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?=BQ =4F34;78
In a bid to break the deadlock
with protesting farmers,
Agriculture Minister Narendra
Singh Tomar on Wednesday
invited them for talks saying
any agitation could be resolved
only through dialogue. He
urged them to fix a date and
time for the next round of talks.
Tomar said farmers should
tell them what they want to add
or remove from the proposal
given by the Government.
“I’m hopeful that farmers’
unions will discuss our request.
Whatever they want to add
subtract from the
Government’s proposal, they
should tell us. We’re ready for
a discussion at the time date
of their convenience. I’m hope-
ful of a solution,” Tomar said
while talking to reporters.
Stressing that a solution
can be reached only through
dialogue, Tomar said, “History
is witness to this fact. How old
and strong the protest is, the
end and the solution to a
protest are reached through
dialogue only.”
Farmers’ unions should
discuss the Government’s draft
proposal and inform them if
they want to add or delete any-
thing, he added.
The Minister said there
were recommendations for
reforms in the farm sector in
the past also by experts, unions
and State Chief Ministers, but
the previous Government
might have faced difficulties in
converting the recommenda-
tions into laws. Tomar further
said the Government will con-
tinue with reforms in the farm
sector as they are still due in
many areas.
The Union Agriculture
Minister was referring to a
proposal sent by the Centre to
the farmers’ unions on Sunday,
in which it offered to hold the
sixth round of talks at a date
and time of the unions’
choosing.
He added, “I would also
like to thank banks, as they
brought more than 1 crore
farmers under Kisan Credit
Card cover during the pan-
demic and gave farmers C1
lakh crore in last 8 months.
We’ve undertaken some
reforms and will bring more in
future.”
Total five rounds of talks,
including one each on
December 1, 3 and 5, have
failed to break the deadlock
between the two sides. While
the Centre is firm that the laws
won’t be scrapped and has
instead proposed amendments,
the unions are adamant on a
total repeal. The Government
has worked the back channels
to bring farmer groups back to
the negotiating table.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Even as the Government is
yet to disclose if the Covid-
19 positive flyers from UK
carry the new variant of the
virus that originated in Britain,
experts here said that the
upcoming vaccination can
tackle the strain.
Six more passengers arriv-
ing in two flights from the
United Kingdom, which land-
ed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi
International Airport (IGIA)
late on Tuesday night, have test-
ed positive for Covid-19 and 50
passengers have been advised
for institutional quarantine.
With this, the number of
passengers from the UK who
have tested positive at the IGIA
has soared to 11. Five tested
positive for the Covid-19 virus
after arrival from the UK on
Tuesday.
Union Health Secretary
Rajesh Bhushan on
Wednesday took stock of the
status of passengers coming
from the UK to India and
found that passengers were
positive in ten States where the
flights from UK to India land.
These States are
Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, West Bengal,
Goa, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala
and Telangana. The
Government has identified
the laboratories for Genome
Sequencing.
B74:70AB8=67Q =4F34;78
The United Farmers Front,
on Wednesday wrote a let-
ter to the Central Government
urging the Government not to
repeat those “meaningless”
amendments which have been
rejected by the farmers’ unions.
Meanwhile, farmers also urged
people to skip one meal on
“Kisan Diwas” on Wednesday,
the birth anniversary of former
Prime Minister Chaudhary
Charan Singh in support of
their stir.
Addressing a Press confer-
ence on Wednesday at Singhu
Border, the epicentre of the
farmers protests across the
National Capital’s borders, the
farmers unions said United
Farmers Front on Wednesday
has written a letter to the
Government.
“It states that the
Government shouldn’t ques-
tion the letter written by the
United Farmers’ Front previ-
ously as it was a unanimous
decision. Government’s new
letter is a fresh attempt to
defame farmers’ association,”
said Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj
India.
While reading the letter in
Hindi, Yadav said the
Government is constantly
holding talks with so-called
farmers’ leaders and organisa-
tions, who’re not associated
with our movement at all.
“This is an attempt to break
our movement. the
Government is dealing with
protesting farmers, the way it
deals with its Opposition,” said
Yadav.
New Delhi: The
Government on Wednesday
launched a technology con-
test to invite solutions from
IT companies and start-ups
to strengthen digital platform
CoWIN, which will be used
for rolling out and scaling up
Covid vaccine distribution
across the country.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Union Home Minister Amit Shah
and the BJP on Wednesday hailed
the outcome of Jammu Kashmir’s
maiden District Development Council
(DDC) elections, saying it was the man-
ifestation of people’s faith in democra-
cy and a slap in the face of separatists.
Shah also “heartily thanked” the
people for voting the BJP as the single-
largest party in the polls.
“I heartily thank our sisters and
brothers of JK for voting the BJP as
the single largest party in the District
Development Council elections. The
BJP under the leadership of PM
@narendramodi ji will continue to
work relentlessly towards the prosper-
ity and development of the JK region,”
Shah tweeted.
“Congratulations to the people of
JK for such great turnout in DDC
polls. I applaud the efforts of our secu-
rity forces local administration for
successfully conducting these multi-
phased elections. This will further
boost the morale and trust of people of
JK in democracy,” he added.
Earlier, stating that people of
Jammu Kashmir are “making a new
beginning”, Union Minister for Law
Ravishankar Prasad said the BJP has
emerged as a “the single largest party
in the poll and gained more votes than
the National Conference, Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and the
Congress put together.
Prasad said it is the BJP with 75
seats in the DDC and as the single
largest party that has won the people’s
mandate and not the “opportunistic
Gupkar alliance”.
Prasad said of the 49 independents
winning in the elections, “several are
backed by the BJP.” Independents
have won more seats than the PDP, he
said.
78C:0=370A8Q 90D
Leaders of People’s Alliance for
Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) sepa-
rately asserted on Wednesday that the
outcome of the DDC poll was a rejec-
tion of the abrogation of Article 370, but
even after winning 112 seats the PAGD
constituents shied away from coming
together on one platform to “unitedly”
celebrate their victory.
The top brass of the National
Conference organised a function at its
own headquarters in Nawa-e-Subah,
while PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti
addressed a separate press conference
at her Gupkar residence, with no party
leader sitting by her side.
PAGD Spokesman Sajad Lone
remained conspicuous even on social
media.
No official statement was issued by
the PAGD in connection with the poll
results either.
Meanwhile, upbeat Omar
Abdullah while addressing the party
workers said the people have made
clear their view by supporting the
People’s Alliance for Gupkar
Declaration (PAGD) in the District
Development Council polls.
Omar also observed he did not
foresee Assembly elections in the
Union Territory anytime soon because
of the poll results.
“If you really say that democracy
has won, then you will have to listen
to the voices of the people, and the peo-
ple of Jammu Kashmir have said it
with a huge majority that they do not
accept (the decisions of) August 5,
2019,” Omar said.
The Centre abrogated Article 370
— which gave special status to Jammu
Kashmir — and bifurcated the erst-
while State into two Union Territories
on August 5 last year.
Omar said the results of the DDC
elections have proved that the BJP will
not be able to “bury” the NC.
:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
Father Thomas Kottoor and
Sister Sephy, the first and
third accused in the Sister
Abhaya murder case, were on
Wednesday sentenced to life
imprisonment and fines of
C6.5 lakh and C5.5 lakh respec-
tively by K Sanal Kumar, judge
of the Thiruvananthapuram
CBI Special Court.
Though Fr Kottoor was
slapped with double life impris-
onment (on charges of murder
and trespass) the punishment
would run concurrently and
hence he need to serve only one
sentence. He has to pay a fine
of C5 lakh on charges of mur-
der, C1 lakh for trespass and
C50,000 for destroying evi-
dence.
The nun Sr Sephy was
awarded life imprisonment and
C5 lakh for charges under mur-
der, seven years rigorous
imprisonment and C50,000 for
destroying evidence.
Though the accused told
the judge that they should be
freed of all charges considering
their advanced age and ail-
ments, they did not get any
concessions. The judge had
made it clear to the prosecution
that since it was not a pre-
planned murder, the accused
would not be slapped with
death sentence.
Father Kottoor was sent to
Central Jail at Poojappura, a
Thiruvananthapuram suburb
and Sister Sephy to the
Women’s Jail in another suburb
where she would have the
company of Swapna Suresh, the
kingpin of the gold smuggling
case that rocked Kerala politics.
Expressing happiness over
the judgement, Sister Abhaya
Action Council convener
Jomon Puthenpurackal said he
would not rest until the appeals
to be filed by the convicts are
rejected by the higher courts.
The Kottayam Archdiocese
to which the accused belong
issued a media release about
the incident for the first time
since Sister Abhaya was mur-
dered on March 27, 1992. “The
Archdiocese is of the view that
the death of Sister Abhaya is
unfortunate and painful.
Though the charges against
Father Thomas Kottoor and
Sister Sephy who are members
of the Archdiocese are unbe-
lievable we respect the court
verdict. The accused have the
rights for appeal against the
verdict and prove their inno-
cence,” said the release.
According to prosecution,
Kottoor and Poothrikkayil were
having an illicit relationship
with Sephy, also an inmate of
the convent. On the night of
March 27, 1992, Abhaya (21) —
a second year student of the
BCM college, Kottayam, was
staying at St Pius convent —
saw Kottoor and Sephy in a
compromising position, fol-
lowing which the three accused
hacked her with an axe and
threw her into the well, the CBI
had said in its charge sheet.
Varghese P Thomas, the
then CBI Deputy SP who was
the first investigation officer of
the case and who had to resign
his job because of severe pres-
sure to write off the case as sui-
cide, said that he was happy
that the accused have been sen-
tenced.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
The Union Cabinet on
Wednesday approved an
ordinance extending protection
from punitive action to unau-
thorisedcolonies,JJclustersand
constructions in Delhi’s rural
areasbuiltonagriculturelandfor
another three years, Union
Minster Prakash Javadekar said.
Since the law re-enacted in
2017wasendingsoonandthere
was no Winter Session of
Parliament, an ordinance was
approved to extend the protec-
tion for another three years (till
December2023),Javadekartold
reportersaftertheCabinetmeet-
ing. The NCT of Delhi (Special
Provisions) Amendment
Ordinance 2020 is an extension
of a similar law first passed in
2011.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The Union Cabinet on
Wednesday approved revi-
sion in guidelines for providing
Direct to Home (DTH) ser-
vices in the country under
which licences would be issued
for 20 years. The Cabinet also
approved the merger of all
films related divisions into
National Film Development
Corporation (NFDC).
Addressing media,
Information and Broadcasting
Minister Prakash Javadekar
said the new DTH licensing
guidelines will streamline and
provide an equal platform in
the industry. He said the
change in guidelines would
also allow 100 per cent FDI in
the DTH sector. Till now, the
FDI was limited to 49 per
cent, he said.
Films Division, Directorate
of Film. Festivals, National
Film Archives of India, and
Children’s Film Society, India
will be merged with the
National Film Development
Corporation (NFDC). Minister
said no one will be retrenched
in this process.
Related report on P9
?=BQ =4F34;78
The National Investigation
Agency (NIA) has arrested
absconding Khalistani terror-
ist Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, who
was hiding in Cyprus (Europe),
upon his arrival at the airport
here late on Tuesday night.
The NIA had registered a
case on January 10, 2019
against accused Harpal Singh
under various Sections of the
Arms Act, 1959, Maharashtra
Police Act, 1951 and provisions
of the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1967.
“Investigation has revealed
that absconding accused
Gurjeet Singh Nijjar was the
main conspirator of this case.
Accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar,
Harpal Singh and Moin Khan
were active on social media
platforms and hatched a crim-
inal conspiracy to revive Sikh
militancy for ultimate aim of
formation of a separate state of
Khalistan,” the NIA said in a
statement.
During investigation it
was revealed that Nijjar of
Pandori village in Amritsar left
India on October 19, 2017 for
Cyprus.
?=BQ =4F34;78
In a big push for education of
students belonging to the
Scheduled Caste, the Union
Cabinet on Wednesday okayed
C59,000 crore for post-matric
scholarship for five years.
The Cabinet meeting
chaired by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi estimated that
this mega scholarship scheme
will benefit more than four
crore students for continuing
their education from Class XI.
The Central Government will
spend 60 per cent of the pro-
gramme. The rest will be pro-
vided by the State Government.
“This replaces the existing
‘committed liability’ system
and brings greater involve-
ment of the Central Govt in
this crucial scheme,” the Union
Cabinet said in a statement.
Detailed report on P4
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The impact of Covid-19 is all
too visible in the popular
tourist destination of Nainital.
In the past years, all hotels and
inns from Nainital to Munsyari
used to get packed with tourists
by December 20 for Christmas
and New Year celebrations.
However, this year the book-
ings have been limited to about
10 per cent. Tourists from
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
Gujarat and other parts of
India used to arrive in the
mountains by this time.
However, this time the number
of arrivals is quite less and com-
prises mostly visitors from
nearby areas. In Nainital city,
there are about 500 hotels and
guest houses, more than 100
gift centres and restaurants
and a number of boat operators
and horse owners who rely on
tourists for their livelihood. The
trend of celebrating New Year
in the mountains picked up
after 1998. As a result, those in
the hospitality and other
tourism related trades started
providing attractive packages to
tourists.
Additional district magis-
trate Kailash Singh Tolia said
that in case the parking in
Nainital gets full, vehicles will
be stopped at Baldiyakhan and
Rusi bypass from where
tourists will be brought to the
city by shuttle service. Tourists
who have made bookings in
hotels with parking facility will
be allowed to enter in their
vehicles. Tourists arriving from
other states will undergo ther-
mal screening and Covid test.
The Covid guidelines will be
strictly implemented in various
celebratory programmes, he
added.
The Nainital hotel and
restaurant association head
Dinesh Sah said that a number
of tourists have arrived due to
the weekend and Christmas.
However, visitors are uncertain
about new year’s eve due to the
Covid test. He said that tourists
are making inquiries for new
year’s eve but are anxious in
view of the Covid test.
The vice president of the
association, DS Bisht said that
the district administration had
informed the high court that
thermal scanning is being
done and those exhibiting
symptoms are being tested for
Covid-19. However, he
claimed that according to the
information being provided by
the administration to some
national media, visitors will
not be allowed to enter the city
without a Covid negative test
report which is wrong and
confusing the tourists. He said
that the authorities should
issue clear guidelines.
Shervani hotel general
manager Gopal Datt said that
Covid had badly affected the
hotel business in Nainital. It
was being hoped that business
would pick up during
Christmas and new year cele-
brations but the pandemic
has affected the arrival of
tourists.
Hotel Manu Maharani
general manager Naresh
Gupta said that no special
programme is being organised
for tourists on new year’s eve
this time due to Covid-19.
Ahead of December 31, about
20 per cent of the rooms have
been booked in the hotel, he
said.
4`gZUWRTe`cYZede`fcZd^Z_?RZ_ZeR]
RYVRU`WI¶^Rd?VhJVRc¶d6gV
?=BQ 347A03D=
The SCPCR chief Usha Negi
directed CEO Asha Rani
Painuly to pay the parents of
the students studying in a pri-
vate school of Dehradun under
the Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education
(RTE) Act after the school
failed to refund the fees since
three years. According to Negi,
the State Commission for
Protection of Child Rights
(SCPCR) received a complaint
that a private school charged
fees from the students studying
under RTE Act about three
years back which the school
administration denied.
However, the investigation
committee stated in the report
clearly that as per the evi-
dence, the school charged fees
of RTE students and they
should be paid back by the
school administration but
nothing has been done in this
matter since then, said Negi.
Considering this, Negi instruct-
ed chief education officer
(CEO) Painuly to pay the par-
ents of such RTE students
from the funds reimbursed to
the schools by the education
department to admit students
under the RTE act.
Meanwhile, the commis-
sion received the complaint
against the same school recent-
ly that the school administra-
tion has suspended a student of
Class VII after his parents
failed to deposit the school fee
since April. Negi informed that
the complainant has stated that
his financial condition is quite
bad since the pandemic and he
also had an accident recently
due to which he could not
deposit the school fees. Stating
that a child cannot be made to
suffer due to fees issues as per
the orders of the National
Commission for Protection of
Child Rights (NCPCR), Negi
directed Painuly to take action
against the matter and submit
the report within one week in
the commission.
B2?2ASXaTRcb24c^aTUd]SUTTb^UAC4bcdST]cbUa^bRW^^[Ud]Sb
?=BQ 347A03D=
The treatment of
Coronary Artery
Disease (CAD) of heart
has started at the All
India Institute of
Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) Rishikesh.
Many patients
require bypass surgery in
the treatment of heart
blockage or coronary
artery disease. This com-
plex and risky complex
surgery is now being
done in AIIMS
Rishikesh.
The Director AIIMS
Rishikesh, Ravikant
praised the doctors of
CTVS department and
said that completely free
operation or treatment is
being provided to the
patients registered in
Ayushman Bharat
Scheme at AIIMS. He
said that bypass surgery
and treatment of
patients who are living
in poverty are also done
free of cost in AIIMS.
Cardiac anesthetist
of AIIMS Rishikesh, Dr
Ajay Kumar said that
there is a risk of heart
attack due to blockage in
the coronary arteries.
“In such a situation, the
patient may complain of
chest pain while walking
or working, fast sweat-
ing, nervousness or
breathlessness.
The risk of heart
attack can be avoided by
timely examination and
treatment of the patient,’’
he said.
199=CBYcXY[UcXcdQbdc
Ri`QcccebWUbi_VXUQbd
CWT3XaTRc^a
088BAXbWXZTbW
APeXZP]c_aPXbTS
cWTS^Rc^ab^U
2CEBST_PacT]c
?=BQ
347A03D=
If the
r e q u e s t
made by the
S t a t e ’ s
Tourism Minister
Satpal Maharaj is met
by the Madhya
Pradesh government,
the famous white
tigers of Rewa could
become a major
attraction at a wildlife
safari being planned
by the State govern-
ment. Maharaj has
recently written to the
Madhya Pradesh chief
minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan requesting
him to provide a few
white tiger cubs to
Uttarakhand.
The Minister has
stated in his letter that
Uttarakhand is an
important state from
the perspective of
tourism with its hill
stations, religious cen-
tres and national
parks being a centre
of attraction for
tourists. He further
states that the State
government is con-
sidering the possibil-
ity of developing
Sitabani area in
Nainital district for
the purpose of
wildlife tourism. If
Uttarakhand receives
a few white tiger cubs
from Madhya
Pradesh, Sitabani
could develop a sepa-
rate identity for
wildlife tourism in the
future which would
also enhance the
tourism business here.
Stating this, Maharaj
has requested
Chouhan to provide a
few white tiger cubs
to Uttarakhand for
boosting wildlife
tourism in the state.
It is pertinent to
mention here that in
1951, the last king of
Rewa got a white tiger
cub captured after
which the process of
specifically breeding
tigers to produce
more of the white big
cats was started.
Madhya Pradesh has a
white tiger safari apart
from which these big
cats are also housed in
various zoos across
India and abroad.
PWPaPYbTTZb
fWXcTcXVTa
RdQbUa^?
?=BQ 347A03D=
In the backdrop of increasing
sexual harassment cases
against women in the country,
the National Commission for
Women (NCW) is preparing a
report regarding the formation
of internal committees (ICs) in
the universities of the states.
The women commission mem-
ber Rajul Desai informed this
at a press conference in
Dehradun on Wednesday.
Desai said that sexual
harassment cases, especially
the online sexual harassment
cases through social media
platforms have increased
tremendously in the last few
months.
She said that it is impor-
tant for education campuses
and institutes besides work-
places to display messages pro-
viding information against sex-
ual harassment. She informed
that the NCW is preparing a
data report about colleges and
universities across the country
which have and have not
formed ICs to provide a safe,
secure and enabling environ-
ment to every female student
and worker against sexual
harassment which will be sent
further to higher national
authorities. She said that it is
crucial for ICs to conduct
campaigns and seminars reg-
ularly throughout the year
while following the set of
guidelines to tackle the com-
plaints of sexual harassment.
NCW will also ask universities
every year in December to pro-
vide details about seminars and
awareness campaigns con-
ducted throughout the year.
She said that women com-
mission can also take action
and impose penalties on the
universities that do not com-
ply with the rules of commis-
sion or act biased on com-
plaints. Referring to the con-
dition of women in
Uttarakhand, Desai said that
the condition of women in the
state is certainly better than
many states but drug addiction
is a serious challenge in
Uttarakhand.
Talking about her visit,
Desai said that she is here for
a three-day visit to meet vari-
ous officials and authorities to
discuss the condition of
women. She stated that she met
DGP Ashok Kumar and dis-
cussed how the police depart-
ment is working on pending
cases filed under NCW and
how the police can work for
women welfare in the State.
Desai also talked to Governor
Baby Rani Maurya on women
welfare issues and discussed
the initiatives taken by the
State Government.
Earlier interacting with
the IC members of various uni-
versities of Dehradun, Desai
said that women who complain
of sexual harassment should be
given options of taking legal
action under various sections
of Indian Penal Code (IPC) by
committees so that they can act
accordingly.
=2FbTTZbSPcP^]U^aPcX^]
^UX]cTa]P[R^XccTTb
?=BQ AD3A0?DA
Saraswati Institute of
Management and
Technology, Rudrapur’s MBA
second semester results were
announced today. Uttarakhand
Technical University,
Dehradun announced the
results today. Neha Bathala
scored 80.75 percent marks
standing first in the entire
class. Faraz Ali with 80.25 per-
cent and Priyanka Pal with
79.75 percent got second and
third positions respectively.
Namaz Ali with 77.62 percent
marks got the fourth position.
SIMT Chairman Hariom
Garg has greeted the students
for the excellent results.
General Secretary Surendra
Kumar Gandhi, Vice chair-
man Vishal Garg, CEO Sameep
Gandhi and Director MK
Sharma were prominent pre-
sent on the occasion.
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- 1. =B2=:0==D=24B 240B458A4?4024C0;:B :^WXP)=PVPX]bdaVT]cVa^d_ =B2=:[TSQhSaTPSTS X[XcP]c=XZXBdX^] FTS]TbSPhP]]^d]RTSP RTPbTUXaTP]SbPXScWPc XcWPbR^]cPRcTScWT2T]caTU^a X]XcXPcX]V_TPRTSXP[^VdT ³0H37H0B@D4 0608=BCF0@502C 0h^SWhP)08?;1TQTa IPUPahPQ9X[P]XbPXS^] FTS]TbSPhcWT^b`dTfWXRW Xb_[P]]TSc^R^Td_X] 0h^SWhPU^[[^fX]V[PbchTPab Bd_aTT2^daceTaSXRcXb PVPX]bccWTFP`U0RcP]S X[[TVP[d]STacWTBWPaXPc[Pfb 218270A64B744CB ?A8=28?0;5=30 =Tf3T[WX)CWT218WPbRWPaVT bWTTcTScWT?aX]RX_P[^UcWT =PcX^]P[3TUT]RT0RPSTh :WPSPZfPb[P?aPZPbW BWdZ[PU^aPZX]VUP[bTR[PXb PQ^dcWXbcTPRWX]VTg_TaXT]RTc^ cWTD?B2 !hTPabPV^ 34;78?A8=28?0;BF0=C =DAB4AH038BB8=B =Tf3T[WX)?aX]RX_P[b^U bRW^^[bX]3T[WXPaT]^cX] UPe^da^UbRaP__X]V]dabTah PSXbbX^]bU^a]TgchTPaX]eXTf ^UcWT2^eXS (_P]STXRTeT] PbcWT6^eTa]T]cPX]cPX]b cWPc]^UX]P[STRXbX^]WPbQTT] cPZT]hTcX]cWXbaTVPaS 20?BD;4 ?=BQ =4F34;78 In a bid to break the deadlock with protesting farmers, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday invited them for talks saying any agitation could be resolved only through dialogue. He urged them to fix a date and time for the next round of talks. Tomar said farmers should tell them what they want to add or remove from the proposal given by the Government. “I’m hopeful that farmers’ unions will discuss our request. Whatever they want to add subtract from the Government’s proposal, they should tell us. We’re ready for a discussion at the time date of their convenience. I’m hope- ful of a solution,” Tomar said while talking to reporters. Stressing that a solution can be reached only through dialogue, Tomar said, “History is witness to this fact. How old and strong the protest is, the end and the solution to a protest are reached through dialogue only.” Farmers’ unions should discuss the Government’s draft proposal and inform them if they want to add or delete any- thing, he added. The Minister said there were recommendations for reforms in the farm sector in the past also by experts, unions and State Chief Ministers, but the previous Government might have faced difficulties in converting the recommenda- tions into laws. Tomar further said the Government will con- tinue with reforms in the farm sector as they are still due in many areas. The Union Agriculture Minister was referring to a proposal sent by the Centre to the farmers’ unions on Sunday, in which it offered to hold the sixth round of talks at a date and time of the unions’ choosing. He added, “I would also like to thank banks, as they brought more than 1 crore farmers under Kisan Credit Card cover during the pan- demic and gave farmers C1 lakh crore in last 8 months. We’ve undertaken some reforms and will bring more in future.” Total five rounds of talks, including one each on December 1, 3 and 5, have failed to break the deadlock between the two sides. While the Centre is firm that the laws won’t be scrapped and has instead proposed amendments, the unions are adamant on a total repeal. The Government has worked the back channels to bring farmer groups back to the negotiating table. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Even as the Government is yet to disclose if the Covid- 19 positive flyers from UK carry the new variant of the virus that originated in Britain, experts here said that the upcoming vaccination can tackle the strain. Six more passengers arriv- ing in two flights from the United Kingdom, which land- ed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) late on Tuesday night, have test- ed positive for Covid-19 and 50 passengers have been advised for institutional quarantine. With this, the number of passengers from the UK who have tested positive at the IGIA has soared to 11. Five tested positive for the Covid-19 virus after arrival from the UK on Tuesday. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Wednesday took stock of the status of passengers coming from the UK to India and found that passengers were positive in ten States where the flights from UK to India land. These States are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala and Telangana. The Government has identified the laboratories for Genome Sequencing. B74:70AB8=67Q =4F34;78 The United Farmers Front, on Wednesday wrote a let- ter to the Central Government urging the Government not to repeat those “meaningless” amendments which have been rejected by the farmers’ unions. Meanwhile, farmers also urged people to skip one meal on “Kisan Diwas” on Wednesday, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh in support of their stir. Addressing a Press confer- ence on Wednesday at Singhu Border, the epicentre of the farmers protests across the National Capital’s borders, the farmers unions said United Farmers Front on Wednesday has written a letter to the Government. “It states that the Government shouldn’t ques- tion the letter written by the United Farmers’ Front previ- ously as it was a unanimous decision. Government’s new letter is a fresh attempt to defame farmers’ association,” said Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India. While reading the letter in Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa- tions, who’re not associated with our movement at all. “This is an attempt to break our movement. the Government is dealing with protesting farmers, the way it deals with its Opposition,” said Yadav. New Delhi: The Government on Wednesday launched a technology con- test to invite solutions from IT companies and start-ups to strengthen digital platform CoWIN, which will be used for rolling out and scaling up Covid vaccine distribution across the country. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP on Wednesday hailed the outcome of Jammu Kashmir’s maiden District Development Council (DDC) elections, saying it was the man- ifestation of people’s faith in democra- cy and a slap in the face of separatists. Shah also “heartily thanked” the people for voting the BJP as the single- largest party in the polls. “I heartily thank our sisters and brothers of JK for voting the BJP as the single largest party in the District Development Council elections. The BJP under the leadership of PM @narendramodi ji will continue to work relentlessly towards the prosper- ity and development of the JK region,” Shah tweeted. “Congratulations to the people of JK for such great turnout in DDC polls. I applaud the efforts of our secu- rity forces local administration for successfully conducting these multi- phased elections. This will further boost the morale and trust of people of JK in democracy,” he added. Earlier, stating that people of Jammu Kashmir are “making a new beginning”, Union Minister for Law Ravishankar Prasad said the BJP has emerged as a “the single largest party in the poll and gained more votes than the National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress put together. Prasad said it is the BJP with 75 seats in the DDC and as the single largest party that has won the people’s mandate and not the “opportunistic Gupkar alliance”. Prasad said of the 49 independents winning in the elections, “several are backed by the BJP.” Independents have won more seats than the PDP, he said. 78C:0=370A8Q 90D Leaders of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) sepa- rately asserted on Wednesday that the outcome of the DDC poll was a rejec- tion of the abrogation of Article 370, but even after winning 112 seats the PAGD constituents shied away from coming together on one platform to “unitedly” celebrate their victory. The top brass of the National Conference organised a function at its own headquarters in Nawa-e-Subah, while PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti addressed a separate press conference at her Gupkar residence, with no party leader sitting by her side. PAGD Spokesman Sajad Lone remained conspicuous even on social media. No official statement was issued by the PAGD in connection with the poll results either. Meanwhile, upbeat Omar Abdullah while addressing the party workers said the people have made clear their view by supporting the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) in the District Development Council polls. Omar also observed he did not foresee Assembly elections in the Union Territory anytime soon because of the poll results. “If you really say that democracy has won, then you will have to listen to the voices of the people, and the peo- ple of Jammu Kashmir have said it with a huge majority that they do not accept (the decisions of) August 5, 2019,” Omar said. The Centre abrogated Article 370 — which gave special status to Jammu Kashmir — and bifurcated the erst- while State into two Union Territories on August 5 last year. Omar said the results of the DDC elections have proved that the BJP will not be able to “bury” the NC. :D0A274;;0??0=Q :278 Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy, the first and third accused in the Sister Abhaya murder case, were on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment and fines of C6.5 lakh and C5.5 lakh respec- tively by K Sanal Kumar, judge of the Thiruvananthapuram CBI Special Court. Though Fr Kottoor was slapped with double life impris- onment (on charges of murder and trespass) the punishment would run concurrently and hence he need to serve only one sentence. He has to pay a fine of C5 lakh on charges of mur- der, C1 lakh for trespass and C50,000 for destroying evi- dence. The nun Sr Sephy was awarded life imprisonment and C5 lakh for charges under mur- der, seven years rigorous imprisonment and C50,000 for destroying evidence. Though the accused told the judge that they should be freed of all charges considering their advanced age and ail- ments, they did not get any concessions. The judge had made it clear to the prosecution that since it was not a pre- planned murder, the accused would not be slapped with death sentence. Father Kottoor was sent to Central Jail at Poojappura, a Thiruvananthapuram suburb and Sister Sephy to the Women’s Jail in another suburb where she would have the company of Swapna Suresh, the kingpin of the gold smuggling case that rocked Kerala politics. Expressing happiness over the judgement, Sister Abhaya Action Council convener Jomon Puthenpurackal said he would not rest until the appeals to be filed by the convicts are rejected by the higher courts. The Kottayam Archdiocese to which the accused belong issued a media release about the incident for the first time since Sister Abhaya was mur- dered on March 27, 1992. “The Archdiocese is of the view that the death of Sister Abhaya is unfortunate and painful. Though the charges against Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy who are members of the Archdiocese are unbe- lievable we respect the court verdict. The accused have the rights for appeal against the verdict and prove their inno- cence,” said the release. According to prosecution, Kottoor and Poothrikkayil were having an illicit relationship with Sephy, also an inmate of the convent. On the night of March 27, 1992, Abhaya (21) — a second year student of the BCM college, Kottayam, was staying at St Pius convent — saw Kottoor and Sephy in a compromising position, fol- lowing which the three accused hacked her with an axe and threw her into the well, the CBI had said in its charge sheet. Varghese P Thomas, the then CBI Deputy SP who was the first investigation officer of the case and who had to resign his job because of severe pres- sure to write off the case as sui- cide, said that he was happy that the accused have been sen- tenced. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance extending protection from punitive action to unau- thorisedcolonies,JJclustersand constructions in Delhi’s rural areasbuiltonagriculturelandfor another three years, Union Minster Prakash Javadekar said. Since the law re-enacted in 2017wasendingsoonandthere was no Winter Session of Parliament, an ordinance was approved to extend the protec- tion for another three years (till December2023),Javadekartold reportersaftertheCabinetmeet- ing. The NCT of Delhi (Special Provisions) Amendment Ordinance 2020 is an extension of a similar law first passed in 2011. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved revi- sion in guidelines for providing Direct to Home (DTH) ser- vices in the country under which licences would be issued for 20 years. The Cabinet also approved the merger of all films related divisions into National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). Addressing media, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the new DTH licensing guidelines will streamline and provide an equal platform in the industry. He said the change in guidelines would also allow 100 per cent FDI in the DTH sector. Till now, the FDI was limited to 49 per cent, he said. Films Division, Directorate of Film. Festivals, National Film Archives of India, and Children’s Film Society, India will be merged with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). Minister said no one will be retrenched in this process. Related report on P9 ?=BQ =4F34;78 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested absconding Khalistani terror- ist Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, who was hiding in Cyprus (Europe), upon his arrival at the airport here late on Tuesday night. The NIA had registered a case on January 10, 2019 against accused Harpal Singh under various Sections of the Arms Act, 1959, Maharashtra Police Act, 1951 and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. “Investigation has revealed that absconding accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar was the main conspirator of this case. Accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, Harpal Singh and Moin Khan were active on social media platforms and hatched a crim- inal conspiracy to revive Sikh militancy for ultimate aim of formation of a separate state of Khalistan,” the NIA said in a statement. During investigation it was revealed that Nijjar of Pandori village in Amritsar left India on October 19, 2017 for Cyprus. ?=BQ =4F34;78 In a big push for education of students belonging to the Scheduled Caste, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday okayed C59,000 crore for post-matric scholarship for five years. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi estimated that this mega scholarship scheme will benefit more than four crore students for continuing their education from Class XI. The Central Government will spend 60 per cent of the pro- gramme. The rest will be pro- vided by the State Government. “This replaces the existing ‘committed liability’ system and brings greater involve- ment of the Central Govt in this crucial scheme,” the Union Cabinet said in a statement. 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- 2. ]PcX^]!347A03D=kC7DAB30H k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·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he impact of Covid-19 is all too visible in the popular tourist destination of Nainital. In the past years, all hotels and inns from Nainital to Munsyari used to get packed with tourists by December 20 for Christmas and New Year celebrations. However, this year the book- ings have been limited to about 10 per cent. Tourists from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gujarat and other parts of India used to arrive in the mountains by this time. However, this time the number of arrivals is quite less and com- prises mostly visitors from nearby areas. In Nainital city, there are about 500 hotels and guest houses, more than 100 gift centres and restaurants and a number of boat operators and horse owners who rely on tourists for their livelihood. The trend of celebrating New Year in the mountains picked up after 1998. As a result, those in the hospitality and other tourism related trades started providing attractive packages to tourists. Additional district magis- trate Kailash Singh Tolia said that in case the parking in Nainital gets full, vehicles will be stopped at Baldiyakhan and Rusi bypass from where tourists will be brought to the city by shuttle service. Tourists who have made bookings in hotels with parking facility will be allowed to enter in their vehicles. Tourists arriving from other states will undergo ther- mal screening and Covid test. The Covid guidelines will be strictly implemented in various celebratory programmes, he added. The Nainital hotel and restaurant association head Dinesh Sah said that a number of tourists have arrived due to the weekend and Christmas. However, visitors are uncertain about new year’s eve due to the Covid test. He said that tourists are making inquiries for new year’s eve but are anxious in view of the Covid test. The vice president of the association, DS Bisht said that the district administration had informed the high court that thermal scanning is being done and those exhibiting symptoms are being tested for Covid-19. However, he claimed that according to the information being provided by the administration to some national media, visitors will not be allowed to enter the city without a Covid negative test report which is wrong and confusing the tourists. He said that the authorities should issue clear guidelines. Shervani hotel general manager Gopal Datt said that Covid had badly affected the hotel business in Nainital. It was being hoped that business would pick up during Christmas and new year cele- brations but the pandemic has affected the arrival of tourists. Hotel Manu Maharani general manager Naresh Gupta said that no special programme is being organised for tourists on new year’s eve this time due to Covid-19. Ahead of December 31, about 20 per cent of the rooms have been booked in the hotel, he said. 4`gZUWRTe`cYZede`fcZd^Z_?RZ_ZeR] RYVRU`WI¶^Rd?VhJVRc¶d6gV ?=BQ 347A03D= The SCPCR chief Usha Negi directed CEO Asha Rani Painuly to pay the parents of the students studying in a pri- vate school of Dehradun under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act after the school failed to refund the fees since three years. According to Negi, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) received a complaint that a private school charged fees from the students studying under RTE Act about three years back which the school administration denied. However, the investigation committee stated in the report clearly that as per the evi- dence, the school charged fees of RTE students and they should be paid back by the school administration but nothing has been done in this matter since then, said Negi. Considering this, Negi instruct- ed chief education officer (CEO) Painuly to pay the par- ents of such RTE students from the funds reimbursed to the schools by the education department to admit students under the RTE act. Meanwhile, the commis- sion received the complaint against the same school recent- ly that the school administra- tion has suspended a student of Class VII after his parents failed to deposit the school fee since April. Negi informed that the complainant has stated that his financial condition is quite bad since the pandemic and he also had an accident recently due to which he could not deposit the school fees. Stating that a child cannot be made to suffer due to fees issues as per the orders of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Negi directed Painuly to take action against the matter and submit the report within one week in the commission. B2?2ASXaTRcb24c^aTUd]SUTTb^UAC4bcdST]cbUa^bRW^^[Ud]Sb ?=BQ 347A03D= The treatment of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) of heart has started at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh. Many patients require bypass surgery in the treatment of heart blockage or coronary artery disease. This com- plex and risky complex surgery is now being done in AIIMS Rishikesh. The Director AIIMS Rishikesh, Ravikant praised the doctors of CTVS department and said that completely free operation or treatment is being provided to the patients registered in Ayushman Bharat Scheme at AIIMS. He said that bypass surgery and treatment of patients who are living in poverty are also done free of cost in AIIMS. Cardiac anesthetist of AIIMS Rishikesh, Dr Ajay Kumar said that there is a risk of heart attack due to blockage in the coronary arteries. “In such a situation, the patient may complain of chest pain while walking or working, fast sweat- ing, nervousness or breathlessness. The risk of heart attack can be avoided by timely examination and treatment of the patient,’’ he said. 199=CBYcXY[UcXcdQbdc Ri`QcccebWUbi_VXUQbd CWT3XaTRc^a 088BAXbWXZTbW APeXZP]c_aPXbTS cWTS^Rc^ab^U 2CEBST_PacT]c ?=BQ 347A03D= If the r e q u e s t made by the S t a t e ’ s Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj is met by the Madhya Pradesh government, the famous white tigers of Rewa could become a major attraction at a wildlife safari being planned by the State govern- ment. Maharaj has recently written to the Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan requesting him to provide a few white tiger cubs to Uttarakhand. The Minister has stated in his letter that Uttarakhand is an important state from the perspective of tourism with its hill stations, religious cen- tres and national parks being a centre of attraction for tourists. He further states that the State government is con- sidering the possibil- ity of developing Sitabani area in Nainital district for the purpose of wildlife tourism. If Uttarakhand receives a few white tiger cubs from Madhya Pradesh, Sitabani could develop a sepa- rate identity for wildlife tourism in the future which would also enhance the tourism business here. Stating this, Maharaj has requested Chouhan to provide a few white tiger cubs to Uttarakhand for boosting wildlife tourism in the state. It is pertinent to mention here that in 1951, the last king of Rewa got a white tiger cub captured after which the process of specifically breeding tigers to produce more of the white big cats was started. Madhya Pradesh has a white tiger safari apart from which these big cats are also housed in various zoos across India and abroad. PWPaPYbTTZb fWXcTcXVTa RdQbUa^? ?=BQ 347A03D= In the backdrop of increasing sexual harassment cases against women in the country, the National Commission for Women (NCW) is preparing a report regarding the formation of internal committees (ICs) in the universities of the states. The women commission mem- ber Rajul Desai informed this at a press conference in Dehradun on Wednesday. Desai said that sexual harassment cases, especially the online sexual harassment cases through social media platforms have increased tremendously in the last few months. She said that it is impor- tant for education campuses and institutes besides work- places to display messages pro- viding information against sex- ual harassment. She informed that the NCW is preparing a data report about colleges and universities across the country which have and have not formed ICs to provide a safe, secure and enabling environ- ment to every female student and worker against sexual harassment which will be sent further to higher national authorities. She said that it is crucial for ICs to conduct campaigns and seminars reg- ularly throughout the year while following the set of guidelines to tackle the com- plaints of sexual harassment. NCW will also ask universities every year in December to pro- vide details about seminars and awareness campaigns con- ducted throughout the year. She said that women com- mission can also take action and impose penalties on the universities that do not com- ply with the rules of commis- sion or act biased on com- plaints. Referring to the con- dition of women in Uttarakhand, Desai said that the condition of women in the state is certainly better than many states but drug addiction is a serious challenge in Uttarakhand. Talking about her visit, Desai said that she is here for a three-day visit to meet vari- ous officials and authorities to discuss the condition of women. She stated that she met DGP Ashok Kumar and dis- cussed how the police depart- ment is working on pending cases filed under NCW and how the police can work for women welfare in the State. Desai also talked to Governor Baby Rani Maurya on women welfare issues and discussed the initiatives taken by the State Government. Earlier interacting with the IC members of various uni- versities of Dehradun, Desai said that women who complain of sexual harassment should be given options of taking legal action under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) by committees so that they can act accordingly. =2FbTTZbSPcP^]U^aPcX^] ^UX]cTa]P[R^XccTTb ?=BQ AD3A0?DA Saraswati Institute of Management and Technology, Rudrapur’s MBA second semester results were announced today. Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun announced the results today. Neha Bathala scored 80.75 percent marks standing first in the entire class. Faraz Ali with 80.25 per- cent and Priyanka Pal with 79.75 percent got second and third positions respectively. Namaz Ali with 77.62 percent marks got the fourth position. SIMT Chairman Hariom Garg has greeted the students for the excellent results. General Secretary Surendra Kumar Gandhi, Vice chair- man Vishal Garg, CEO Sameep Gandhi and Director MK Sharma were prominent pre- sent on the occasion. 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- 3. 347A03D=kC7DAB30H k342414A!#!! dccPaPZWP]S ?=BQ 347A03D= Not satisfied by the Government’s reply on allegations of money launder- ing on a company purported- ly owned by the industrial advisor of the Chief Minister, the opposition Congress party staged a walkout from the assembly on Wednesday. The opposition had claimed that an investment company (Social Mutual Benefits company) having links with the industri- al advisor of CM, K S Panwar was involved in money laun- dering and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued a notice to the government on the com- pany. In his reply Kaushik said that the RBI was requested to comment on the subject and it clarified that it has not issued any notice regarding the afore- said company in the year 2020 as claimed by the opposition. He added that a special task force (STF) set up by the state government had investi- gated 234 chit fund companies and organisations working in the state and it found no lacu- nae in the functioning of 98 companies and the Social Mutual Benefits company was one among these 98 compa- nies. Not satisfied by the reply, the Congress members led by the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Indira Hridayesh and PCC president Pritam Singh staged a walkout from the assembly. In the other business of the day the house passed the Uttarakhand Public Service (Reservation for Economically Weaker Sections) (Amendment) Bill 2020, Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh Land Revenue Act 1901) (Amendment) Bill 2020, Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (Amendment) Bill 2020 and Uttarakhand Martyr Dependent Ex Gratia Grant Bill 2020. As soon as the proceedings of the day started, the Congress members wanted the house to discuss the issue of what it termed widespread corruption in the state under rule 310. The Congress said that irregularities worth crores of rupees in Construction workers welfare board exposes the Government and the Uttarakhand High Court (HC) had directed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should investigate the charges of cor- ruption against the CM Trivendra Singh Rawat. In its notice, the Congress also said that the investigation into the NH-74 land acquisition and compensation case is still pend- ing. On the notice of the Congress, the speaker ruled that the cases highlighted in the notice are in Court so the house cannot discuss them. The house would discuss private member bills on Thursday. On pressure of the opposi- tion, the winter session of Uttarakhand assembly origi- nally scheduled for three days has been extended by one more day. 4`_XdeRXVdhR]`feWc`^2ddV^S]j`_ZddfV`WT`ccfaeZ`_ CWTW^dbT _PbbTbU^daQX[[b* cWTbTbbX^] TgcT]STSU^a^]T ^aTSPh EXSWP]BPQWPB_TPZTa?aT2WP]S0VVPafP[P]S[TPSTa^U__^bXcX^]8]SXaP 7aXSPhTbWX]cWT0bbTQ[h^]FTS]TbSPh ?X^]TTa_W^c^ ?=BQ 347A03D= In a protest of its kind, the Congress members brought Maltas and paddies on their shoulders and marched towards the Assembly on Wednesday morning. The Congress members demanded that farmers are not getting anything for their Malta and orange crops and the Government is misleading the farmers on the minimum sup- port price of rice. Congress leader Karan Mahra said that the farmers of mountainous areas are in a very pathetic state and the Malta crop is rotting in the fields in absence of buyers. 2^]VTQTab_a^cTbc fXcWP[cPb?PSSXTb ?=BQ 347A03D= The parliamentary affairs minister Madan Kaushik has blamed the members of the Opposition Congress party for coming to the Assembly without doing their home- work properly. Attacking the Congress MLAs while inter- acting with the media persons, the minister said that the alle- gations levelled by Congress on the industrial advisor of CM were baseless. He said that in its notice the Congress said that the industrial advisor of CM, K S Panwar is the direc- tor of Social Mutual Benefits Company and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in June this year had directed the State Government that the compa- ny is engaged in illegal busi- ness in the State. “On receiv- ing the notice of Congress, we sent a fax to RBI at 11 am and asked whether they had sent any such inquiry. RBI in its reply said that it has not for- warded any letter on the afore- said company in June this year,’’ he said. Kaushik said that it is unfortunate that the Congress leaders are raising baseless issues. “I have never seen such weak opposition,’’ he quipped. __^bXcX^]]^c S^X]VXcbW^Tf^aZ _a^_Ta[h):PdbWXZ ?=BQ 347A03D= The members of the ruling party are continuing to embarrass the State Government in the Winter Session of Uttarakhand Assembly. On Wednesday the BJP MLA from Rudrapur, Rajkumar Thukral gave a notice under rule 300 on alleged corruption in con- struction of roads in State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIID- CUL) area in his constituency. He said that the previous Congress Government gave permission to construct two roads on July 26, 2013 and entrusted SIIDCUL to con- struct them. The SIIDCUL made the Uttar Pradesh Rajkeeya Nirman Nigam Limited (UPRNNL) as a work execu- tion agency which gave a con- tract to Bhati Woodhill Construction Company. He alleged that one of the roads constructed by the company was of very poor quality while the work on other road has not started but the company has received full payment for it. Talking to the media persons outside the Vidhan Sabha building, Thukral said that he was forced to raise the issue in Vidhan Sabha as his pleas have not been heeded by offi- cials. Meanwhile the BJP MLA from Lohaghat, Puran Singh Phartiyal who appears determined to embarrass the Government of his party said on Wednesday that he has written a letter to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on corruption in the Tanakpur- Jauljibi road. He claimed that the esti- mate of the road from 30.6 km to 55 km is highly inflat- ed and it appears that the DPR of the project was made without visiting the site. Phartiyal on Monday had said that the Salt MLA was not accorded a funeral with state honours. On Tuesday, the Almora MLA and deputy speaker Raghunath Singh Chauhan had brought a breach of privilege motion against Almora District Magistrate. 19?³bCWdZaP[?WPachP[TQPaaPbb6^ec ?=BQ 347A03D= Accusing the parliamentary affairs minister Madan Kaushik of misleading the house and furnishing wrong information to the members, the Congress MLA from Manglaur Qazi Nizamuddin submitted a notice for breach of privilege motion in Vidhan Sabha. He said that the minis- ter on Tuesday had claimed that all dues of the sugarcane farmers for the year 2019-20 have been paid. Qazi said that on Tuesday evening he got the information that the C10 Crore of Iqbalpur Sugar mill are still not paid to the farmers. In his response the parliamentary affairs minister stood by his statement and said that the mill has made payment to the cooperative society which would pay the farmers. On it the speaker Premchand Agarwal said that both the minister and Qazi are right in their perspective and hence the issue should not be pursued further and should be consid- ered as solved. 5PRT^UUQTcfTT]:PdbWXZ@PiX^]bdVPaRP]T_PhT]cb CWT2^]VaTbb ;0Ua^ P]V[Pda PRRdbTbcWT X]XbcTa^U Xb[TPSX]VcWT W^dbT^] _PhT]c^U bdVPaRP]TSdTb @PiXbPXScWPc^] CdTbSPhTeT]X]V WTV^ccWT X]U^aPcX^]cWPc cWTC Ra^aT^U 8`QP[_daBdVPa X[[PaTbcX[[]^c _PXSc^cWT UPaTab ?=BQ 347A03D= The deputy leader of the Congress legislature party Karan Mahara raised the issue of pension to the State Government employees cov- ered under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) under rule 300 in State Assembly on Wednesday. These employees have got jobs after the year 2004. He said that many employees who had recently retired are getting less than C2,000 monthly pension under the NPS. Mahra said that when a Government employee retires after 25-30 years of service he has maximum responsibilities and on such meagre pension he or she would not be able to dis- charge them. He appealed that the State Government should send a request to the central Government on restoration of old pension. PWPaPaPXbTb_[XVWc^UT_[^hTTbd]STa=?B ?=BQ 347A03D= The number of novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in Uttarakhand climbed to 87,940 on Wednesday with the state health department reporting 564 fresh cases of the disease. The authorities also reported the death of eight patients of the disease on the day after which the death toll mounted to 1,447 in the state. The health department dis- charged 547 patients from dif- ferent hospitals on the day. A total of 79,888 patients have recovered from the pandemic so far in the State. The recov- ery percentage from the disease is now at 90.84 and the sample positivity rate is 5.28 percent. Two patients of the dis- ease each were reported dead at the Mahant Indiresh hos- pital Dehradun, Velmed hos- pital Dehradun and Sushila Tiwari government hospital Haldwani on Wednesday. One patient each was reported dead at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh and HNB base hos- pital Srinagar on the day. The authorities reported 230 new patients from Dehradun, 113 from Nainital, 37 from Haridwar, 31 from Udham Singh Nagar, 26 from Rudraprayag, 23 from Almora, 18 from Chamoli, 17 Pauri, 15 Tehri, 14 from Champawat, six from Uttarkashi and four from Bageshwar on Wednesday. Uttarakhand now has 5507 active cases of the dis- ease. Dehradun is at continu- ing to remain at top of the table of active cases with 1,598 cases while with 1,034 active cases Nainital is at second spot. Haridwar is at third spot with 406 active cases. Pithoragarh has 398, Almora 303, Udham Singh Nagar 285, Tehri 280, Uttarkashi 272, Chamoli 246, Pauri 230, Champawat 178 and Bageshwar 152 active cases of the disease. With 125 active cases of Covid-19, Rudraprayag is now at the bot- tom of the table of active cases of Covid-19. 4XVWcSTPcWb$%# ]Tf_PcXT]cb aT_^acTS^] FTS]TbSPh 2^eXS (_PcXT]c cP[[h^d]cbc^ '(#X]D´ZWP]S ?=BQ 347A03D= Delhi deputy Chief Minister and senior leader of Aam Aadmi Party, Manish Sisodiya had chal- lenged the State Government for an open debate. Uttarakhand cabinet minister Madan Kaushik had accepted the challenge and said that he will debate with Sisodia in Delhi. However, the Delhi deputy CM has insisted that he will debate in Uttarakhand. He tweeted that debate on education, health, electricity, water and other issues in Uttarakhand will take place in Uttarakhand itself. He said that he will reach the State on January 2, 3 or 4 whichever date Kaushik finds suitable. “You can tell me about the works done by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The week after that I will myself take you to show the works done under the Kejriwal model,” he said. 7^[S^_T] STQPcTX] D´ZWP]S X]bXbcbBXb^SXP P]XbWBXb^SXhP WPSRWP[[T]VTScWT BcPcT6^eTa]T]c U^aP]^_T]STQPcT ?=BQ 347A03D= The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will undertake an urban flood relat- ed study on the settlements along the Rispana and Bindal rivers in Dehradun using a drone along with a micro cli- mate study of Dehradun city. IIRS senior scientist Arijit Roy said this in a meeting with offi- cials of the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA). He informed that the drone will be used to make high res- olution images and areas where blockages are likely in case of heavy rain will be identified. Areas along the rivers which are likely to be submerged will also be marked. This study is pro- posed to be executed within a one year period by experts of USDMA along with IIRS scientists. In the meeting, the USDMA addi- tional CEO Ridhim Agrawal directed that an MoU be signed with IIRS for collabo- ration on other disas- ter related subjects. The MoU will be signed soon to give a final shape to the collaboration between USDMA and IIRS. DB3088ABc^bXV]^DU^adbT ^U[PcTbccTRW]^[^VhX]SXbPbcTaVc
- 4. ]PcX^]#347A03D=kC7DAB30H k342414A!#!! ?=BQ =4F34;78 In a big push for education of students belonging to Scheduled Caste, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved C59,000 crore post matric scholarship for next five years. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi estimated that this mega scholarship scheme will benefit more than four crore students for continuing their education from class 11. The Central Government will spend 60% of the programme which is estimated at C35,534 crore. The rest will be provid- ed by the State Government. “This replaces the existing ‘committed liability’ system and brings greater involve- ment of the Central Govt in this crucial scheme,” the Union Cabinet said in a statement. Detailing the scheme, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot said that as per the estimates, around 1.36 crore poor students from SC community could not con- tinue their education beyond class 10 due to poverty. “The Post Matric Scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste students allows students to pursue any post-matric course starting from class 11 and onwards, with the Government provid- ing the cost of education. The focus of the scheme would be on enrolling the poorest stu- dents, timely payments, com- prehensive accountability, con- tinuous monitoring and total transparency,” said Gehlot. “A campaign will be launched to enroll the stu- dents, from the poorest house- holds passing the 10th stan- dard, in the higher education courses of their choice. It is esti- mated that 1.36 crore such poorest students, who are cur- rently not continuing their education beyond 10th stan- dards would be brought into the higher education system in the next 5 years. The scheme will be run on an online platform with robust cyber security measures that would assure transparency, accountability, efficiency, and timely delivery of the assistance without any delays,” said the Minister. The States will verify the eligibility, caste status, Aadhar identification and bank account details of the applicants on the online portal. Transfer of finan- cial assistance to the students under the scheme shall be on DBT mode, and preferably using the Aadhar enabled pay- ment system, said Government in a statement detailing the mega scheme. Starting from 2021-22, the central share (60%) in the scheme would be released on DBT mode direct- ly into the bank accounts of the students as per fixed time schedule, after ensuring that the concerned State Government has released their share. The monitoring mecha- nism will be further strength- ened through the conduct of social audits, annual third party evaluation, and half-yearly self- audited reports from each insti- tution said the statement. C*TcdTY`]RcdYZa W`cD4e`afcdfV a`de^RecZTdefUZVd ?=BQ =4F34;78 Amid farmers protest over the farm laws which enters 29 days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the next tranche of PM-KISAN the direct cash-transfer scheme ,making payments worth C18,000 crore to more than 9 crore farmers. The PM will also virtually interact with some farmers drawn from six different States on Christmas Day, which is also the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. According to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, over two crore farmers have registered them- selves for this online event in which PM Modi will be chief guest. “PM Narendra Modi will release the next installment of financial benefit under PM KISAN Samman Nidhi (PM- KISAN) on December 25 via video conferencing. PM will enable the transfer of more than C18,000 crores to more than 9 crores beneficiary farmer families,” the PMO said. The PM’s outreach comes even as farmer unions urged the Centre to “abandon its stub- bornness” and take the discus- sion forward with an “open mind and neat intention”. According to officials, the Prime Minister will most like- ly ask farmers impromptu ques- tions on how they have bene- fited from the scheme and “take a briefing from them on what they are growing and what else they want to see done for them ahead of the budget”, the official said. “The farmers will share their experiences with PM- KISAN and also on various other initiatives taken by the Government for the welfare of farmers. Union Agriculture Minister will also be present on the occasion”, an official said. According to Tomar, the Government had earlier expect- ed to enroll 14 crore farmers under the scheme but only 11.4 crore listed so far. He thanks banks for bringing more farm- ers under the Kisan Credit Card scheme coverage during the coronavirus pandemic. “I would also like to thank banks, as they brought more than 1 crore farmers under Kisan Credit Card cover during the pandemic and gave farmers Rs 1 lakh crores in the last 8 months,” Tomar stated. “Through various schemes, we will fill all gaps in the agri- culture sector, which will ben- efit farmers and ensure they get the right price...Even during COVID-19 pandemic, we saw that work related to farming and agriculture wasn’t affected,” he added. Under PM-Kisan, the Government provides income support of C6,000 a year to farmers with a valid enrolment, paid in three equal cash trans- fers of C2,000 — one every four months. It was launched on February 24, 2019. ?c^aT[TPbTC ':RaPb]Tgc_Pac^U ?:8B0=SXaTRcRPbWcaP]bUTabRWTT ?=BQ =4F34;78 As the impasse persists at the Line of Actual Control(LAC)in Ladakh, Army Chief General M M Naravane on Wednesday toured forward areas there to review opera- tional preparedness. He also took stock of the ground situ- ation as more than one lakh troops from India and China are in a stand-off for the last nine months. With several rounds of military and diplomatic level talks so far having failed to end the tension, the Indian army has made preparations for long haul during the winter months. Not willing to take any chances, additional troops trained in mountain warfare are also posi- tioned at strategic locations all along the 1,700 km long LAC in Ladakh sector. In this backdrop, the Army chief visited forward areas and reviewed the ground situation along the South bank of Pangong Tso where Indian Army had dominated several unoccupied peaks on the Indian side of the LAC in the end of August. “Chief of Army Staff (COAS) visited forward areas of Fire and Fury Corps includ- ing Rechin La and undertook a first-hand assessment of the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” the Army said. Naravane also undertook on the spot inspec- tion of the state of habitat of troops on the forward line of defences at Rechin La. The Army has ensured that enough prefabricated and heated huts are supplied to the forward areas in Ladakh to enable the troops to withstand the harsh winters. Mercury has already dipped to minus ten and will plunge to minus 20 to 25 in the coming weeks. In addition, sufficient stocks of winter clothing are in the stores at Leh and other key locations to provide comfort- able and functional special clothes to the troops. During the one day visit to the Leh based 14 Corps, Naravane also visited forward base Tara and interacted with the local commanders and troops. He was briefed on the operational situation by the 14 Corps Commander, Lt General PGK Menon. Incidentally, the Army chief’s visit came days after the sixth round of diplomatic level talks between India and China last week. There was no break- through but both the sides agreed to continue dialogue for speedy disengagement of troops from the LAC. The two delegations also agreed to soon hold the ninth round of Corps Commander level talks between the two armies. The last round was held on November 6. However, those talks also did not yield positive results. Sources said the Army Chief reached Ladakh at 8:30 am on a day-long visit with an aim to review the ground sit- uation in the region that is experiencing harsh winter. The army said Naravane interacted with the troops deployed in forward areas and exhorted them to continue working with the same “zeal and enthusiasm”. He also dis- tributed sweets and cakes ahead of Christmas. Around three-and-half months ago, Indian troops had occupied a number of strategic heights in the Mukhpari, Rechin La and Magar hill areas around the southern bank of the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army attempted to intimidate them in the area on the inter- vening night of August 29 and 30. “General MM Naravane #COAS undertook on the spot inspection of the state of #habi- tat of troops on the forward line of defences at #RechinLa. He appreciated the efforts made by the formation to make troops comfortable along the #LAC,” the Army said in another tweet. The military face-off erupted on May 5 following violent clashes between the Indian army and the PLA in the Pangong lake area. The clashes were followed by a similar incident in North Sikkim on May 9. 0ahRWXTUeXbXcb;02U^afPaS PaTPbc^aTeXTf^_aTPSX]Tbb 3daX]VcWT^]TSPheXbXcc^cWT;TW QPbTS #2^a_b=PaPeP]TP[b^eXbXcTS U^afPaSQPbTCPaPP]SX]cTaPRcTSfXcW cWT[^RP[R^P]STabP]Sca^^_b7T fPbQaXTUTS^]cWT^_TaPcX^]P[bXcdPcX^] QhcWT #2^a_b2^P]STa;c6T]TaP[ ?6:T]^] ?=BQ =4F34;78 The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has joined hands with Bangaluru-based Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S- VYASA) university to inculcate habit of yoga among people by helping cooperatives to set up yoga wellness centres and naturopathy facilities across the country. The move comes two months after the NCDC under the Union Agriculture Minister launched Ayushman Sahakar, a scheme aiming to involve co- operatives in creating health- care infrastructure that include wellness centres, Ayush, homoeopathy, drug manufac- turing, drug testing, Ayurveda massage centres, and drug stores besides medical educa- tion initiatives. While S-VYASA will pro- vide technical help, the NCDC will make available working capital and margin money to meet operational requirements to the interested cooperatives for setting yoga wellness cen- tres. Speaking on the occasion after the pact was inked online, Union Minister for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Nayak said that the initiative would benefit people in the rural areas. He observed that his Ministry sup- ports such initiatives aimed at strengthening efforts in Indian health systems, including yoga, a global movement. Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture felt that a new dimension has been added by NCDC to expand the welfare programmes for farmers under the NCDC Ayushman Sahakar scheme. He hoped that yoga wellness centres would make a good business model for coop- eratives to strengthen the healthcare delivery system in rural areas. Sundeep Nayak, MD of NCDC said that the Ayushman Sahakar scheme with an outlay of Rs.10,000 crore aims at extending finan- cial support to cooperatives. “The scheme has a compre- hensive and holistic approach to finance healthcare infra- structure and services. It cov- ers hospitals, healthcare infra- structure, medical education, nursing education, paramed- ical education, drugs manu- facturing, digital health, lab- oratory services, health insur- ance and Indian traditional medical systems like Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.” Guruji Nagendra, Chancellor of S-VYASA said that a new dimension would be explored through cooper- atives across the country. The MoU also aims to promote skilling of students or alumni of S-VYASA through internship opportunities offered by NCDC under its scheme Sahakar Mitra, Nayak added. The NCDC set up under the Ministry of Agriculture has, till date since it was set up in 1963, financed various cooperative initiatives aggregating C1.57-lakh crore. =232cXTbd_fXcW1P]VP[dadQPbTSBEH0B0 ePabXchc^bTcd_h^VPRT]caTbPRa^bbR^d]cah 0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78 Despite Covid-19 restric- tions and the risk of ani- mal to human disease trans- mission, illegal wildlife trade on social media networks contin- ue to flourish, researchers noted after analyzing around 20,000 posts on Faceboook on wild pet trade. Ringing alarm bells, the researchers from Oxford Brookes University and the University of Western Australia have called for increased vigi- lance on social media sites in order to curb potential extinc- tions and reduce the risk of pandemics. The researchers had exam- ined advertisements on Facebook in Brazil and Indonesia. They found thou- sands of posts advertising wild animals, with a potential audi- ence of over 200,000 people. “Indeed, only 0.44 per cent of over 20,000 online wildlife trade advertisements had any Covid-19-related content,” said the researchers in the study published in journal of Environmental Research. Co-author Anna Nekaris, Professor of Primate ConservationatOxfordBrookes University said: “We anticipat- edthatwewouldseemanyposts mentioning Covid-19 regarding the potential dangers of wildlife trade or using it as a reason for a temporary cessation of sales. Instead, advertisements men- tioning Covid-19 often stimu- lated wildlife trade, suggesting the pandemic was a great time to buy an exotic pet for com- panionship, for example.” Strikingly, they found that no traders or consumers dis- cussed the role of wildlife trade in spreading diseases. Instead, discounts were given, home delivery services were provided, and customers encouraged to spend larger amounts of time due to lockdown with the ani- mals. Co-author Thais Morcatty, at Oxford Brookes University, said, “clandestine markets often expand to supply the demand that still exists and in that case, not only does wildlife trade continue, monitoring it becomes nearly impossible.” In India too, the situation is not very encouraging as has been found by a study con- ducted by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network. It found a significant increase in reported poaching of wild ani- mals in India during the lock- down period. “Species are being systematically wiped out by organised trade networks, with new poaching techniques and trade routes emerging faster than we can respond to them. The pandemic, which is an important example of the neg- ative repercussions of this exploitative trade, hasn’t deterred wildlife traders and this is only exacerbated by the increased demand for Traditional Chinese Medicines (TMC). “Many of the highest traf- ficked species are reptiles and amphibians like the tokay gecko, spiny-tailed lizard, tor- toises and freshwater turtles, with data on this trade yet to be quantified,” said Trisha Ghose, project director, The Habitats Trust, an NGO working for protection and conservation of habitats and their indigenous species. In fact, in the midst of pan- demic, in June the Union Environment Ministry issued an advisory saying people importing “exotic live species” will have to make a voluntary disclosure following global con- cern about illegal wildlife trade and zoonotic diseases. 8[[TVP[fX[S[XUTcaPST^]cWT aXbTSTb_XcT2^eXSRdaQb ?=BQ =4F34;78:780 Naga insurgent group NSCN-K, led by militant Niki Sumi, on Wednesday announced a ceasefire and said that it has contacted the central Government for initiating peace dialogue. The NSCN-K had signed a ceasefire with the Centre in 2001 but unilaterally abrogated it in 2015 when the then ‘chairman’ of the group, S S Khaplang, was alive. Sumi is the prime accused in the killing of 18 Indian Army soldiers in Manipur in 2015 and the National Investigation Agency had announced a reward of C10 lakh for his head. In a statement, Sumi said the NSCN-K has been striving all these years to achieve an honourable and acceptable political solution to the Naga issue and the group is also con- scious of the overwhelming sentiments among the Naga people for an early solution to this long standing matter. It said that the NSCN-K is aware of the “sincere and genuine efforts” made by the central govern- ment in the recent past to find a final and lasting solution to the Naga issue with the involve- ment of all the stakeholders. “Therefore NSCN has resolved to strengthen and sup- port the peace process at this crucial juncture. Our leaders have established contact with the officials of Government of India in this connection. To facilitate the process and keep- ing in view the desire of the Naga people particularly Naga civil society organisations and NGOs, the NSCN has further decided to revive the ceasefire with immediate effect by revok- ing the earlier decision of uni- lateral abrogation of the cease- fire in 2015,” the statement said. The other dominant group - the NSCN-IM - had entered into a ceasefire agreement with the central government in 1997 and since then engaged in peace negotiations. The NSCN- IM had signed a Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015 in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to find a per- manent solution. C3;Q^^_e^SUc SUQcUVYbU`b_`_cUc 3U^dbUV_b`UQSUdQ[c ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against Principal, National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune (Maharashtra) before the Competent Court at Pune on the allegations of fraudulent appointments in the institution. A case was registered on May 8, 2018, against Principal, of Dr Om Prakash Shukla and others on the allegations of fraudulent appointments to various posts of civilian facul- ties at defence academy on the basis of false and exaggerated claims in respect of teach- ing/research experience and exaggerated API scores, the CBI said in a statement. Searches were conducted on June 6, 2018, at the premis- es of the accused which led to the recovery of incriminating documents. It was further alleged that during the period 2007-08, the accused fraudulently, secured an appointment as Professor in Economics at National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune. 218UX[TbRWPaVTbWTTcPVPX]bc=30 :WPSPZfPb[PU^aUPZTP__^X]cT]cb ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has pro- visionally attached assets worth C255 crores of Maharashtra- based Gangakhed Sugar Energy Limited (GSEL), Yogeswari Hatcheries, Gangakhed Solar Power Limited under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in an agricultural bank loan fraud case. The attached assets include sugar plant and machinery of GSEL worth C247 crore, situ- ated at Gangakhed, District Parbhani, Maharashtra, land worth C5 crores of GSEL, Yogeswari Hatcheries, Gangakhed Power Solar Limited situated at District Parbhani, Beed, Dhule Maharashtra, bank balance of C1.58 crores, investment in shares of C1.91 crores held in the name of GSEL. The ED had initiated inves- tigation in May 2019, under the provisions of PMLA on the basis of an FIR registered by Gangakhed Police against GSEL, Ratnakar Gutte chair- man and others under IPC sec- tions relating to cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and common intention for fraudulently availing agricul- tural loan in the name of poor farmers, on the basis of forged loan proposals submitted to the banks. CID Aurangabad has filed the chargesheet for embezzlement/mis-appropria- tion of the funds, the ED said. Investigation revealed that the chairman of GSEL with the connivance of others misused the agricultural loan facility meant for poor farmers. The scheme of agricultural loan is formulated for financing the farmers coming under the command area of the sugar fac- tory. Its aim is to meet the financial needs of the farmers and it is given by the banks to the sugarcane farmers based on their land holding for raising their crop which includes among other things to purchase the seeds, fertilizers, manures, machinery, tractor, pump, har- vesting and transportation of the crop, it said. Investigation also revealed that the accused person creat- ed the data bank of the farm- ers, who supplied the sugarcane to the factory, by collecting their KYC at the time of pur- chasing the sugarcane from the farmers coming under the command area of the sugar fac- tory. The said factory further made a tie up agreement with the banks for obtaining the agricultural loan for the farm- ers. By virtue of the tie up agreement, GSEL became the agent for the banks, whose responsibility was to do KYC verification of the farmers. During the period from 2012- 13 to 2016-17, GSEL made forged agricultural loan pro- posals in the name of the farm- ers on the basis of farmers’ KYC and submitted them to the banks. Based on these forged loan proposals, the banks sanctioned the agricul- tural loan of around C772 crore, it said. Investigation into money trail further revealed that using this modus operandi, around Rs 635 crores were disbursed by the banks in to the bank accounts opened in the name of the farmers and the funds were never utilised by the farmers and instead it was siphoned off to different bank accounts of GSEL on the basis of the forged Consent letter of the farmers. This ill-gotten money was utilised by the accused for purchase of the land, for erection and fabrica- tion of the GSEL plant. 43_a^eXbX^]P[[hPccPRWTbPbbTcb ^UPWPaPbWcaPQPbTS6P]VPZWTS BdVPa4]TaVh;XXcTS ?C8Q =4F34;78 One of the petitioners, who has approached the Supreme Court for direction to the authorities to remove farm- ers protesting at several border points of Delhi against three new farm laws, has sought to implead over 40 farmer unions as party in the pending case. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, which had on December 17 said that farmers’ agitation should be allowed to continue “without impediment” and the apex court will not interfere with it as the right to protest is a fun- damental right, had given lib- erty to the petitioner to serve the impleaded farmer unions. Law student Rishabh Sharma, one of the petitioners in the case, has now filed an amended memo of parties in the top court in which he has impleaded over 40 farmer unions, including Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), as respon- dents in the matter. Some other farmers unions which are sought to be impleaded as respondents by the petitioner are – BKU- Sidhupur, BKU-Rajewal, BKU- Lakhowal, BKU-Dakaunda, BKU- Doaba, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha and Kul Hind Kisan Federation. The top court had on December 16 permitted impleading of these eight unions as respondents in Sharma, in his petition filed through advocate Om Prakash Parihar, has sought a direction to the authorities to remove the protesting farmers from sever- al border points in the nation- al capital saying commuters are facing hardships due to the road blockades and the gath- erings might lead to an increase in the number of COVID cases. 5Pa[Pfb)?TcXcX^]Ta bTTZbc^X_[TPS^eTa #_a^cTbcX]VUPaTa d]X^]bPb_PachX]B2
- 5. ]PcX^]$347A03D=kC7DAB30H k342414A!#!! ?=BQ 0;860A7 Professor Imtiaz Ashraf (Department of Electrical Engineering, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University), along with his researchers’ team got the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on “Smart Technologies for Energy, Environment Sustainable Development (ICSTEESD 2020)”, organised by GH Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur. The team presented a research paper on double stage voltage lift switched capacitor converter for high voltage applications in DC microgrids. This novel DC-DC converter topology can be used for high voltage applications having the characteristics of low switch count, low voltage stress across semiconductor devices, giving the highest gain factor. Professor Ashraf also deliv- ered a lecture at QIS College of Engineering and Technology, Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh describing in detail various aspects of recent RD and importance of electric vehicles in India at an AICTE-spon- sored six-day short term train- ing programme on “Advanced Power Electronic Converters for Electric Vehicle Powertrain and Smart-Grid Phase–II”. :D0A274;;0??0=Q :278 Usually it is for Vatican (read The Pope) to can- onize any persons by declaring him/her as Saint and that too years after the concerned indi- vidual leave this world. The last Indians to be canonized were Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Mother Euphrasia (November 2014 ) and Joseph Vaz of Goa in 2015. Catholic activists in the social media did not wait for any communication from Vatican or any papal order before uploading the 2021 cal- endar featuring the picture of Sister Abhaya and they them- selves canonized her by desig- nating her as Saint Abhaya. The calendar has a prayer to Sister Abhaya who was found murdered in the Convent in Kottayam where she was a novitiate trainee on March 27, 1992. “Please pray to God Almighty for the world to be saved from all kinds of injustice, violence, economic and sexual exploitations and murders,” said the prayer print- ed along with the calendar. The Catholic community believes in praying through the Saints who, they believe, have direct access with the Almighty. The Canonization is a long drawn out process and it takes decades, if not cen- turies, for the Pope to declare the person as Saint. :D0A274;;0??0=Q :278 The denial of permission by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to the Government of Kerala to hold a special session of the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday to lambast the Centre and pass a resolution condemning the Agriculture Bills led to the staging of a demonstration by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and members of his council of ministers at the capital city. Vijayan issued a severe warning to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom the for- mer accused of following a divide and rule policy in India. “Public resentment against the Farm Bills would blow the BJP outofpowerincomingdaysand it would be better for the Centre to withdraw the legislations,” warned the Chief Minister. He said the impact of the Farm Bills would be felt more in Kerala because of the food cri- sis being faced by the State. “We are dependent on other States for our food requirement because the production of food grains have come down drasti- cally in the State because of the anti-people policies pursued by the Centre,” said Vijayan. The exchange of letters between the Governor and Chief Minister continued on Wednesday also. Replying to Vijayan’s letter to Raj Bhavan on Tuesday in which he alleged that the Governor’s action to deny permission for Wednesday’s special session of the Legislative, Governor Arif mohammed Khan explained to him in a let- ter sent on Wednesday the precedence and rules in the Constitution relating to the convening of such meetings. Meanwhile the Congress- led UDF demanded the Chief Minister to convene a special session of the MLAs outside the Legislative House and pass a res- olution against the Prime Minister and the Centre. “The chief minister and the LDF Government are afraid of Governor and the Centre for reasons known to them only,” said Oommen Chandi, former CM while speaking to reporters. 78C:0=370A8Q 90D By winning 75 seats, three for the first time from Kashmir valley and 72 from across its strong bastion of Jammu region, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the single largest party garnering around 25 per cent total vote share of the total votes polled in the District Development Council polls. On the other hand, the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) may have won 112 seats but it fell way behind BJP, securing around 22 per cent total vote share. Indian National Congress, which won 26 seats, seven from Kashmir valley and 17 from Jammu, garnered over 13 per cent total vote share while securing 3,94,575 votes in the DDC polls. Significantly, the biggest chunk of 32 per cent votes was polled in favour of the Independent candidates across Jammu Kashmir. Out of 20 District Development councils, these candidates are going to play the role of ‘kingmakers in the five district development councils of Rajouri, Poonch, Ramban, Kishtwar and Srinagar. A total number of 50 independents have won these polls, 20 from Jammu and 30 from Kashmir region. According to the vote per- centage data shared by the State Election Commission after the declaration of the poll results, the BJP has topped the chart. It garnered 708714 votes (24.82 per cent) of the total votes polled. According to the State Election Commission, a total number of 28,55,509 votes were polled in the DDC polls. Out of 75 seats, BJP won 72 from Jammu region and opened its account for the first time in Kashmir by winning three seats, one each from Srinagar, Pulwama and Bandipur districts. On the other hand, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party won 67 seats, 25 from Jammu and 42 from Kashmir region. The total vote share garnered by the party was 16.46 per cent. The party can- didates secured 4,70,099 votes across Jammu Kashmir. The National Conference had contested around 60 seats in Kashmir, while PDP con- tested 45, Peoples Conference 13, JKPM 6, CPI(M), Awami National Conference 5. Another important con- stituent of the PAGD, JKPDP polled 1,13,175 votes which is 3.96 per cent of the total votes polled. The Jammu and Kashmir APNI party, won 12 seats, three from Jammu region and 9 from Kashmir valley, secured 5.30 percent votes and garnered 1,51,331 total votes. C=A067D=0C70Q D108 In the first of its kind bird count jointly undertaken by a citizens’ body and the State forest department, as many as 103 bird species — including those like Alpine Swift, Indian Scops Owl, Indian Eagle Owl and Indian Pitta — were sight- ed at the Karnala Bird Sanctuary (KBS) located near Mumbai. Located within the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR), the KBS is the first and one of the oldest bird sanctu- aries in the country. It was declared a bird sanctuary way back in 1966. Spread over 12.48 sq km in Panvel tehsil in the adjoining Raigad district, this bird sanc- tuary is a nearly two hour drive from downtown Mumbai. It is very popular among nature lovers, trekkers, fort and her- itage enthusiasts. In all, 27 bird enthusiasts participated in the day-night survey - called the Karnala Bird Count. The participants were divided into 9 teams that cov- ered all types of habitats in the sanctuary. Each team com- prised bird experts, photogra- phers, ebird users, GWT mem- bers and forest guards. Thje bird count was con- ducted jointly by the Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) and Green Works Trust (GWT) on December 19-20, 2020. “This was the first-of-its kind of a scientific survey in the Karnala Bird Sanctuary. This was also the first of its kind of nightbirdcountinMaharashtra. Through this survey, we want- ed to document bird population and avifaunal diversity in this sanctuary.Duringthesurvey,we sighted a total of 103 species of birds,” GWT’s founder Nikhil Bhopale said. According to Bhopale, the survey followed two types of bird count sampling methods viz. Line Transect and Point Counts. There were 9 line transacts and 5 point counts were done to cover the sprawl- ing sanctuary area. Some of the bird species sighted during the survey were Alpine Swift, Indian Scops Owl, Indian Eagle Owl, Indian Pitta, Common Hawk Cuckoo and Peregrine Falcon feeding on Parakeet. The bird count was inaugurated by Sunil Limaye, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) heading the West zone. Dr Bhanudas Pingle, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Thane; Nandakumar Kupte, Assistant Commissioner of Forest, Phansad and Pradip Chavhan, Range Forest Officer, Karnala Bird Sanctuary were among those present for the event. C=A067D=0C70Q D108 The “night curfew” declared by the Maharashtra Government has prompted the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) to exhort its mem- ber-hotels and restaurants in Mumbai and other major cities across the State to gear up for early New Year’s eve celebra- tions coinciding with “Thailand Time”. The hotels and restaurants in Mumbai and Municipal Corporation areas in Maharashtra — as per the advice by HRAWI — will ring in the New Year as early as at 10.30 pm on December 31 which is 12 midnight as per “Thailand Time”. In effect, the hotels and restaurants will usher in the year 2021 one- hand-a half hour early. The HRAWI’s directive to its member hotels and restau- rants comes in the wake of the Maharashtra Government’s decision to enforce night cur- few in Mumbai and other municipal corporations of Maharashtra, between 11 pm and 6 am from December 22 to January 5, in view of new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 detected in the United Kingdom, In a statement issued here, the HRAWI said that ending the year earlier was a fitting tribute to the hospitality industry’s “never say die attitude” and that it would welcome the New Year filled with hope and promise. The HRAWI said that while the curfew would disrupt hospitality industry’s plans, it appreciated the Maharashtra Government’s pre-emptive measures to allay any threat of the Covid-19 pandemic’s sec- ond wave. “Like every year, Mumbai will have its celebrations this year too, albeit a little earlier. The Government is doing its best to help keep its citizens safe and we see the intent behind the decision. But if it’s celebra- tions that Mumbaikars want, we will give it to them while ensuring that all norms and safety measures are adhered to. This is probably even better as people will get to be at their homes at midnight to bring in the New Year with their fami- lies,” HRAWI’s President Sherry Bhatia said. The HRAWI member establishments are planning to “align celebrations with Thailand” and may even host virtual celebrations synchro- nised with them. “The Hospitality industry wants to put the last eight months behind and instead look forward to the remaining eight days left in the year. We have braved the storm and have decidedly put the worst behind us. Nothing is going to dampen our spirits and we will emerge stronger than before. We welcome Mumbaikars to come join us in the last cele- brations of the season, to bid farewell to 2020 and to usher in 2021 with lots of optimism, faith and hope,” HRAWI’s senior Vice President Pradeep Shetty said. C=A067D=0C70Q D108 Less than a month after the Bombay High Court quashed the demolition notice issued to Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and dubbed the subsequent demolition of portions of her bungalow as “a clear malice in law”, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) on Wednesday summoned Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal to appear before on January 20, 2021 in connection with the much-discussed demolition. Hearing a petition filed by Advocate Aditya Mishra against the demolition of a por- tion of Kanga’s Bandra Bungalow saying it as an act of “human violation”, the MSHRC admitted the petition and ordered issuance of summons to Chahal to appear on January 20 to depose before it connec- tion with the petition. The petitioner has relied on the order of the Bombay High Court which had on November 27 quashed the demolition notice issued by the BMC to the Bollywood actress in September this year, terming both the notice and the subse- quent demolition of a portion of her Bandra Bungalow were “actuated by malafides” and they involved “a clear malice in law” and ordered compensa- tion for her. In his petition filed before the MSHRC, Mishra cited a Supreme Court ruling that declared the right to private property to be a human right. Quoting the apex court’s order, the petitioner said that if any act by the state or its agencies pertaining to someone’s private property was found to be ille- gal, then it was a violation of human rights. “When the act of BMC is found to be illegal by the Bombay High Court, then it’s a crystal clear case of violation of human rights, which war- rants the intervention of the commission,” the petitioner said. It may be recalled that on September 9, the demolition squad of the BMC pulled down a portion of Kangana Raut’s buingalow at Bandra in north- west Mumbai, which housed the office of her film produc- tion company, Manikarnika Films Pvt Ltd. In their order passed, a HC division bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and RI Chagla ruled: “As we have come to a clear conclusion that the impugned notice under section 354A of the Act and the action of demolition following it, are actuated by malafides, in any event, involve a clear malice in law, causing a substantial injury to the Petitioner”. “We would be perfectly justified on the basis of the law stated by the Supreme Court in the case of Sunbeam Hightech Developers (supra), to order compensation against respon- sible Respondents,” the judges had noted, adding that the quantum of compensation would be decided only after the preparation of an estimate by the approved valuer. On the compensation, the judges had ruled: “Both parties, i.e. the Petitioner and the MCGM (as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is also known) shall be heard by the valuer whilst making his report of valuation.” 19?´b332_^[[bX]RWPaVT0]daPVCWPZdaP[^]VfXcW19?PWX[P^aRWPTQTab PUcTacWT_PachRP]SXSPcTb´_TaU^aP]RTX]cWTT[TRcX^]bPc_Pach^UUXRTX]9Pd^] FTS]TbSPh ?C8 3;A66C86DD:?8=6 =2C86DEA2CEJ 332?;;B *DUQHUV YRWH VKDUH 2FWRTf]ej cVTVZgVdSVde aRaVcRhRcU +RWHOV UHVWDXUDQWV LQ 0DKD WR ZHOFRPH 1 µ7KDLODQG WLPH¶ 8?02C 5 =867C 2DA54F ;17112E71?G45=?9D9? 0DKD KXPDQ ULJKWV ERG VXPPRQV %0 FKLHI C=A067D=0C70Q D108 As a precautionary mea- sure against the spread of Coronavirus in the coming days, the Maharashtra Government on Wednesday came out with health safety guidelines for this year’s Christmas celebrations across the State. In a notification issued, the State Home department appealed to the Christian community to cel- ebrate this year’s Christmas celebrations in a simple man- ner in view of the fact that the State continued to be in the grip of Covid-19 crisis. “This year, all communi- ties and religions celebrated various festivities in a simple manner in view of the health threat posed by Coronavirus. We expect the Christian com- munity to celebrate this year’s Christmas in a simple man- ner,” the State Home depart- ment said, as it released 13- point safety guidelines for Christmas celebrations. Significantly enough, the State Government has asked the Christian community to hold“ThanksGivingMass”at or before 7 pm of December 31 instead holding them at 12 midnight. Among other things, State Government has mandatedthatthereshouldbe notbemorethan50peopleat churchfortheprayermeeting held on the occasion of Christmas, that there be sys- tematicandexitarrangements at the Church, that the social distancingnormsbefollowed strictly, that the Church be sanitisedbeforemassandthat the use Mask and Sanitiser is compulsory in Church. PWPXbbdTbbPUTch VdXST[X]TbU^a G´PbRT[TQaPcX^]b CF4;24H40A!! =40=3070;57DAB40A;H /DLW GHFODUH $EKDD DV 6DLQW 2PcW^[XRPRcXeXbcbX]b^RXP[ TSXPSXS]^cfPXcU^aP]h R^d]XRPcX^]Ua^ EPcXRP]^aP]h_P_P[^aSTa QTU^aTd_[^PSX]VcWT!! RP[T]SPaUTPcdaX]VcWT _XRcdaT^UBXbcTa0QWPhPP]S cWThcWTbT[eTbRP]^]XiTS WTaQhSTbXV]PcX]VWTaPb BPX]c0QWPhP ?^[XRT^UUXRTabbc^_R^dcTabPc 6XaVPd2W^f_PcchSdaX]V]XVWc RdaUTfX]dQPX^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8 dQPXbcaTTcbfTPaPSTbTacTS[^^ZSdaX]V]XVWcRdaUTf^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8 ELUG VSHFLHV IRXQG LQ ILUVW RI NLQG DYLDQ FRXQW LQ .DPDOD ELUG VDQFWXDU QHDU 0XPEDL .HUDOD 0 WXVVHOV ZLWK *RYHUQRU RYHU VSO $VVHPEO VHVVLRQ
- 6. H alf a century ago, Pakistan’s darkest day was the surrender of 93,000 Pakistanis in Dhaka on December 16, 1971. Nearly 81,000 prisoners of war (POWs) were from the Pakistani armed forces (with some Bengali soldierswhohadchosentoremain withthePakistanArmy)apartfrom 12,000-oddcivilians,includingcol- laborators. And though everyone associates the fall of Dacca (as Dhaka was then known) to then Army chief General Sam (SHFJ) Manekshaw, who had no doubt a larger than life presence in South Block,acloserreadingofoneofthe fewaccountsofhowitallhappened —sinceofficialrecordsinCalcutta were shredded at Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora’sorders—showsthatcred- it must instead go to (then) Maj GenJFRJacobalongwithMajGen Inder Gill, who was then the Director of Military Operations (there was no DGMO then), and LtGenSagatSingh,whowascom- manding IV Corps in Tezpur. Maj Gen JFR Jacob was the Chief of Staff of India’s Eastern Army Command and was thus involved inplanningandmeticulousimple- mentationoftheoperationsinEast Pakistan, which is detailed in his autobiography, An Odyssey in War and Peace. Millions of refugees flooded acrosseasternIndiain1971intothe States surrounding East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) after Pakistan’s ruthlessmilitaryclampdownthere, which was ordered by Pakistan’s dictator Yahya Khan following a pent-up demand for their rights after election results gave Bengali leader Sheikh Mujib a clear victo- ry.ItledtoalltheirChiefMinisters insisting that India must do some- thingtoavertthishumanitariancri- sis. Indira Gandhi summoned the then Army chief Gen Sam Manekshawforameetingwithher ‘kitchen Cabinet’. She wanted the General to go to war and liberate enough territory in East Pakistan, so that the refugees could be sent back. However, Gen Manekshaw had apparently cautioned against haste since many factors were involved. They were then into the summer of 1971 and the harvest- ed grain needed to be moved across the country. The trains and roadtransportcouldeitherferrythe grain or the troops to battle. And then monsoons would follow, whichcouldhamperthemovement of military units, especially in the riverine terrain of Bangladesh. Indira, heeding the military’s advice, decided to let the armed forces do what they are best at, to fight a war and win it. Gen Manekshaw apparently promised her that given the time, he could help her “make history and even geography”, as I recall him saying at the first Infantry lecture at Vigyan Bhawan in October 1994. Even asthearmedforcesbegantopre- pareforwhattrulybecameahis- toric victory, Indira took up the job of winning the world’s sup- portforIndia’shumanitarianini- tiative. By August 1971, New Delhi had signed the Indo- SoviettreatyofPeace,Friendship and Cooperation with Moscow. Not only was it a significant departure from the Nehruvian obsessionwithnon-alignment,it wasRussia’ssupportatthemany sessions in the United Nations thatstalledresolutionsattheini- tiative of Washington to help Pakistan when Indian troops rolled down the plains of East Pakistan.ButJacobdismissesthis story that Gen Manekshaw had often told — and which I too haveheardthelateFieldMarshal narratein1994—abouthowhe stood up to Indira’s demands to go to war in March 1971. The war officially started on December 3 though military operations along the borders of East Pakistan had started in the last week of November. Apparently,India—fearing aUNceasefire—wasinahurry to establish a free Bangladeshi Government in the port towns of Khulna and Chittagong. But as the operations unfolded and gathered momentum, Jacob went ahead with a plan to cap- ture Dacca. This was done by doing what Pakistan’s Generals hadn’t expected India to do. As the Pakistani army had fortified its garrison towns, some fierce battleswerefoughtaroundthem while there was a simultaneous drive to get to Dacca. A simple tactical lesson that is taught to everyofficerintheArmyisnever tore-enforceafailureand,there- fore, the areas of resistance were bypassed.ThePakistanimilitary dictator,theoftendrunkGeneral Yahya Khan, was however con- fident that three factors would- n’tallowanyworthwhilesuccess to the Indian armed forces in East Pakistan. First, his well- armedmilitarymachineinWest Pakistan would be enough to threatenIndia’sstrategicStatesof PunjabandJK.Two,aChinese military buildup along the Himalayas would tie down enough of the Indian Army. These two factors would be enough to deter India from any serious military adventurism in East Pakistan. And finally, he was banking on the US to inter- vene militarily if India’s opera- tions became difficult for Pakistan to contain. But more forces were need- ed than Manekshaw was willing toreleasetoimplementaneffec- tiveblitzkriegtowardsDacca.As Gen Manekshaw believed that the Chinese could spoil the party,herefusedtoreleaseaddi- tional troops from the Sino- Indian border until much later. However, as there were no intel- ligence intercepts to back Manekshaw’sclaim,Jacobman- aged to get troops from the Himalayanformationsmoved— without Manekshaw’s knowl- edge — but with help from Maj Gen Gill. Apparently when Manekshaw did learn of this, he gaveGilladressingdownbutby then things were moving so fast thatthefocusshiftedtoDaccaas thetimewaslimited,withtheUS pushing the UN for a ceasefire. Ifthathadhappened,allthemil- itary gains would have been lit- erally back to square one. The IndianArmy,ablyassistedbythe IndianAirForce,racedtoDacca. The IAF literally bombed the daylightsoutofthePakistaniAir Force. Soon the skies were clear ofanyPakistanifighters:Theylay wrecked on their airfields. And then a heli-borne operation — the first of its kind since Independence — put troops acrossthevastMeghnariverand many other rivers that had until then given Dacca a natural defence.Thiswasfollowedbythe firsteverairbornedropofIndian paratroopers. By December 15, theIndiantroopshadsurround- ed Dacca. Duringthislullinthebattle, Maj Gen Jacob received a call fromGenManekshaw,whosaid: “Jake,goandgetasurrender.”He then proceeded to Dacca to meet Lt Gen AAK Niazi, MC, the overall military commander in East Pakistan. Jacob saluted him, and asked him if he was willing to offer an uncondition- al surrender. A pompous Gen Niazi, enjoying an afternoon of beerandlunch—withallthesil- verlaidoutintheirofficers’mess — dismissed the proposition with a wave of his hand, saying: “Who said I am surrendering? You have come to discuss only a ceasefireandwithdrawalaspro- posed by me.” He was apparent- ly still hopeful that a ceasefire ordered by the UN could save himandhisarmyahumiliation. ButGenJacobwasadamantand told him that he had 30 minutes and then he’d ask him thrice. If Niazi still didn’t respond, he couldn’t guarantee the safety of Pakistanifamilies(astheBengali rebels were waiting to lynch them all). Moreover, he’d ask for the resumption of bombings on Dacca. Then Jacob — unarmed and thus a little worried — went forastrollandtosmokehispipe, giving Niazi time to ponder over the options. Gen Jacob met Gen Niazi after 30 minutes and asked him thrice if he accepted the surren- der document (even though the document’s draft was still unap- proved by New Delhi!). But since Niazi refused to respond, Maj Gen Jacob picked up the document and held it up to say: “Itakeitasaccepted.”Tearsrolled down Gen Niazi’s cheek and he hung his head in shame. Other Pakistanis glared at him in dis- belief. Gen Jacob got up and asked Niazi to move for the sur- render, which was done at the Dacca Race Course on a hastily arrangedtableandtwochairs— asthecrowdswereshoutinganti- Pakistan slogans — a tearful Niaziremovedhisbadgesofrank and handed his pistol to Gen Aurora before being whisked awaybyIndia’sseniorofficers.He neededtobekeptalivetotellthe worldthathewasn’tmutilatedto surrender, but did so — for the world to see — at the Dacca parade ground. This was achievedwhentherewere26,400 Pakistani soldiers in Dacca and only 3,000 Indian soldiers near- by. Niazi later admitted that Jacob had “blackmailed me into surrendering”. (The writer is a strategic affairs analyst. 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