government of India”. The DPIIT had also claimed own- ership of the 102-acres land there. It may be recalled that on October 11, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced that the pro- posed car shed for the Metro phase-III project would now be located at Kanjurmarg in north-east Mumbai to save forests at Aarey Colony at Goregaon in north Mumbai, where the was project was ini- tially located. The decision to locate the Mumbai Metro-III car shed was incidentally Uddhav’s first major policy initiative taken after assuming the highest office in the state on November 29 last year. He had stayed the work on the construction of a car shed for Metro phase- III at Aarey Colony in the wake of Shiv Sena-supported protests. Lodging a protest with the state government against the move to relocate the car shed project at Kanjurmarg, DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra had said in his let- ter dated October 15: “The improper and unilateral action of the Mumbai Suburban District Collector and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has caused severe loss” to the DPIIT and the Government of India” “I would request you to take necessary steps and to direct the collector to withdraw the orders passed in this regard in order to protect the interests of the Government of India,” Mohapatra had stated in his letter to the state govern- ment. However, the Maharashtra government is in no mood to back off from its decision to locate the car shed project at Kanjurmarg. So much so that the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders have slammed the Centre for its efforts to sabotage the Metro-III car shed project and said that notwithstanding the reservations expressed by the Centre about locating the project at Kanjurmarg, they would go ahead with the pro- ject. Justifying the MVA gov- ernment’s decision to shift the Mumbai Metro-III car shed to Kanjurmarg, Sawant that the land always belonged to the state government. “The MVA government decided to shift the Metro Car shed to Kanjurmarg two years after the salt department tried to stake claim on the land. However, the salt department could not provide any proof showing that the land does not belong to the state government and belongs to them,” Sawat said. “The orders in this regard were given by the District Collector in 2014, Divisional Commissioner in 2015 and even the former Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil of the BJP in 2018. Also, in the plan submitted by the admin- istration in 2015, it was clear- ly written that there is no dis- pute over this 102 acre land,” Sawant said. Claiming that it was the Devendra Fadnavis govern- ment that wanted the car shed of Metro 3 to be located at Kanjurmarg, Sawant said that the formal decision taken by the current MVA government today was the plan of the Fadnavis government itself. Sawant said that so much so that senior bureaucrat Ashwini Bhide had written a letter dated September 22, 2015 to the Mumbai Suburban District Collector seeking land in Kanjurmarg for Metro Car depot and other works. According to Sawant, an expert committee appointed by the Maharashtra government in March 2015 that the main depot of Metro 3 should be connected to the then Metro 6 in Kanjurmarg. “This means that the location of Kanjurmarg was important and it is clear that it was in the plan,” he said. Given that the Metro 6 car depot was already to be locat- ed at Kanjurmarg, Metro 6 was demanding 102 acres of land for casting depot since 2018. “Why was the land not allo- cated to Metro 6? . “It was because the Fadnavis govern- ment apprehended the Aarey protesters would be furious and would ask why Metro 3 could not be built if Metro 6 was to be set up in Kanjurmarg. That is why this land was not allotted,” he said. “Fadnavis was lying to the people that moving the Metro car shed to Kanjurmarg would cost Rs 5,000 crore more and would have to be paid to a pri- vate individual. If the car depot of Metro 6 was planned to come up in Kanjurmarg, then why not Metro 3?,” Sawant asked. D1084CA20AB743;20C8=AF 8cfPb19?[TS6^eccWPc_[P]]TSc^bWXUc_a^YTRcc^:P]YdaPaV)2^]V 0bbP?^[XRT_a^QX]V²_a^?PZXbcP] b[^VP]TTaX]V08D35ST]XTbRWPaVT 2T]caP[U^aRTbQTX]VST_[^hTS^] 0bbPXi^aPQ^aSTaPba^f^] 2T]caP[U^aRTbWPeT PaaXeTSP]ScW^bTPaT QTX]VST_[^hTSP[^]V cWT0bbPXi^aP X]cTabcPcTQ^aSTab