The document discusses the political and economic reforms in India since the 1990s. It notes that the license permit quota raj system that had steadily evolved since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru and India Gandhi was no longer fit for purpose. It was simultaneously acknowledged that the way the government functioned had contributed immensely to inefficiency, waste and, above all, corruption. Unless India made up its mind to remain an impoverished Third World state, dependent on international handouts, reforms were imperative.

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?=BQ =4F34;78
India inched closer to
launching a country-wide
vaccination drive against coro-
navirus with a Government-
appointed panel of experts on
Saturday approving two vac-
cine candidates for emergency
use in the country.
The final call on approval
of these vaccines — the Serum
Institute of India’s coronavirus
vaccine Covishield and Bharat
Biotech’s Covaxin — for mass
use will be taken by the Drugs
Controller General of India
(DCGI).
Union Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan announced
that vaccination will be free
across the country.
“In 1st phase of #Covid19
vaccination, free vaccine shall
be provided across the nation
to most prioritised beneficia-
ries that include 1 crore
healthcare 2 crore frontline
workers,” the Minister tweet-
ed.
However, he later on said
that modalities to vaccinate 27
crore people will be worked
out soon.
Covaxin, which is still in
the clinical trial phase, was
granted approval in “public
interest as an abundant pre-
caution” in connection with
the mutated strain of the coro-
navirus, the Union Health
Ministry said in a statement.
“Grant of permission for
restricted use in emergency
situation in public interest as
an abundant precaution, in
clinical trial mode, specially in
the context of infection by
mutant strains, to Bharat
Biotech International,” the
Centre said in a statement.
The Subject Expert
Committee of the DCGI also
recommended approval to
Cadila Healthcare for con-
ducting the third phase trials
of its vaccine.
The Serum Institute is the
local maker of the vaccine
developed by Oxford
University and pharmaceuti-
cals company AstraZeneca.
?C8 Q ;07A4
Mumbai attacks master-
mind and Lashkar-e-
Tayyeba (LeT) chief Zaki-ur-
Rehman Lakhvi was arrested
on Saturday in Pakistan on
terror financing charges,
according to an official state-
ment, amidst growing inter-
national pressure on
Islamabad to bring to justice
terrorists roaming free in the
country.
UN proscribed terrorist
Lakhvi, who was on bail since
2015 in the Mumbai attack
case, was arrested by the
C o u n t e r - T e r r o r i s m
Department (CTD) of Punjab
province in Pakistan.
?=BQ =4F34;78
As India-United Kingdom
flights resume partially
from January 8 with a new set
of SoP, the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare on
Saturday said all passengers
coming from the UK between
January 8 and January 30
would be subjected to self-paid
Covid-19 tests on arrival.
Besides, they will also be
required to carry a negative
test report which should be
done 72-hour prior to their
journey.
The Ministry has come up
with a new standard operating
procedure (SOP) for travelers
arriving from the UK. These
SOPs shall be valid till January
30 or till further orders.
The guidelines came after
Union Minister of Civil
Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri
said, “Operations till January
23 will be restricted to 15
flights per week each for car-
riers of two countries to and
from Delhi, Mumbai,
Bengaluru and Hyderabad
only.”
Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) will
issue necessary permission for
a limited number of flight
operations between India and
UK (as per the directions
from the Ministry of Civil
Aviation), to the eligible air-
lines. India had suspended all
flights to and from the United
Kingdom from December 23
to 31 to check the spread of the
mutated, more contagious
variant of coronavirus found
there.
Later, the suspension was
extended till January 7.
?C8 Q F0B78=6C=
US President Donald Trump
has extended the freeze on
the most sought-after H-1B
visas by Indian IT profession-
als, along with other types of
foreign work visas and green
cards through March 31 to pro-
tect American workers, saying
that the reasons for which he
had imposed such restrictions
amid the pandemic have not
changed.
The freeze on visas was
ordered by Trump through
two proclamations on April 22
and June 22 last year. Hours
before the freeze was set to
expire on December 31, Trump
issued a proclamation, ensur-
ing his sweeping limits on legal
immigration remains in place
when President-elect Joe Biden
is sworn in on January 20.
Detailed report on P7
?=BQ =4F34;78
As India gears up to launch
world’s largest vaccina-
tion drive, select hospitals
across the country conducted
an inoculation dry run on
Saturday. The nationwide
rehearsal was to understand
the best way to administer the
vaccine and plug loopholes in
logistics and training, if any.
A key aspect of the mas-
sive exercise which came the
day a Government-appointed
panel of experts gave nod to
two vaccine candidates for
emergency use in the country,
was to decide how to manage
any possible adverse events
following immunisation.
Union Health Minister
Dr Harsh Vardhan, who
reviewed the process at GTB
Hospital in Delhi, said the
Government would not com-
promise on any protocol in
approving a vaccine. He also
appealed to people not to be
misguided by rumours
regarding the safety and effi-
cacy of the vaccine.
As per the Centre’s direc-
tive, Delhi, Punjab and
Haryana along with Andhra
Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat
were among many States and
UTs which conducted a dry
run for Covid-19 vaccination.
The dry run was aimed at test-
ing the laid out mechanism for
the vaccination roll-out.
As per the guidelines
issued by the Union Health
Ministry, all States selected
their particular areas and dis-
tricts to hold the dry run exer-
cise at various Government
medical college, hospitals,
medical centres and the com-
munity health centres.
The United Nations
Development Programme
(UNDP) and World Health
Organisation (WHO) sup-
ported the drive.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F
34;78
The farmers’ union on
Saturday delivered an ulti-
matum to the Centre and said
they will take out a tractor
parade towards Delhi on
January 26, when the country
will celebrate Republic Day, if
their demands are not met in
the next meeting scheduled for
January 4.
Addressing a Press confer-
ence at Press Club, the farmers’
leaders said that they intend to
be peaceful and they have told
long ago to the Government
during their talks that it has
only two options — either
repeal the three Central farm
Acts or use force to evict us.
The Press conference was
addressed by Balbir Singh
Rajewal, Darshanpal Singh,
Gurnam Singh Chadhuni,
Ashok Dhawale, Jagjit Singh
Dallewal, Abhimanyu Kohad
and Yogendra Yadav.
“The time has come for
decisive action here, and we
have chosen January 26
because the Republic Day rep-
resents the supremacy of the
people and also because we
would complete on the day two
months of peaceful demon-
stration at Delhi’s borders in
extreme weather conditions
with our resolve to get our
demands met,” said the farmer
leaders.
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha also
announced their plan of action
according to which they wil;
intensify their movement.
New Delhi: Delhi Health
Minister Satyendar Jain on
Saturday said Covid-19 vaccine
will be provided to people in
the national Capital for free
once it arrives, and asserted
that the City Government has
made all preparations for the
vaccination drive.
Interacting with reporters
during his visit to a facility in
Daryaganj as part of a dry run
exercise held here to assess the
preparations for the vaccine
roll-out, Jain said the system
“seems flawless” as of now.
All preparations are being
done, and 1,000 vaccine centres
will be set up across the city,
the Health Minister said.
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party
president Akhilesh Yadav on
Saturday termed the Covid-19
vaccines to be rolled out in the
country as “vaccine of the BJP”
and said he would not take the
shot, drawing a sharp retort
from the ruling party which
accused him of “insulting” the
doctors and scientists.
Detailed report on P6
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2. Q What is your role in the
show?
I play a superhero. I play
two characters and both are
different from each other. One,
Veer, he is a compassionate
person, fun-loving and
responsible. While is a do-
gooder but he is not the kind
of person people can take
advantage of. He is the one
who finds the magical ring.
The other is the super hero
who takes on the true image of
what Veer is all about – he is
naughty. The ring is evil and
brings out the bad in the
wearer. But since Veer is such
a good person, the ring doesn’t
overpower him.
Q How did you come on
board the project?
I got a call for an audition.
I was very hopeful and gave the
auditions. Unfortunately, I
didn’t get that part. A few
months later, I got a call for
another audition. When I went
to sign the contract, that is
when I came to know it was a
lead.
Q How tough was it to bring
out the contrast in the two
roles you play?
It was a bit tough but I love
challenges and that’s the reason
why I took it up. The roles
excited me and I was looking
for a project like this. I am
grateful I got it. I identify with
my character of a superhero;
Veer is too good and nobody
is that perfect.
Q Your brother is also an
actor, do you think there will
be comparisons?
I don’t think so. Our work
is totally different and we are
different people. Our approach
to acting is not the same either.
The genre we are working on
is different as well. Siddharth
(who plays Aladdin) and I
have always done things that
are not the same. I am hoping
that people too get to see
different things.
Q How did you get into
acting?
I came to Mumbai in 2014
and pursuing law. At the same
time, I started giving auditions.
But things never move or
happen the way you want them
to. Whatever acting that I
know, I have learnt while
giving auditions. I used to
get called for a lot of
mythological shows. Slowly,
I made contacts and started
getting work. That is how
I got a role in Panipat.
Q What made you turn to
TV then after doing a
film?
At the stage where I am
today, it doesn’t matter
whether it is TV or films. If
we see screens are getting
smaller —from 70 mm to
laptops to tablets to mobiles
today. People see content
that you are part of and
how big it is.
Q You are the elder
brother. Was it
tough to
wait for the
right role
while your brother already
had a show as a lead?
I never felt that he had
more than I had. I was not
desperate to get a break in the
industry. I was doing my own
thing back then. I was doing
law and even directing that
kept me busy. There were other
small ventures that I was part
of. I played tennis at the State
level. My brother and I have
never competed with each
other, we have been a support
system to one another.
Q What are these
ventures?
Over the years, I
learnt directing and did
two music videos
under my own label.
So that is something
that I do. Also, while
shooting for Panipat, I
learnt more about
directing. When you
are in the industry,
you tend to pick up
tips.
Q What do your
parents think — both
sons in acting?
My mother has always
been supportive. She told us
that whatever we did we
needed to give it our best.
Q You did a show —
Chandra Nandini — with
Siddharth. How was it to
work with him?
We had a lot of fun. The
only problem that I faced
was how people would
confuse my name with his.
Working with him was
great. When we work
professionally, I treat him
as a serious person since he
has been in the industry for a
longer time.
Q Most super hero shows in
India are not as good as one
gets to see in Hollywood.
Will there be comparisons?
There will be comparisons
whatever we make. Even if we
make a love story people
will say Hollywood made
it like this. But our
industry has given some great
super heroes like Shaktiman
and Balveer. What matters is
how we approach the project.
It is not correct to what we are
doing on TV with a Marvel
project. In fact, it is wrong to
compare a film with a TV show
due to scalability.
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I
t is not very often that we see movies that make us sit up and
think long after the credits have stopped rolling. Omprakash
Zindabad directed by Ranjeet Gupta may not be your average
film that has masala or an item number. But it does have a hard
hitting message to deliver. A message how the common man with
small dreams gets taken in by
the outwardly materialistic
world and falls for it hook,
line and sinker with no means
for a reprieve.
The story is straight
forward. A village man thinks
that getting a bike will get him
the leg up in life. For this he
is willing to put his wife up for
the worst kind of crime that
can be done against a woman
— to be gang-raped and
paraded naked in the village
— so that he can get the
compensation that the
Government gives to such
survivors. All for the sake of
a bike and become the town’s
hero.
This satirical take on the
situation and how the system
is manipulated by those in
power has its moments that
makes one laugh at the greed
and the lengths they would go
to for money and the next, it
leaves one with a feeling of
disgust and sadness that
people would rape, a heinous
crime, for their own personal
gains and scam the poor in
the name of the Government
compensation.
This is Om Puri and
Jagdeep’s last movie. It is
unfortunate that this film was
released four years after the
former’s death. But it was
good to see Jagdeep, who
died in July 2020, and that he
had not lost the spark in his
eyes even though he was 81.
One just wished that Gupta
could have better utilised
their talent. The same goes for
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
whose talent is wasted here.
— BWP[X]XBPZbT]P
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W
hat if one were to tell you that one could make
Mexican dishes remade into gnocchi, dumplings and
much more. What if one were to ask to use healthy
leftovers like marinated veggies and pork tenderloin and turn
it into cozy comfort food? Or one turned festive meal leftovers
of glazed ham, apple pie and green bean casserole — into a
fancy sandwich?
Well, the latest reality show is sure to have all the answers
for all those cooks out there who love to cook up a storm in the
kitchen from leftovers. While the dishes may not be something
that one would find in Indian homes, the fact of the matter is
that instead of reheating the food and eating the same thing the
next day, one can whip up an entirely new dish by adding a few
extra ingredients that are already in our kitchens to wow the
family members with your culinary skills. All it takes is a bit of
thought and viola — one has an entirely new dish on the table
for the family to feast on.
It is a competition with three chefs/cooks who are judged
on the basis of their creativity, technique and the number of
leftovers used to remake an entirely new dish. The winner takes
cash worth $10,000! Next time, there are some leftovers in the
refrigerator, take inspiration from this show and delight your
family and friends.
— BWP[X]XBPZbT]P
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3. 347A03D=kBD=30H k90=D0AH !! RP_XcP[
?=B Q 347A03D=
The Chief Minister
Trivendra Singh Rawat,
who was undergoing treat-
ment at All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS),
New Delhi, was discharged on
Saturday. The physician of the
CM, Dr N S Bisht, said that
Rawat is healthy and all his
reports are normal. He added
that the CM would remain in
isolation in his Delhi based
home for some days.
Rawat was found positive
for Covid-19 on December 18
along with his wife and daugh-
ter. On December 28 he was
airlifted to the AIIMS, New
Delhi, after he complained of
fever. He was initially admitted
in Government Doon Medical
College (GDMC) hospital on
December 27 where his CT
scan indicated mild infection in
the lungs. On the advice of doc-
tors he was shifted to AIIMS,
New Delhi for further check up
and expert advice. The doctors
were worried as the CM devel-
oped fever on the tenth day
after getting infected with
Covid-19. His CT score which
was zero initially increased to
five after some days.
?=B Q 347A03D=
The Technical Education
Department would re-
employ the contractual teach-
ers of polytechnic colleges,
who were removed after the
end of their contract.
The State Minister for
higher education Dhan Singh
Rawat on Saturday gave orders
for the reinstatement of these
teachers who were earlier
working on contract or through
the outsourcing agencies. He
said that the department is hav-
ing shortage of teachers and the
teachers who were earlier
removed would be deployed in
the vacant posts on the basis of
their qualification.
The Minister gave these
orders while undertaking a
review meeting of the techni-
cal education department at his
Vidhan Sabha office on
Saturday. He said that con-
struction work on the buildings
of the Srinagar and Thalisain
ITI colleges should start soon.
He also directed that the build-
ings of the Pabo and Bungidhar
colleges should be inaugurated
without delay. In the meeting,
the department officials
informed the minister that
DPR of the buildings of ITI col-
leges in Srinagar and Thalisain
has been prepared and the
construction work would soon
commence after the approval of
the DPR. The state adminis-
tration has already approved
the plan for construction of
these buildings. They further
informed that buildings of
Thalisain and Bungidhar ITI
are complete and they would be
soon inaugurated. The training
in these buildings would com-
mence before March 2021.
The meeting was attended
by Additional secretary tech-
nical education Jharna
Kamthan, Director Skill devel-
opment R Rajesh Kumar,
Director technical education
Hari Singh, Project Manager,
Uttar Pradesh Rajkeeya
Nirman Nigam (UPRNN)
Limited S K Mallik, Project
manager Peyajal Nigam
Srinagar P K Agarwal.
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?=B Q 347A03D=
The virtual classes for the first year MBBS
students of All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh and AIIMS
Vijaypur, Jammu started on Saturday. The
AIIMS Rishikesh is the mentor institute of
AIIMS Vijaypur Jammu where the first
batches of students have taken admission this
year.
Addressing the students on the occasion,
the Director of AIIMS Ravikant said students
of medical field will have to adopt science as
well as art to achieve success in their medical
profession. He added that the medicine, treat-
ment method and methods of testing change
every five years therefore, the doctors will also
have to be skilled in the art of efficient behav-
iour and better relations with the patient.
The director told the students that the
doctors should have all types of qualities like
emotional, social, spiritual, physical and
mental to achieve holistic health.
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?=B Q 347A03D=
The Pradesh Congress
Committee (PCC) presi-
dent Pritam Singh has said that
the BJP
Government
o f
Uttarakhand
has failed to
provide jobs
to the unem-
ployed. He
said that the
price rise has
hit the general public hard
and the health services are in
dismal condition in
Uttarakhand.
Addressing party workers
who met him on Saturday, the
PCC president said that the
basic concept behind creation of
a separate State is being ignored.
He called upon the Congress
party workers to work united-
ly and make the party strong at
booth level. The vice president
of Uttarakhand Congress Surya
Kant Dhasmana said that the
Congress would form
Government in Uttarakhand
in the year 2022 under the
leadership of Pritam Singh. He
said that the Congress party
would start a phased agitation
to highlight the failures of the
BJP government.
Later, Dhasmana felicitat-
ed the PCC president by pre-
senting a shawl to him.
Congress leaders Rajendra
Shah, Garima Joshi, Mahesh
Joshi and others were present
on the occasion.
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?=B Q 347A03D=
Taking the ongoing war of
wits with the senior
Cabinet Minister of
Uttarakhand, Madan Kaushik,
the Deputy Chief Minister of
Delhi, Manish Sisodia, has
invited him for an open debate
on ITDA auditorium in
Dehradun on January 4.
In a letter to Kaushik, the
Deputy CM has said that
Kaushik can have debate with
him on the Delhi model of
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in
Delhi on January 6. Addressing
the media persons here on
Saturday, the Vice President of
Uttarakhand unit of AAP, Razia
Beg said that the Deputy CM
of Delhi has invited Kaushik for
debate on ‘ Kejriwal model vs
Trivendra model’ in Dehradun
on January 4 at 11 am. She said
that Sisodia has also extended
an invitation to Kaushik for a
debate on the development
works in Delhi under AAP
Government on January 6. The
spokesperson of the AAP,
Sanjay Bhatt said that Sisodia
in his letter has said that there
is a general impression in
Uttarakhand that the Trivendra
Singh Rawat is a ‘ Zero Work
CM’ as in the last four years he
has not done anything.
It is worth mentioning here
that Sisodia during his last
visit to the State had challenged
the BJP leaders to enlist five
works done by the Trivendra
Singh Rawat Government. In
response to this challenge, the
senior Cabinet Minister and
Government spokesperson
Madan Kaushik had said that
he is ready for a debate and can
enlist not five but 100 works
done by the BJP Government
of Uttarakhand. Sisodia has
now thrown the ball in the
court of Kaushik and it would
be interesting to know how he
reacts to the gauntlet thrown by
the AAP leader.
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The dry run for the Covid-
19 vaccination was also
carried out in Uttarakhand
along with other parts of the
nation on Saturday. In
Dehradun district, the dry run
for the Covid vaccination was
carried out successfully by five
medical teams. Informing
about the dry run conducted in
the State, the Covid-19 vacci-
nation State nodal officer and
mission director of National
Health Mission, Sonika
informed that activities as part
of the vaccination dry run
were carried out in Dehradun
at Mahatma Gandhi Centenary
Hospital, Urban Health Centre-
Khudbuda, Primary Health
Centre- Bhaniyawala,
Government Allopathic Clinic-
Bhogpur and Ranipokhri from
9 AM. During the exercise, five
medical teams were allocated
the target of administering the
vaccine to 123 health workers
out of which 121 health work-
ers were administered the vac-
cine. Before the administration
of the vaccine, all the benefi-
ciaries were intimated about
the same by an SMS on their
mobile phone numbers.
Sonika further informed
that the exercise was conduct-
ed as per the standards with the
health workers and doctors
deputed for vaccination learn-
ing the details of the vaccina-
tion while doing the task as per
the directions of the supervisor
deputed for the task.
Informing about the activ-
ities carried out as part of the
dry run, the NHM director Dr
Saroj Naithani said that in five
locations, adverse reaction sce-
nario was created on six ben-
eficiaries so that such a scenario
can be prevented or resolved
without issues in the real case
scenario.After the dry run, Dr
Naithani presented a detailed
report to the state task force
wherein the dry run was stat-
ed to be a successful exercise.
It was stated that the prepara-
tions for administering the
Covid-19 vaccine have been
made. However, such dry runs
must also be carried out in
other districts so that real time
vaccination activity can be car-
ried out as per the set stan-
dards, she stated.
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The number of novel
Coronavirus (Covid-19)
cases in Uttarakhand climbed
to 91,544 on Saturday with the
State Health Department
reporting 463 new cases of the
disease. The authorities also
reported the death of seven
patients from the disease on
the day after which the death
toll mounted to 1,522 in the
State. The Health Department
discharged 463 patients from
different hospitals on Saturday.
A total of 84,461 patients have
recovered from the disease so
far in the State.
The recovery percentage
from the disease is now at
92.26 and the sample positiv-
ity rate is 5.07 percent.
Three patients were report-
ed dead at Sushila Tiwari
Government hospital,
Haldwani on Saturday. One
person was reported each at All
India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh,
Government Doon Medical
College (GDMC) hospital
Dehradun, district hospital
Uttarkashi and Chandola and
Gautam hospital Rudrapur in
Udham Singh Nagar district.
Out of 463 patients dis-
charged on the day, 186
belonged to Dehradun and
102 from Nainital.
The health department
reported 73 fresh cases of the
disease from Dehradun, 65
from Nainital, 27 from
Haridwar, 23 from Udham
Singh Nagar, 14 from
Pithoragarh, 11 from
Uttarkashi, nine from Chamoli,
six from Bageshwar, five from
Rudraprayag and four each
from Almora and Champawat
on Saturday.
Uttarakhand now has 4364
active cases of the disease.
Dehradun is continuing to
remain at top of the table of
active cases with 1287 cases
while with 898 active cases
Nainital is at second spot.
Pithoragarh is at third position
with 380 active cases, Haridwar
has 371, Uttarkashi 240, Tehri
232, Udham Singh Nagar 195,
Almora 160, Pauri 158,
Bageshwar 151, Chamoli 116
and Champawat 112 active
cases of the disease. With 64
active cases of Covid-19,
Rudraprayag is now at the bot-
tom of the table of active cases
of Covid-19.
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?=B Q 347A03D=
As part of the literacy cam-
paign of the Dehradun
district ‘Padho Doon Badho
Doon’, over 25,000 illiterate
residents will find place in the
literate category by this
Republic Day.
After the district adminis-
tration collected the data of illit-
erate residents in the district
through Anganwadi workers a
few months back, the adminis-
tration started the literacy cam-
paign - Padho Doon Badho
Doon - from the month of
August. As per the data pro-
vided by the chief education
officer (CEO) of Dehradun,
there are about 26,203 locals
registered as illiterates through
the survey out of which 18,490
residents have been educated so
far by the administration with
the help of some Non-
Governmental Organisations
(NGOs). While the adminis-
tration is providing classes to
about 5,273 illiterates, the
remaining 2,440 registered illit-
erates are mostly sick, dead,
migrated to other locations or
some names got registered
twice during the survey.
Moreover, the district
administration had set the aim
to make literate all the regis-
tered residents by January 26,
2021. On the question of
whether the 5,273 illiterates
who recently started their class-
es will be educated by this date,
the chief development officer
(CDO) Nitika Khandelwal stat-
ed that the administration is
optimistic that the remaining
locals will become literate by
this Republic Day. She how-
ever admitted that areas like
Vikasnagar and Doiwala which
had large illiterate people cer-
tainly posed serious challenges
for the administration.
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The Uttarakhand High
Court has notified rules
regarding petitions which will
contribute towards conserva-
tion of the environment. The
High Court has notified the
High Court of Uttarakhand
Rules, 2020 making the use of
A-4 sheets with printing on
both sides of the paper manda-
tory in all the proceedings. The
registrar general of the High
Court, Dhananjay Chaturvedi
issued the notification regard-
ing this on Friday.
It is pertinent to mention
here that the rules have been
notified in pursuance of an
order issued two weeks ago by
the single Bench of the High
Court comprising justice Lok
Pal Singh. As per the rules, the
petition, memorandum of
appeal, affidavit, counter-affi-
davit and other documentation
will be filed in A-4 size papers
with material being printed on
both sides of the paper. Those
rules, gazettes, Government
orders and rules which are
available online will not have to
be attached along with the
petitions and other affidavits.
Further, the rules have also
fixed the font size of the text to
be used for typing on the
pages. A format has also been
fixed for filing fresh cases with
the time for filing fresh cases
being set between 10 AM and
1:50 PM. The court has also set
rules for removing defects in
the petitions.
?=B Q 347A03D=
On the directions of the
Traffic directorate director,
Kewal Khurana, the
Uttarakhand police conducted
a fortnight long drive against
offences like display of titles
and other invalid texts on the
registration plate and rash dri-
ving. From Sunday, the police
will conduct another drive
against the two-wheeler riders
found stunt biking, using mod-
ified silencers and high pres-
sure horns.
During the drive which
concluded on January 1, the
police issued 6,488 challans and
collecting a compounding fee
of Rs 31,51,300 from the vehi-
cle users found using name
plates on private vehicles while
2,756 challans were issued, 211
vehicles seized and Rs 7,47,500
was collected in compounding
fees from those found guilty of
rash driving or speeding.
According to the police,
some people have been found
displaying political, religious
and caste related titles on their
private vehicles. In the past,
some vehicle users had been
found using illegal name plates
on their vehicles and these
persons were also found to be
involved in some criminal inci-
dents. Under the Motor
Vehicles Act 1988 and Central
Motor Vehicles Act 1989, apart
from the authorised registra-
tion plate, it is illegal to display
invalid name plates including
displays of political, religious or
caste related titles on the vehi-
cles.
Apart from this, speeding
and rash driving have been
found to be major reasons for
traffic accidents in the state.
Considering this, the police
conducted a special campaign
against such violations in the
state from December 17 to
January 1.
Apart from this, the police
will begin another fortnight-
long campaign from Sunday
against stunt biking, use of
modified silencers and high
pressure horns on two wheel-
ers. The traffic police, city
patrol unit and civil defence
have been directed to take
strict action against those
found guilty of such
violation.
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Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath
on Saturday said Covid-19 vac-
cine will be available in the
State close to Hindu festival
“Makar Sankranti” which will
be celebrated on January 14.
Speaking at a programme
here, he said, “We initiated the
campaign against Covid-19 in
March 2020 under Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and at
the beginning of this year we
could say firmly that the dry
run of the vaccine will be held
on January 5 across the State
and the vaccine will be available
near around Makar Sankranti.”
The Chief Minister added
that a dry run of the vaccine is
being held at some places in the
State on Saturday.
Adityanath was speaking
while laying the foundation
stone of Advocate’s Building at
the collectorate campus here on
Saturday.
On Friday, the Subject
Expert Committee (SEC) on
Covid-19 of the Central Drugs
Standard Control Organisation
(CDSCO) recommended
granting permission for
restricted emergency use of
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
Covishield, being manufac-
tured by the Serum Institute of
India, paving the way for the
roll-out of the first Covid-19
shot in the country in the next
few days.
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Samajwadi Party president
Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday
termed the Covid-19 vaccines
to be rolled out in the country
as “vaccine of the BJP” and said
he would not take the shot,
drawing a sharp retort from the
ruling party which accused
him of “insulting” the doctors
and scientists.
“How can I trust the vac-
cine, which will be used for
vaccination by the BJP? We
cannot get vaccinated by the
BJP’s vaccine,” he told reporters
here.
He also said his party will
come to power in the state after
2022 elections and everybody
will get the vaccine free.
His remarks prompted an
instant rebuttal from BJP leader
and Uttar Pradesh Deputy
Chief Minister Keshav Prasad
Maurya who termed the state-
ment an “insult to the doctors
and scientists of the country”.
“Akhilesh Yadav does not
have trust in the vaccine, and
people of Uttar Pradesh do not
have trust in Akhilesh Yadav.
His raising questions on the
vaccine is an insult to doctors
and scientists of the country.
He should tender an apology,”
Maurya told reporters.
A trial drill for distribution
of Covid-19 vaccine began
across the country on Saturday,
officials said.
The Centre had on
Thursday stated that the exer-
cises aims to test the linkages
between planning and imple-
mentation, and identify chal-
lenges.
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Covid-19 vaccines do not
belong to any political
party, but humanity, National
Conference leader Omar
Abdullah said on Saturday,
hours after Samajwadi Party
chief Akhilesh Yadav termed
coronavirus vaccines to be
rolled out in the country as
“vaccine of the BJP”.
Taking to Twitter, the for-
mer Jammu and Kashmir chief
minister said, “I don’t know
about anyone else but when my
turn comes I’ll happily roll up
my sleeve get a Covid vac-
cine.”
The more people get vac-
cinated, the better it will be for
the country and the economy,
the National Conference (NC)
vice president said.
“No vaccine belongs to
any political party, they belong
to humanity the sooner we
get vulnerable people vacci-
nated the better,” he tweeted.
While talking to reporters
in Lucknow, Yadav, said, “How
can I trust the vaccine, which
will be used for vaccination by
the BJP? We cannot get vacci-
nated by the BJP’s vaccine.”
On Saturday, an expert
panel of India’s central drug
authority recommended grant-
ing permission for restricted
emergency use of the indige-
nously developed Covid-19
vaccine Covaxin with certain
conditions, a day after giving
similar directions for the
Oxford Covid-19 vaccine.
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Four persons who recently
returned to Gujarat from
the United Kingdom (UK)
have tested positive for the new
strain of coronavirus, a top
State health department official
said on Saturday.
Results of the 15 samples
that had tested positive for
coronavirus on arrival in
Ahmedabad from the UK are
currently pending with the
National Institute of Virology
(NIV) in Pune, the official
added.
“All the passengers who
had reached Ahmedabad from
the UK were screened, and the
samples of those who had test-
ed positive for coronavirus
were sent to the NIV. We have
received intimation that the UK
strain of coronavirus has been
detected in four such cases,”
Principal Secretary (Health),
Jayanti Ravi told reporters.
Ravi said all the four
patients have been kept in
“special isolators” at the SVP
Hospital in Ahmedabad as per
the Centre’s guidelines.
“Results of the 15 samples
tested positive for coronavirus
on arrival in Ahmedabad are
pending with the NIV,” she
added.
Ravi further said,
“Passengers sitting in flights in
three rows ahead and three
rows behind of the passengers
who have tested positive for
coronavirus have been identi-
fied through contact tracing
and are kept under observation
and isolated. Health teams are
following up with screening of
these passengers on a regular
basis”.
She said the infectivity of
the UK coronavirus mutant is
much higher though there is no
evidence regarding its viru-
lence.
Responding to a query,
Ravi said the treatment proto-
col for the patients detected
with the new coronavirus strain
and other positive patients is
similar.
“Contacts of all UK
returnees who have been kept
in isolation are being tested
through RT-PCR test after a
gap of one week,” she said.
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Bengaluru: One primary con-
tact of a UK returnee was
among 10 people who tested
positive for the new strain of
Covid and all of them are
undergoing treatment,
Karnataka Health Minister K
Sudhakar said here on Saturday.
“Ten people have so far
been confirmed with the new
variant of coronavirus infec-
tion...Nineofthemarereturnees
fromtheU.K.,whileoneisacon-
tact,themotherofonethem.All
of them are undergoing treat-
ment and are without any seri-
ous health condition. They will
recover soon,” he said.
The Minister told reporters
here that so far 32 people who
returned from UK and 10 of
their contacts- a total of 42-
have been confirmed with
COVID-19 infection during
RT-PCR test. PTI
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C=A067D=0C70Q D108
In a further dip in the Covid-
19 infections and fatalities,
MaharashtraonSaturdaylogged
3,218 new infected cases, while
51 deaths were reported from
different parts of the State. A day
after the state recorded 3,524
infections and 59 deaths, the
infections dropped to 306 cases,
while the daily death tally went
down by eight.
With 3,218 fresh infec-
tions, the total number of
infected cases climbed from
19,35,636 to 19,38,854.
Similarly, with 51 new deaths,
the Covid-19 toll in the state
rose from 49,580 to 49,631.
As 2,110 patients were dis-
charged from the hospitals
across the state after full recov-
ery, the total number of people
discharged from the hospitals
since the second week of March
this year went up to 18,34,935.
The recovery rate in the state
dropped marginally from 94.69
per cent to 94.64 per cent.
With 7 new deaths, the
total number of deaths went up
from 11,125 to 11,132, while
the infected cases rose by 593
to trigger a jump in the total
infections from 2,94,067 to
2,94,660. Meanwhile, the num-
ber of “active cases” total cases
in the state rose from 52,084 to
53,137 The fatality rate in the
state stood at 2.56 per cent.
Pune district, which con-
tinued to be the worst-affected
city-district in Maharashtra,
saw the total number of cases
increase from 3,73,219 to
3,73,727 while the total num-
ber of deaths in Pune stood sta-
tic at 7767.
Thane district remained
in the third spot — after Pune
and Mumbai — after the total
number of infections rose from
2,54,875 to 2,55,248, while the
total deaths climbed from 5,586
to 5,590.
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Having taken cognisance of
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka
Chaturvedi’s appeal seeking
intervention to rescue and
evacuate 39 sailors stranded in
China since July, the Ministry
of External Affairs has taken up
the matter to China’s Vice
Foreign Minister and sought
Beijing’s assistance for evacua-
tion of the stranded sailors.
“On December 31, I had
appealed via a letter to External
Aflairs Minister S Jaishankar ji,
requesting him to intervene in
prioritizing the rescue and
evacuation of 39 of our sailors
stranded since July in China,”
Priyanka said here on Saturday.
According to Chaturvedi,
the two ships -MV Anastasia
and the Indian bulk carrier Jag
Anand — were refused per-
mission by the Chinese author-
ities to offload their cargo nor
did they allow other sailors to be
sent in so as to relieve the crew.
The Anastasia has been
dockedatChina’sBohaiSeaand
Jag Anand anchored at the
ChineseportofJingtang. “lthas
been widely reported that on
board, the merchant ship the
Anastasia, four crew members
areonsuicidewatch.Manyofthe
crew members have developed
skin infections due to contami-
nated water supply. There is no
medical help,” Priyanka said.
“The families of the sailors,
many of whom are based in
Maharashtra, have been run-
ning from pillar to post with no
help in sight. Hence I had
appealed to GoI through our
Hon. Minister to ensure that we
give this issue the importance
it deserved,” the Sena MP said.
“It was heartening to note
that Gol has taken cognizance
of the matter and Indian
Ambassador has personally
taken up this issue with China’s
Vice Foreign Minister. The
MEA has also conveyed to the
Chinese that assistance should
be provided in an urgent, prac-
tical and time-bound mamer
siven the humanitarian situa-
tion developing on board these
ships,” Priyanka said.
The Sena MP, however,
said that the Chinese authori-
ties continued to maintain that
“the crew change isn’t being
permitted from these ports due
to Covid related restrictions”.
“This is an untenable situation
and has to be pursued diligently
till a solution is found,” she said.
Priyanka also thanked the
National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) for tak-
ing suo moto cognizance of the
issue and for pursuing this with
MEA Secretary and Director
General Shipping, Ministry of
Ports and Waterways. “I will
continue to pursue this with the
relevant authorities till our
sailors are brought back home,”
the Sena MP added.
C=A067D=0C70Q D108
The Mumbai Zonal Unit of
Narcotics Control Bureau
(NCB) on Saturday claims to
have busted an inter-state drug
network, by seizing 1.134 kilo-
grams of party drugs and
arresting four drug peddlers
during raids launched on the
eve of New Year.
“The raids yielded 100
grams of mephedrone and
1.034 kgs of psychotropic med-
icines and four drug peddlers
have been arrested,” NCB’s
Mumbai Zonal Unit Director
Sameer Wankhede said.
Giving details of the raids
conducted at various places on
the eve as well on the New
Year day, Wankhede said that
the raids were conducted at
Kurla in north central Mumbai,
at Andheri and Versova in
north-west Mumbai and in
Navi Mumbai where these ped-
dlers have been active for long
and “they part of an interstate
network”.
Mephedrone (MD), also
known as M-cat, Meow Meow
or White Magic, is a synthetic
stimulant drug of
Amphetamine class psychoac-
tive characteristics and usual-
ly used at rave parties.
The investigators are trying
to find out the local links of the
arrested peddlers and trace
the masterminds involved in
the busted drug racket.
The New Year-eve raids
were part of the ongoing effort
to drug menace in Mumbai and
surrounding areas.
The NCB registered two
drugs cases in the wake of the
investigations launched by the
CBI into the death of actor
Sushant Singh Rajput in June
last year upon the directive
issued by the Supreme Court.
While the first drug case relates
to the actor’s death, the case is
the Bollywood-drug mafia
nexus case.
Sushant, it may be recalled,
was found hanging from a
ceiling fan in his closed room
of his duplex flat at Mont
Blanc building at Bandra’s
Carter Road in north-west
Mumbai on June 14.
More than 25 persons —
including Sushant’s girlfriend
Rhea Chakraborty and her
brother Showik — have been
arrested and a large number of
persons have been questioned
in connection with a case reg-
istered by the NCB on August
28, two days after it registered
a case suo moto. Subsequently,
Rhea was granted conditional
bail by the Bombay High Court
in the Sushant death-related
drug case on October 7, 2020.
:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
The five lakh strong
Malankara Syrian
Orthodox Church in Kerala is
upset over the “humiliation”
meted out to the representative
of the church by Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan in his recent
interaction with community
leaders at Malappuram.
Vijayan, who is touring
the headquarters of all districts
in the State as part of the 2021
assembly election campaign,
blamed the Orthodox Church
when a priest tried to draw his
attention towards the discrim-
ination shown by the
Government towards the
MOSC during the former’s
interaction with citizens of
Malappuram. The Priest had
tried to draw the chief minis-
ter’s attention to the ongoing
tussle between the MOSC and
the breakaway faction of the
community for control of
Churches.
The Chief Minister and the
CPI(M) are peeved over the
recent meeting the Orthodox
Church bishops had with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
seeking the intervention of the
latter’s office to resolve the
issue.
Vijayan blamed the
Orthodox prelates for the dis-
pute with the Jacobite faction
and asked the Church repre-
sentative to behave properly.
“The Chief Minister’s reaction
should be seen as a challenge
to the judicial system in the
country,” said Dr Yuhanon Mar
Diacoros Metropolitan, secre-
tary of the holy synod.
Dr Geevarghese Mar
Yuliose Metropolitan, who
heads the media wing of the
MOSC said that fascism has set
its foot in Kerala through the
Communists. “What is hap-
pening in Kerala under the
regime of Vijayan is unfortu-
nate. Fascism and authoritari-
anism are at its peak under the
CPI(M) rule. We feel as if we
are living under an autocratic
regime. This was in expected
lines as Communist rulers are
not known for their love for
democracy,” said while reacting
to the incident.
The Metropolitan heads
the media wing of the
Orthodox Church and usually
stays away from all controver-
sies.
He said that the Prime
Minister has made no inter-
ference in the legal dispute
between the Orthodox and
Jacobite sections. “If someone
feels that Thiruvananthapuram
is the national capital, it would
be better if he changes that
notion at the earliest,” said the
Metropolitan.
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In a raid conducted on a
godown in south Mumbai,
the Mumbai Police on Saturday
seized banned gutkha and paan
masala products worth C1.22
crore.
Acting on a tipoff, the
Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU)
team headed by Sachin Waze,
raided the premises at
Nagpada’s Bhendi Bazar local-
ity in south Mumbai and
seized a huge stockpile of
banned gutkha and
paan masala.
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Jammu: The Pakistan Army
opened heavy fire and shelled
mortars at forward posts along
the Line of Control (LoC) in
Jammu Kashmir’s Rajouri
district on Saturday, prompting
Indian troops to retaliate, offi-
cials said.
“At about 1645 hours
today, the Pakistan Army ini-
tiated unprovoked ceasefire
violation by firing with small
arms and intense shelling with
mortars along the LoC in
Nowshera sector in district
Rajouri,” a defence spokesman
said. The Indian Army retali-
ated befittingly, he said.
On Friday, JCO Naib
Subedar Ravinder died after
being injured in shelling by
Pakistan in Nowshera sector,
spokesman said.
Jammu Kashmir record-
ed 5,100 instances of ceasefire
violations by Pakistan along the
Line of Control (LoC) in 2020,
official sources said. PTI
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In what could be seen as a
growing rift between the
Congress led Punjab
Government and Governor
VP SIngh Badanore, Punjab
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder
Singh on Saturday took strong
exception to the Governor
summoning the State’s top
brass instead of seeking a report
directly from him, as Home
Minister, on the law and order
situation in response to what he
called the malicious and polit-
ically motivated charges of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
While the propaganda of
the BJP on collapse of law and
order in the State was nothing
more than a tactic to divert
attention from the Farm Laws
issue and the resultant farmers’
agitation, if the Governor nev-
ertheless had any concerns on
the situation, he should have
takenupthematterdirectlywith
him (Capt Amarinder) as cus-
todian of the Home Portfolio,
said the Chief Minister.
Reacting to the Governor
summoning the Punjab Chief
Secretary and DGP to question
them on the alleged law and
order problems in the state
amid sporadic incidents of
damage to some mobile towers,
Capt Amarinder slammed the
state BJP leadership for adding
fuel to the fire, with their irre-
sponsible statements, in the
already surcharged atmosphere
triggered by the draconian Farm
Laws. He termed it a vicious
game-plan of the party to
undermine the peaceful agita-
tion of the farmers by terming
a few minor incidents of dam-
age to some mobile towers as a
law and order problem.
“These damaged towers
can be, and are being repaired,
but what about the lives of the
farmers lost in the bitter cold
at the Delhi borders, where
they continue to fight for their
rights amid total apathy from
the BJP-led Government at the
Centre?” asked the Chief
Minister. He expressed shock
over the fact that not a single
BJP leader had expressed any
concern over the deaths of
protesting farmers, including
some by suicide. “The lost
lives cannot be recovered,” he
pointed out, asking the Punjab
BJP leaders to stop politicizing
a peaceful agitation with their
ill-conceived comments.
Instead of the slandering of
the farmers with terms like
`Naxalites’, `Khalistanis’ etc.,
the BJP should press their cen-
tral leadership in the
Government of India to heed
the voice of the `Annadaatas’
and revoke the black farm laws
that were threatening the liveli-
hood and future of the farming
community. “At a time when
the very existence of our farm-
ers is at stake, the BJP leaders
are busy indulging in petty pol-
itics and also dragging the
Constitutional officer of the
Governor into their unsavoury
agenda,” he added.Terming as
`unfortunate’ the fact that the
Governor had bowed to these
antics of the BJP, the Chief
Minister observed that it had
taken just a day for the former
to react to the state BJP lead-
ership’s complaint of purport-
ed law and order collapse in
Punjab. This was in sharp con-
trast to the prolonged delay in
sending to the President the
State Amendment Bills, passed
by all political parties (barring
BJP) in the Vidhan Sabha, for
assent, he pointed out.
Capt Amarinder also
mocked the BJP Punjab unit’s
allegations of assault on democ-
racy in Punjab by the Congress,
calling it a shameless act of the
pot calling the kettle black. “A
party that has virtually
destroyed every single democ-
ratic institution in the country
has no business calling anyone
else undemocratic,” he quipped.
PUNJAB BJP CHIEF ALLEGES
PARTY LEADERS BEING
‘ATTACKED’ AT BEHEST
OF CONGRESS
Ludhiana: Punjab BJP chief
Ashwani Sharma on Saturday
alleged that party leaders and
workers were being attacked at
the behest of the ruling
Congress and blamed Chief
Minister Capt Amarinder
Singh for the deteriorating law
and order situation in the state.
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The Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) on Saturday extend-
ed legal assistance to the
aggrieved farmers, who want to
move courts against the BJP
leaders for their defamatory
remarks against them.
AAP Punjab co-incharge
and MLA from Delhi, Raghav
Chadha, who was on a two-day
Punjab tour, said that some
farmers had decided to seek
justice after relentless verbal
abuse at the hands of BJP lead-
ers, and with the help of the
Aam Aadmi Party, notices were
issued to Union Minister
Giriraj Singh, Gujarat Deputy
CM Nitin Patel and BJP’s
National General Secretary,
Ram Madhav.Addressing the
mediapersons during a press
conferenceinMoga,onSaturday,
Chadha said that this was the
farmerwhohadgivenhisblood,
his sweat, his entire life to tilling
hisland.“Itisbecauseofthesac-
rifices made by a farmer and his
family that food reaches our
homes,” he added.
?=BQ B78;0
Himachal Chief Minister
Jai Ram Thakur on
Saturday said the pre fabricat-
ed Covid hospital would soon
be completed in Nerchowk
Medical college, which would
enhance bed capacity for
patients, adding that beds,
oxygen cylinders and drugs
kits for Covid are available in
adequate numbers.
Presiding over a review
meeting related to Covid-19, he
said that a decline in cases of
coronavirus has been observed
in the district but it is impor-
tant to be vigilant and sensitive
towards efforts being made to
control the virus.
He said safety of the peo-
ple of the state is the priority of
the State Government.
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Taking steps to ensure imple-
mentation of Covid-19 vac-
cinerolloutintheState,Haryana
HealthDepartmentonSaturday
conducted a dry run in the
Panchkuladistrictasplannedby
the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare (MOHFW).
Additional Chief Secretary,
Health, Rajeev Arora, said, “To
ensure the smooth implemen-
tation of the Covid-19 Vaccine
roll out, dry run had been
planned by Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare (MOHFW)
in Haryana on January 2, 2021.
The primary aim to conduct the
dry run was to exercise end to
end testing of Covid-19 vacci-
nation rollout so as to identify
thechallengeswhichwillfurther
help in formulating detailed
plans for actual implementation
of the vaccine roll out and also
to provide confidence to pro-
gramme managers at various
levels. The dry run will also help
to monitor and review the pre-
paredness at the district and
block levels and gather empiri-
cal data,” he added. Besides
this, to ensure successful imple-
mentation of Covid-19 vaccine
roll out a dry run has been
planned across the state of
Haryana on January 7, as well.
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India has become the first
country to successfully cul-
ture the new viral strain orig-
inating from the UK even as
more cases of the new Covid-
19 variant, which is more
infectious, are trickling in.
Within five days of tracing
first case of the new coron-
avirus variant, India has now
29 people infected with the dis-
ease even as the ICMR on
Saturday said it has successfully
isolated and cultured the new
strain on the horizon.
The UK Government had
recently announced that the
newly identified strain of the
virus found in their population
is up to 70 percent more trans-
missible, following which India
sprung into action.
The country put in place a
pro-active and preventive strat-
egy to detect and contain the
variant. So far, the new variant
has been detected in 29 UK
returnees through genome
sequencing.
“India successfully cul-
tures the new viral strain on
the horizon (UK variant of
SARS-COV-2). UK-variant of
the virus, with all signature
changes, is now successfully
isolated and cultured at the
National Institute of Virology
from the clinical specimens
collected from UK-returnees,”
the apex research council
tweeted.
Notably, no country has
yet reported successful isola-
tion and culture of the UK-
variant of SARS-CoV-2. In
India, Vero cell lines were
used by the scientists of ICMR-
NIV to culture the UK-variant
of the virus.
The new UK Variant has
already been reported by
Denmark, Netherlands,
Australia, Italy, Sweden,
France, Spain, Switzerland,
Germany, Canada, Japan,
Lebanon, and Singapore.
From November 25 to
December 23 midnight, about
33,000 passengers had disem-
barked at various Indian air-
ports from the UK. All these
passengers are being tracked
and subjected by States and
UTs to RT-PCR tests to track
down the mutant coronavirus
strain.
Those found infected with
the new variants are being
kept in isolated for treatment
as per their need.
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Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday urged the
students of Indian Institutes of
Management (IIMs) to work
towards turning local into glob-
al and to come up with ways to
this end. Laying the foundation
stone of the permanent campus
of IIM Sambalpur, Modi said
that the talent pool of IIMs
could help in turning India
‘atmanirbhar’.
“To turn local into global,
students of IIM need to come
up with new ways. The coun-
try had 13 IIMs in 2014. Now
it has 20 IIMs. This huge talent
pool will help the vision for a
self-reliant India,” Modi said
after laying the foundation
stone for IIM-Sambalpur in
Odisha.
Modi also asked the stu-
dent to research the way Covid
crisis was handled in India
with innovation and collabo-
ration at such a big scale. He
asked them to study how
capacity and capability was
expanded in such a short time.
He expressed happiness that
the country is coming out of
the short-term approach of
problem solving and how the
focus now is on long term solu-
tions.
“It is our responsibility to
get ‘brand India’ global recog-
nition. Those who will be part
of this institution need to
encourage development and
focus on inclusivity of all,”
Modi added.
“This decade will be devot-
ed to the development of new
multinational corporations in
India. Today’s startups are
tomorrow’s MNCs. These are
largely growing in Tier 2 and
Tier 3 cities. These startups
need able managers and those
passing out of these institutions
will lead the way” Modi said.
Odisha Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik, Governor
Ganeshi Lal and Union min-
isters Ramesh Pokhriyal
Nishank, Dharmendra
Pradhan and Pratap Chandra
Sarangi also graced the occa-
sion.
“Education in Odisha is
witnessing a rapid transition. I
am happy that our state con-
tinues its dominance in edu-
cation sector and has emerged
as the education hub of Eastern
India,” said Patnaik at the vir-
tual event.
Earlier the Prime Minister
said that the permanent cam-
pus of the IIM Sambalpur will
not only showcase the culture
and resources of Odisha but
will also give Odisha a global
recognition in the field of
management.
The Prime Minister talked
about the new management
challenges in the light of new
technologies like additive
printing, changing production
techniques, logistics, and sup-
ply chain management.
These technologies cou-
pled with digital connectivity,
and work from anywhere con-
cept have turned the world into
a global village. India has
undertaken rapid reforms in
recent months and has tried
not only to keep pace with the
changes but also tried to antic-
ipate and surpass them, Modi
added.
The Prime Minister said
that the changing work styles
are impacting demands on
management skills and top-
down or top-heavy manage-
ment skills are being replaced
by collaborative, innovative
and transformative manage-
ment. With bots and algo-
rithms in picture, technologi-
cal management is equally
important as human manage-
ment.
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Senior Congress leader and
former Union Minister Buta
Singh died at Delhi’s AIIMS
early on Saturday morning.
He was 86 years old. He was in
coma since October last year
after he suffered a brain haem-
orrhage.
President Ram Nath
Kovind and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi led the coun-
try in offering condolences to
Singh, who was a member of
the Shiromani Akali Dal before
joining the Congress in the
1960s.
His demise was
announced by his son
Arvinder Singh Lovely Sidhu
on Facebook. “My father, Buta
Singh, passed away today
morning. May Waheguru bless
his soul,” read the post in
Hindi.
Kovind said: “In the pass-
ing of Shri Buta Singh, the
country has lost one of the
longest serving parliamentar-
ians with rich administrative
experience. He championed
the cause of the oppressed
and marginalized.
Condolences to his family and
supporters.”
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi described him as an
“experienced administrator”,
and Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi said he was a loyal
leader who devoted himself for
the service of the country.
“Shri Buta Singh Ji was an
experienced administrator and
effective voice for the welfare
of the poor as well as down-
trodden. Saddened by his pass-
ing away. My condolences to
his family and supporters,”
PM Modi tweeted.
Tributes also poured in
from Vice President M
Venkaiah Naidu, Congress
president Sonia Gandhi, Chief
Ministers Ashok Gehlot and
Amarinder Singh besides
many others including Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh and
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee.
“The country has lost a
true public servant and a loyal
leader with the death of Sardar
Buta Singh Ji. He devoted his
entire life to service of the
country and people’s well-
being. For this, he will always
be remembered. My condo-
lences to his family members
during this difficult time,”
Rahul tweeted.
Born in 1934 in Punjab’s
Jalandhar, Buta Singh joined
the Congress under Jawaharlal
Nehru’s leadership and was
close to Indira Gandhi and
Rajiv Gandhi, both.
Singh was first elected to
the Parliament in 1962. Over
the years, he served as the
Home Minister in the Rajiv
Gandhi government from 1986
to 1989, National President of
Scheduled Caste Commission,
governor for West Bengal and
Bihar, and Union minister for
Agriculture, Railways,
Commerce and Sports, among
other departments.
Singh’s last political assign-
ment was a two-year term as
the Governor of Bihar in 2004,
after which he only held organ-
isational posts within the
Congress.
Sad to learn about the
demise of former Union min-
ister, senior Congress leader
and former MP from
Rajasthan, Shri Buta Singh ji.
My heartfelt condolences to his
family members in this diffi-
cult time, may God give them
strength to bear this loss. May
his soul rest in peace,”
Rajasthan Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot wrote about the
former four-time MP from
State’s Jalore.
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The Central Bureau of
Investigation on Saturday
conducted searches against
Delhi-based Shakti Bhog
Foods Ltd for allegedly cheat-
ing a consortium of banks, led
by the State Bank of India
(SBI), to the tune of C3,269.42
crore.
The searches followed the
registration of a case under
various Indian Penal Code
Sections relating to criminal
conspiracy, forgery of valuable
security, forgery for cheating,
using forged documents as
genuine and relevant provi-
sions of the Prevention of
Corruption Act for falsifica-
tion of accounts. The agency
registered the case on
Thursday on a complaint from
SBI against the private com-
pany (borrower company)
based at Delhi and others
including its MD/Guarantor;
Directors and unknown pub-
lic servants/others for causing
an alleged loss of C3,269.42
crore to the SBI and other con-
sortium member banks.
“It was alleged in the com-
plaint that the said accused
had cheated the State Bank of
India led consortium banks by
ways of criminal conspiracy,
cheating, forgery of valuable
security, forgery for the pur-
pose of cheating, using forged
documents as genuine etc.,”
the agency said in a statement.
Searches were conducted
at eight locations in Delhi at
the official and residential
premises of the borrower
company/other accused,
which led to recovery of
incriminating documents, it
added.
Besides Shakti Bhog Foods
Ltd., others named in the FIR
are promoters/directors Kewal
Krishan Kumar, Siddarth
Kumar, Sunanda Kumar,
unknown public servants and
unknown others.
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Soon, persons below 21 years
of age would not be able to
sell or buy cigarettes and other
tobacco products as a bill to
raise the age bar from the cur-
rent 18 years is in the offing.
Sources in the Union
Health Ministry said that the
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco
Products (Prohibition of
Advertisement and Regulation
of Trade and Commerce,
Production, Supply and
Distribution) Amendment Act,
2020 has been drafted in this
regard to be put up for seeking
comments and objections from
the stakeholders.
The provision for raising
the age limit to 21 years is part
of the new Bill being piloted by
the Union Health Ministry.
The bill seeks to amend further
the Cigarettes and other
Tobacco Products (Prohibition
of Advertisement and
Regulation of Trade and
Commerce, Production,
Supply and Distribution) Act,
2003.
Under the amendments
proposed in the bill, “No per-
son shall sell, offer for sale, or
permit sale of, cigarette or any
other tobacco product - (a) to
or by any person who is under
twenty-one years of age, and in
an area within a radius of one
hundred meters of any educa-
tional institution.”
Section 7 is being amend-
ed to say, “Provided that the
trade and commerce in ciga-
rettes or any other tobacco
product shall be in sealed,
intact and original packag-
ing.”
It also adds a provision,
“No person shall, directly or
indirectly, produce, supply or
distribute cigarettes or any
other tobacco products unless
every package of cigarettes or
any other tobacco products
produced, supplied or distrib-
uted by him is having mini-
mum quantity as may be pre-
scribed.”
Contravention of this
Section 7 will lead to impris-
onment of two years or fine
going up to C1 lakh and second
conviction leading to prison
for 5 years or fine going up to
C5 lakh.
The Bill also has a provi-
sion for coming down on man-
ufacture and sale of illicit cig-
arettes and tobacco products.
Sale of illicit products will
lead to punishment of impris-
onment of 1 year and a fine of
C 50,000 and a second convic-
tion of imprisonment of 2
years and C1 lakh, said a senior
official from the Ministry
about the draft Bill.
The fine on manufacture
of illicit cigarettes is impris-
onment of 2 years and fine of
Rs 1 lakh. The penalty for
smoking at restricted areas is
being increased from C200 to
C2,000.
The amendment on adver-
tising says, “No person shall
directly or indirectly advertise
cigarettes or any other tobac-
co products through any medi-
um and no person shall take
part in any advertisement that
directly or indirectly promotes
the use or consumption of
cigarettes or any other tobac-
co products,” as per the official.
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Pointing that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has scored
the ‘highest rating’ (55 per
cent ) in a survey conducted by
a US data firm, Union Minister
and senior BJP leader Prakash
Javedkar claimed on Saturday
that it was a vote for Modi’s
“farsighted leadership”.
While complimenting the
Prime Minister for an
“increase” in his popularity
within the country and outside,
Javadekar hoped that the farm-
ers’ agitation will be resolved by
January 4 and “all will return
home..we are hopeful”. He was
addressing a press conference.
The minister said Modi
leads by 29 percent from the
leader (Mexican President)
placed in the second position
by the survey. “In six years,
Modi’s popularity has not
diminished..It is increasing..
normally it doesn’t happen so”,
he said.
BJP president J P Nadda
also cited Modi’s approval rat-
ing among world leaders in the
survey saying this is a testi-
mony to his able leadership and
a matter of pride for all Indians.
American firm Morning
Consult, which regularly tracks
approval ratings of world lead-
ers, said over 75 per cent peo-
ple approve of Modi while 20
per cent disapprove, putting his
net approval rating at 55 per
cent.
This is higher than any
other world leader the firm
tracks. Referring to the survey,
Nadda tweeted that Modi has
yet again emerged as the most
popular head of government
for his efficient handling of var-
ious issues and management of
the COVID-19 crisis.
“PM @narendramodi ji’s
popularity not only rises
unabated across all demo-
graphic groups geographic
regions of the country and he
also gets a thumbs up globally
for his dedication to his coun-
try. PM Modi ranks Number 1
among all global leaders in this
(these) challenging times,” he
said.
Ever since the Modi-led
government came to power,
people’s trust in the govern-
ment and the faith that the
nation is progressing in the
right direction have risen dras-
tically, he added.
“This rating is testimony of
his able leadership and hard
work and is a thing of pride for
all Indians,” Nadda said.
According to Morning
Consult’s survey, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
approval rating was 24 per
cent while it was in the nega-
tive for UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson as more people
disapprove of his work than
those who approve.
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APIL seeking a direction to
the Centre and States to
publish draft legislations
prominently on Government
websites and in the public
domain at least 60 days before
they are introduced in
Parliament and State
Assemblies has been filed in the
Supreme Court.
The plea filed by BJP leader
and advocate Ashwini Kumar
Upadhyay has also sought a
direction to the Centre to
ensure that all the draft and
final legislations are put in the
public domain in all regional
languages.
“In today’s democratic
process, with the advent of
advanced media and technol-
ogy, it is no longer appropriate
for Governments, both Central
and State, to suddenly pass laws
overnight with scarcely any
legislative debate and no wider
consultation at all, the plea,
filed through advocate
Ashwani Kumar Dubey, said.
Protests against the farm
reforms show how the message
of a law is lost in the legal jar-
gon and the consequences of
lack of such a discussion prior
to the bills being tabled in the
legislature, it said.
The petition said any draft
legislation, except those relat-
ed to national security, must be
published on government web-
sites at least 60 days before they
are introduced in Parliament or
state legislature.
As far as central laws are
concerned, it said, the pro-
posed legislations should be
translated into regional lan-
guages and published online at
least 60 days prior to their
introduction in Parliament so
that citizens have a complete
Referring to the protests
against the new farm laws, the
PIL stated
that farmers have been
misguided by politicians as
the draft laws were not pub-
lished for wide consultation
and feedback before being
introduced in Parliament.
This has led to a lot of mis-
information and protest
among the farmers and people
with vested interests are using
this chaos to advance their
cause, using the farmers as a
front, it said.
?C8Q =4F34;78
Chief of Defence Staff Gen
Bipin Rawat on Saturday
visited several frontline air
bases in forward areas near
the Line of Actual Control in
Arunachal Pradesh and
undertook a detailed review of
India’s overall military pre-
paredness in the region amid
the nearly eight-month-long
Sino-India standoff in eastern
Ladakh.
Official sources said Gen
Rawat interacted with per-
sonnel of the Special Frontier
Force (SFF), the Army and
Indo-Tibetan Border Police
(ITBP) deployed in the “for-
ward most” posts in Dibang
valley and Lohit sector of
Arunachal Pradesh and com-
plimented them for main-
taining effective surveillance
and operational readiness in
the region.
“Nothing can deter the
Indian Armed Forces from
remaining steadfast in their
call for duty,” a source quoted
the Chief of Defence Staff
(CDS) as saying during one of
the interactions.
The sources said Gen
Rawat will visit several other
key bases in Arunachal
Pradesh on Sunday as well to
gain first-hand experience of
the security scenario.
Most of the forward loca-
tions along the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) are currently
under the grip severe cold-
wave with temperatures drop-
ping to sub-zero level.
The Army and the Indian
Air Force (IAF) have signifi-
cantly bolstered their combat
readiness in all the key for-
mations along the LAC
including in Arunachal
Pradesh and Sikkim in view of
the border standoff with
China in eastern Ladakh.
In November, Chief of
Army Staff Gen MM
Naravane paid a three-day
visit to various formations
under the Army’s Eastern
Command and reviewed their
overall operational prepared-
ness. The Kolkata-headquar-
tered Eastern Command is
responsible for guarding the
LAC in Arunachal Pradesh as
well as the Sikkim sectors.
The sources said the CDS
complimented the soldiers for
the innovative measures
adopted to maintain effective
surveillance and enhanced
operational readiness.
He said only Indian sol-
diers could remain vigilant
under such “challenging situ-
ations” and ever willing to go
well beyond the call of duty to
safeguard the borders, accord-
ing to the sources.
On Friday, Gen Rawat
completed one year as India’s
first CDS, a post which was
created to bring in conver-
gence in functioning of the
Army, the Navy and the
Indian Air Force in dealing
with national security chal-
lenges.
A key mandate of the
CDS was also to facilitate
restructuring of military com-
mands for optimal utilisation
of resources by bringing about
jointness in operations,
including through establish-
ment of theatre commands.
In the last one year, Gen
Rawat along with the top
brass of the three services
carried out ground work to
establish an air defence com-
mand and a Peninsula com-
mand initially. The IAF will
helm the air defence com-
mand and all-long range mis-
siles as well as air defence
assets will come under it.
The CDS has been part of
the top military brass framing
strategies to enhance India’s
military prowess in view of the
eastern Ladakh row.
Nearly 50,000 troops of
the Indian Army are deployed
in a high state of combat
readiness in various moun-
tainous locations in eastern
Ladakh as multiple rounds of
talks between the two sides
have not yielded concrete
outcome to resolve the stand-
off.
China has also deployed
an equal number of troops,
according to officials.
The eighth and last round
of military talks had taken
place on November 6 during
which both sides broadly dis-
cussed disengagement of
troops from specific friction
points.
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The Congress on Saturday
urged the Government to
abandon its “obstinate atti-
tude” and agree to the demands
of the farmers protesting the
new farm laws amid cold
weather conditions.
Congress general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said
reports of deaths of farmers
while protesting at the Delhi
border amid harsh winter con-
ditions are “disturbing”.
“According to media
reports, 57 farmers have lost
their lives while scores are
unwell. The government is
showing gross insensitivity by
not acceding to the demands of
the protesting farmers,” said the
Congress general secretary and
its Uttar Pradesh in-charge.
Reacting to a media report
that a protesting farmer had
reportedly committed suicide,
Congress’ chief spokesperson
Randeep Surjewala said in a
tweet, “After Sant Baba Ram
Singh from Karnal (Haryana)
and Amarjeet Singh from
Fazlika (Punjab), the news of
Kashmir Singh from Bilaspur
(Uttarakhand) sacrificing life in
the farmers’ movement is very
distressing.”
“The ruthless government
should abandon its obstinate
attitude and withdraw the three
black laws immediately,”
Surjewala said in the tweet in
Hindi.
Senior Congress leader and
former Union minister P
Chidambaram saluted the res-
oluteness of the farmers.”The
Government must relent and
agree to keep the farm laws in
abeyance pending its repeal.
Any new law must take into
account the needs and desires
of the farming community,” he
tweeted.
After the sixth round of
formal negotiations on
Wednesday, the government
and farm unions reached some
common ground to resolve
protesting farmers’ concerns
over rise in power tariff and
penalties for stubble burning,
but the two sides remained
deadlocked over the main con-
tentious issues of the repeal of
three farm laws and a legal
guarantee for minimum sup-
port price (MSP).
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Delhi Metro’s journey may
have been halted for over
five months due to the COVID-
19 pandemic in the year gone
by, but the urban transporter is
zooming into 2021 riding on
next-generation driverless
trains, while accomplishing a
major technological feat for the
country.
The first case of novel coro-
navirus in Delhi was reported
on March 1 and soon the daily
cases began to multiply and
number of containment zones
grew rapidly. Flight ser-
vices were soon suspended to
check the spread of the virus.
Metro services in Delhi-
NCR were stopped on March 22
to contain the spread of the pan-
demic and the ensuing nation-
wide lockdown from March 25
meant the services remained
suspended in that period.
The raging virus that has
claimed over 10,000 lives in the
national capital in 2020 alone,
wreaked havoc in June when the
city witnessed the first major
wave of the pandemic, followed
by two more lethal waves in
mid-September and November.
Following guidelines issued
by the Ministry of Home
Affairs, the Delhi Metro
resumed operations in a grad-
ed manner on September 7,
after a hiatus of 169 days, even
as both the DMRC and com-
muters trod with caution amid
the new normal in the rapid
transport system.
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