Pioneer Dehradun-english-edition-2021-01-12

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?=BQ =4F34;78
The Supreme Court on
Monday asked the Centre
to put on hold the three con-
troversial farm laws or the
court itself will do so on the
recommendation of a court-
appointed committee which is
to be constituted. Now all eyes
will be on the court’s Tuesday
order in the matter.
Criticising the
Government’s handling of the
farmers’ protest, the court ques-
tioned the Centre’s opposition
to its suggestion that the
implementation of three new
farm laws be held back for the
time being so as to help find an
amicable solution to the ongo-
ing farmers’ protest at Delhi
borders.
The Bench said that till
date the Centre has not told it
anything on its proposal to
keep the implementation of
these laws in abeyance for
some time.
“We are still thinking it is
equally important that we stay
the implementation of law
without staying the laws,” the
Bench said.
On December 17, the SC
had asked the Centre to con-
sider putting on hold the
implementation of the three
laws.
Disagreeing with the
Centre’s contention that court
cannot put on hold laws passed
by Parliament, the court
referred to its last year order
staying the implementation of
2018 Maharashtra law granti-
ng reservation to Marathas in
education and jobs.
“We don’t see why there is
an insistence on implementa-
tion of the law,” a Bench head-
ed by Chief Justice SA Bobde
said, adding, “We are not
experts on economy and you
(Centre) tell us whether you are
going to hold on these laws or
we will do this”.
Attorney General KK
Venugopal told the Bench, also
comprising Justices AS
Bopanna and V
Ramasubramanian, that a law
cannot be stayed unless the
court finds it violates funda-
mental rights or constitution-
al schemes.
“A law cannot be stayed by
the Supreme Court unless the
Lordships find that it violates
the fundamental rights or con-
stitutional schemes. Law has to
be without the power to legis-
late, only then it can be stayed.
No petitioners have raised any
such issues,” Venugopal said.
The Bench refuted his con-
tention and said, “We are doing
this because you have failed to
solve the problem. The Union
of India has to take the respon-
sibility. The laws have resulted
into a strike and now you have
to solve the strike”.
The top court said it may
stay the implementation of
these laws as talks between the
Government and farmers are
“breaking down” because the
Centre wants to discuss these
legislations point by point,
while the farmers want them to
be repealed.
The SC said it will consti-
tute a committee headed by a
former Chief Justice of India to
resolve the impasse. It sug-
gested that stay on implemen-
tation of these laws will help the
committee in finding
solution.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Farmer leaders sitting along
the national Capital’s border
mounting pressure on the
Centre to repeal new farm
laws on Monday said they
would continue their agitation
even if the Government or the
Supreme Court stays the
implementation of the new
agriculture laws.
The reaction came after the
SC indicated that it may stay
the implementation of the con-
tentious farm laws and refused
to grant more time to the
Centre to explore the possibil-
ity of an amicable solution
saying it has already granted
the Government a “long rope”.
While sharing this online
on Facebook, Gurnam Singh
Chaduni, Bharatiya Kisan
Union (Haryana) leader, said
they welcome the Supreme
Court observation, but ending
the protest is not an option.
“Any stay is only for a
fixed period of time... Till the
issue is taken up by the court
again,” he said.
“The farmers want the laws
to be repealed completely. The
protest will continue even if the
Government or the Supreme
Court stays their implementa-
tion,” he said.
Bhog Singh Mansa, presi-
dent of Indian Farmers Union
(Mansa), said a stay on the laws
is “no big deal”.
“A stay is not a solution. We
are here to get these laws
scrapped completely...the
Government has in a way
already agreed to scrap the laws
when it said it is willing to
incorporate as many amend-
ments as farmers want,” he
said.
“We appeal to the Supreme
Court to terminate these laws
as these are not valid constitu-
tionally,” Mansa said, adding
the protest will continue till the
“the laws are repealed”.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Monday said the
Central Government will bear
the expenses of vaccinating
nearly three crore healthcare
and frontline workers in the
first round and asked political
representatives and VIPs not to
jump the queue for getting the
first dose of vaccine.
Interacting with Chief
Ministers, Modi announced
that over 30 crore citizens will
get the jabs in the next few
months in India against only
2.5 crore people who have
received them in over 50 coun-
tries in around a month so far.
The countrywide vaccination
drive will start from January 16.
In the second phase, those
above 50 years and those under
50 years with co-morbidity
will be vaccinated, said Modi.
The Prime Minister did not
specify who will bear the vac-
cination cost for subsequent
rounds.
The Prime Minister
informed Chief Ministers that
plans were afoot to vaccinate
“30 crore people in next few
months.”
“We should be proud that
both the vaccines are made in
India ...four more vaccines are
in progress so that we can plan
for the future,” he told Chief
Ministers through video-con-
ferencing.
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee sought in the
meeting that the States should
have greater role and involve-
ment in the first phase of the
vaccine rollout when the
Centre would send vaccines to
the States.
The Jammu Kashmir
Government requested for
offline registration of the ben-
eficiaries in the State.
States across the country
have designated thousands of
collection, storage and distrib-
ution centres for the January 16
vaccination exercise, the largest
in the world. Two dry runs
have already been
conducted.
During the virtual meet,
Modi told Chief Ministers,
“I’m satisfied that we worked
together by standing united in
Covid crisis, quick decisions
were taken with full sensitivi-
ty. As a result, Covid has not
spread in India on the scale, on
which it spread anywhere else
in the world.”
A094B7:D0AQ =4F34;78
With the presence of avian
influenza in Delhi,
Maharashtra and Uttarakhand,
the Ministry of Animal
Husbandry and Dairying on
Monday said bird flu has been
confirmed in 10 States and
stressed on increased surveil-
lance around water bodies, live
bird markets, zoos and poultry
farms. Meanwhile, fresh avian
deaths continue to be reported
in other States too.
The Centre has urged
States not to close mandis or
restrict sale of poultry products
as there are no scientific reports
of transmission of bird flu to
human beings. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has asked all
State Governments to remain
alert and ensure local admin-
istration keeps a constant vigil
near places like water Zbodies,
zoos and poultry
farms.
“Till January 11, 2021,
avian influenza has been con-
firmed in 10 States of the
country,” the Ministry said.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
As all eight samples sent to
Bhopal lab tested positive,
bird flu has been confirmed in
Delhi, claimed officials on
Monday. Following the devel-
opment, the Delhi Government
on Monday imposed a ban on
sale of processed and packaged
chicken brought from outside
the city.
Only samples of ducks
from Sanjay Lake have tested
positive for bird flu so far,
Deputy Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia said on Monday, asking
people not to panic as there is
no cause for
concern.
All eight samples — four
from a park in Mayur Vihar
Phase 3, three from Sanjay
Lake and one from Dwarka —
have been found positive for
avian influenza, said Dr Rakesh
Singh of Delhi’s Animal
Husbandry Unit.
?=BQ =4F34;78
After announcing January 16
as the day for launching
countrywide Covid-19 vacci-
nation drive, the Government
on Monday placed a purchase
order with Pune-based Serum
Institute of India (SII) for 11
million doses of Covishield —
anti-Covid vaccine developed
by AstraZeneca and Oxford
University — each costing
C210, including GST of
C10.
The HLL Lifecare Limited,
a public sector undertaking
issued the supply order on
behalf of the Union Health
Ministry in the name of
Prakash Kumar Singh,
Additional Director,
Government and Regulatory
Affairs at Pune-based pharma
company.
The Covishield vaccine
doses would be initially
shipped to 60 consignment
points from where they would
be distributed further.
The Ministry is also likely
to soon sign a purchase order
for another anti-coronavirus
vaccine, Covaxin, which has
been indigenously developed
by Bharat Biotech. India top
drug regulator DCGI had
recently granted emergency
use authorisation (EUA) to
two vaccines, Oxford’s
Covishield, and Bharat
Biotech’s Covaxin. Both vac-
cines, according to a state-
ment from the Health Ministry,
have established safety and
immunogenicity.
Coronavirus vaccine devel-
oped by AstraZeneca and the
University of Oxford will be
priced around C1,000 in private
market once such sales open
up, said Adar Poonawala, CEO
of its Indian manufacturer on
Monday.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
Asocial media post by the
former Chief Minister of
Uttarakhand and general sec-
retary of All India Congress
Committee (AICC) Harish
Rawat has heated up the polit-
ical scenario in the state. Rawat
in his post has requested the
party high command that the
party should declare its chief
ministerial candidate for the
assembly elections of 2022.
The Congress party should
declare its Senapati for the
electoral battle of 2022.
Uttarakhand is a mature state
and people here know that the
role of Chief Minister is very
important in development of
the state,’’ said Rawat in his
Facebook post. Later talking to
the media- persons, Rawat said
that he wants that the clarity
should be there and at least
from his side there is no con-
fusion. “The BJP has made
every election a battle and we
should take up the fight accord-
ingly. I want to make it clear
that I would stand firmly
behind the leader which the
party would project as its
leader,’’ Rawat said.
The utterances of the for-
mer CM are being viewed as
open assertion that the grand
old party should project him as
the chief ministerial candidate
for the assembly elections of
2022. There is no denying the
fact that despite the debacle of
2017, Harish Rawat is the tallest
leader in Uttarakhand
Congress at the moment.
It is a common knowledge
that in Uttarakhand the
Congress party which was
reduced to only 11 MLAs in an
assembly of 70 in the elections
of 2017 is a divided house. The
party is clearly divided into
camps led by Harish Rawat, a
combined group of leaders
owing allegiance to Pradesh
Congress Committee (PCC)
president Pritam Singh and
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in
Uttarakhand assembly Indira
Hridayesh. There is a third fac-
tion though small, is of the for-
mer PCC president Kishore
Upadhyaya. The leaders of
these three factions are com-
monly seen charting their own
course.
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Aviral audio clipping in
which the BJP MLA from
Jhabreda, Deshraj Karnwal is
purportedly abusing an officer
of a Sugar mill has given
ammunition to the Congress
party to attack the BJP. The
member of All India Congress
Committee (AICC) Garima
Dasauni said that it is unfor-
tunate that the MLA is talking
in a vulgar and abusing lan-
guage with an officer of a
sugar mill in the audio which
is making rounds. She howev-
er added that it is no wonder
that a MLA of a party is stoop-
ing down to such a low level
whose president of the BJP had
recently made a derogatory
comment on the leader of the
opposition Indira
Hridayesh.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Municipal Corporation
of Dehradun (MCD) has
decided to postpone the
inspection of the dog licenses
in the city after the earlier deci-
sion of authorities of initiating
inspection from this week.
Since more than 70 dog own-
ers are arriving in the corpo-
ration every day for license reg-
istration, the officials stated that
the MCD is providing locals
relaxation by giving them suf-
ficient time to register their pet
dogs. As stated by the senior
veterinary officer of the cor-
poration, Dr DC Tiwari, over
2000 dog licenses have been
registered within the last few
months which is the highest
number of registrations in the
corporation ever. “About 70 to
80 people are visiting MCD
every day so rather than scar-
ing others by asking them for
the dog licenses, we are pro-
viding them more time to reg-
ister their dogs in the corpo-
ration,” said Tiwari. However,
the officials asserted that when
the inspection will be initiated
in the next few months, those
who do not possess the dog
license will have to pay the
penalty.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Dehradun district
administration has com-
menced the distribution of
about 80,000 smart ration cards
in the district while the remain-
ing cards are still under print-
ing procedure. According to
the district supply officer
(DSO) Jaswant Singh Kandari,
the smart ration cards are
being distributed through sup-
ply offices in the urban areas
and through the officials in
Gram Panchayats in rural areas
of the district. He pointed out
that there are about four lakh
eligible beneficiaries in the
district but since the adminis-
tration received only about
80,000 printed smart ration
cards, the distribution was
started in some areas while the
remaining cards will be dis-
tributed in the coming weeks,
informed Kandari.
He said that the beneficia-
ries are being asked to bring
their old ration cards and pay
Rs 17 to get the new smart
ration card. Meanwhile
responding to the rumours
that the district supply office
will annul those ration cards
which are not linked with
Aadhar cards, the DSO said
that the majority of the ration
cards in Dehradun district are
linked with Aadhar card and
those beneficiaries who have
not linked it so far can link the
card and update their infor-
mation easily through nearby
supply offices in their respec-
tive areas.
?=BQ =4F
C47A8
The nature of
s p i r i t u a l
discourse has
also changed
amidst all kinds
of changes in
the Covid pan-
d e m i c .
Thousands of
people especial-
ly those
dwelling in the
cities have taken
to spiritualism
using virtual means.
Swami Ram Tirtha mission
continues to carry out spiritu-
al activities in the society via
internet for the devotees. Since
the lockdown was first imple-
mented, the mission has held
about 250 online discourses
which have been especially
appreciated by senior citizens
and housewives. To motivate
people under stress during the
period the mission organised
several free online discourse
programmes over a period of
time to instill confidence
among the people.
People from across the
nation joined the online dis-
course through social media.
The series of ninety-minute
discourses have been organised
regularly from the month of
May 2020 to January 2021 and
continue even today.
In the one-and-a-half hour
online discourse, a sermon on
the important verses and con-
texts of the Bhagavad Gita,
Ramayana, Sundarkand and
Gajendra Moksha was started
on the weekdays.
The main speaker of the
online programme, Kaka
Hariom, says that these events
have benefited the people who
were not able to move around.
At the same time, a special ses-
sion was held to address their
spiritual curiosity right in their
drawing room virtually. He
said that by listening to the
Vedas and Puranas brings
internal joy.
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BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Keeping in mind the upcom-
ing MCD election of 2022
the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
on Monday appointed new
office bearers of the women’s
wing from state to
district level.
“This was done to increase
women’s participation in the
upcoming election. The AAP
hasalreadystartedrestructuring
various frontal organisations.
The party is appointing new
office bearers in all these frontal
organisations which include
women’s wing, youth wing, stu-
dent wing, traders’ wing, auto-
rickshaw wing, street vendor
wing, tenant wing and others,”
the party said in a statement.
According to party, captain
Shalini was appointed as state
joint secretary, Dr Farin as
state treasurer, Sanjay Bala as
state social media coordinator,
Neha Tyagi - vice president of
North West Delhi, Uma
Bhogle, vice-president of South
Delhi, Monica Miglani, vice-
president of West Delhi, Sanju
Jain, vice-president of New
Delhi, Vanita Luthra – vice-
president of East Delhi, Seema
Arya, vice-president of
Chandni Chowk and Yash
Bhatia appointed as vice-pres-
ident of North East Delhi.
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A22-year-old man has been arrested by the Delhi Police
for allegedly killing another person by hitting him
multiple times on his head with a hammer in south Delhi's
Tigri area.
Police said that the accused, identified as Govind, had
a fallout with the deceased Rahul (32) following a quar-
rel over a petty issue. The accused killed the victim to take
revenge from him.
The incident took place on Sunday afternoon when
Rahul was sitting in a park along with his friends. Govind
came to the park and attacked Rahul with a hammer, hit-
ting him on his head several times, a senior police offi-
cer said. The victim was then rushed to the Batra Hospital
where he was declared brought, he said.
During enquiry, it was revealed that Rahul was pre-
viously involved in five-six cases different cases, includ-
ing murder, robbery and theft. His three brothers have also
been declared Bad Characters of the area, the officer said.
About a month back, Rahul and Govind had an alter-
cation over a petty issue. Due to the enmity, Govind killed
Rahul, he said. A case of murder was registered based on
the statement of a witness named Sanjay, who was well
known to both the deceased and accused, said he added.
BC055A4?AC4AQ
=4F34;78
The Delhi education confer-
ence organised by the Delhi
Government kicked off on
Monday. The seven-day confer-
ence will be running until 17
January, 2021.
DelhiDeputyChiefMinister
andEducation MinisterManish
Sisodia said In the last five
years, we have achieved a lot of
success in creating excellent
infrastructure of schools, teach-
ers training and an improved
children'sresultbuttherealsuc-
cess will be when every child
leaves the school with a passion
to do something for their coun-
try and commit to driving a
change. Sisodia said, “The ulti-
mategoalistotransformthesoci-
ety.Tohavecitizenswhoaretrue
committedpatriotswithanentre-
preneurialmindsetandwillcon-
tribute to the country.”
Theconferencekickedoffat
SKV, Nehru Enclave, Kalkaji. At
thelaunch,anindependentstudy
report on Delhi's education
reformsinthelastfiveyearswas
also released by the Boston
ConsultingGroup.Titled'School
Education Reforms in Delhi
2015-2020', this report detailed
themajorreformsundertakenby
the Delhi government. It was
presentedbyShoikatRoy,Project
Leader, Social Impact- BCG.
The report pointed out that
at least 95 percent plus parents
and teachers believed that the
quality of education has
improved in the Delhi govern-
ment schools. It also highlight-
edthattheeducationdepartment
was able to bridge the gap
between local communities and
schoolsbyengagingallthestake-
holders. This led to an increase
in parent engagement by rein-
forcing their faith in the public
education system.
Moreover, the report high-
lightedDelhigovernment’sseven
key initiatives like Chunauti and
Mission Buniyaad that empow-
ered the students on a grassroots
level by involving teachers and
parents alike.
The report also referred to
the substantial increase in the
budget for education from INR
7,500 crore in 2014-15 to INR
15,100crorein2019-20,without
reduction in budget in other
departments. It also lauded the
introduction of happiness and
entrepreneurship curriculums
– which enhanced the students’
critical thinking, encouraged
mindfulness and emotional
learning and
focusedondevelopinganentre-
preneurialmindsetamongthem.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Indu Verma, two-time coun-
cillor from Congress, joined
theAamAadmiParty(AAP)on
Monday along with other lead-
ers and her supporters. Senior
AAP leader and MLA Atishi on
Mondaysaidthatinthelastsev-
eral years the AAP has done
remarkable work in the field of
education, health, woman
empowermentandothersectors.
“Influenced by the amazing
work done by the Kejriwal
Government various people
have joined the AAP in the last
few years. Many leaders and
people have come to politics to
bring changes and now they are
joining the AAP after looking
into the work of the Kejriwal
government in education,
health, electricity, water etc,” she
said. Indu Verma was the coun-
cillor from 2002 to 2007 from
Srinivas Puri ward of Delhi.
During this period she was also
the President of the central zone
of Lajpat Nagar municipal area.
She has also held the post of
vice-chairman of the health
committee. From 2012 to 20 17
she again won as a councillor.
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The Gurugram Police on
Monday arrested 8 people,
including a spa manager and 7
women for allegedly operating
a sex racket from a spa and
massage centre in Gurugram.
The arrested have been
booked under different sec-
tions of the Immoral
Trafficking Act and an FIR has
been registered against them at
the Sushant Lok police station.
Following a tip-off, a man
acting as a decoy customer vis-
ited the spa on Monday and
found that the women working
at the spa were involved in sex
trade and he informed the
police about the sex trade.
Soon after information a
joint team of the crime branch
DLF Phase-4 and Sushant Lok
police station then raided the
A-One Spa and Massage
Centre located at C-block in
Sushant Lok and nabbed 8
people in total.
“The police team reached
the spot and arrested the cul-
prits red-handed who was
soliciting sex. Police have
arrested a male manager iden-
tified as Satyaveer of Alwar dis-
trict in Rajastan and 7 women,
who were also included in the
sex trade,” said Subhash Boken,
spokesperson of the Gurugram
police.
During the investigation,
he reveals he works as a man-
ager in the spa.
“At the time of the raid, a
room in the message centre was
occupied where a woman and
man were found in
objectionable positions,” the
police said.
Police said for the past
several days, the police had
been receiving complaints
about the illegal activity being
carried out in the spa.
“Further investigation in
the matter is underway and we
are collecting more informa-
tion about the involvement of
any other person,” Boken said.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
The Delhi Police has arrested a
45-year-old man for allegedly
raping a woman on the pretext of
marriage in South Delhi's Aya
Nagar area.
The accused, resident of
Ghitorni village, is a peon at a
Government organisation in Delhi.
According to Atul Kumar
Thakur, the Deputy Commissioner
of Police (DCP), South district, the
matter was reported to police by
the 35-year-old woman on
January 9.
In a written complaint, she
stated that after her husband died
in 2015, she came in contact with
the accused. He allegedly told her
that he is a divorcee and established
physical relation with her on the
promise of marrying her, said the
DCP. She confronted the man
after getting to know that he is
already married and lived with his
wife and children. The man
allegedly threatened her of dire
consequences, he said.
A case was registered under
Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections
376 (rape) and 506 (criminal
intimidation) at Fatehpur Beri
police station. The accused was
arrested during the course of
investigation, said the DCP.
According to police, the
accused confessed to establishing
physical relation with her on the
pretext of marriage, while describ-
ing himself as a divorcee, he said.
The accused has been sent to
judicial custody and further inves-
tigation is under way, he added.
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With sustained efforts to
provide clean and green
transportation to all its stake-
holders and commuters has
resulted in Indian Railway
bagged 13 awards in three
prestigious categories of
National Energy Conservation
Awards (NECA) for the year
2020, organized by the Bureau
of Energy Efficiency (BEE),
Ministry of Power.
The railways ministry in a
statement said that western
railway has been awarded the
first prize, eastern railway has
been awarded the second prize,
North Eastern Railway and
South Central Railway has been
awarded certificate of merit in
the transport
category.
?0AE4B7B70A0Q
6DAD6A0
Former Kherki Daula SHO
Inspector Vishal, an accused
in a graft case, on Monday
afternoon surrendered before
the court of Neha Goyal, Duty
Magistrate in Gurugram. The
court sent him to a three-day
police remand.
Suspended Inspector Vihal,
along with an alleged head con-
stable, Amit, was booked by the
Haryana State Vigilance
Bureau; Faridabad unit after
they had caught head consta-
ble Amit Kumar red-handed
for taking a bribe of Rs five lakh
on behalf of the SHO Vishal of
the Kherki Daula police station
on December 28.
Soon after the incident the
Gurugram police commis-
sioner K K Rao had suspend-
ed the SHO and head consta-
ble over an alleged graft case.
The SHO was since then
absconding after the registra-
tion of the FIR against him.
“We had applied for antic-
ipatory bail of inspector Vishal
on Friday which was listed for
Monday was dismissed by the
duty magistrate and sent him
three days' police remand as
asked by the investigation
agency,” said S S Chauhan,
senior counsel for the sus-
pended cop.
Meanwhile, the investiga-
tion agency urged before the
court that they needed time as
their reply against the bail
application was not ready.
Advocate Chauhan also
informed that the investigation
agency had thoroughly inter-
rogate his client (suspended
SHO) for around 2.30 hours
after his surrender but the
investigation agency urged
before the court the former
SHO didn’t reply their question
so they required police remand
for further questioning which
court further accepted and
sent him three days remand
period.
“The complainant in this
case itself said that he had paid
Rs 57 lakh to head constable
Amit Kumar on December 28,
till then he didn't even know
the name of my client,”
Chauhan said.
Chauhan further said the
argument on the matter will
again take place before the
court of Additional Session
Judge (ASJ) Amit Sehrawat
court on Tuesday.
The counsel for the cop
submitted that his client had
been falsely implicated in the
case.
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347A03D=
Ch i e f
Minister
Tr i v e n d r a
Singh Rawat
attended the
video confer-
ence presided
over by the
P r i m e
M i n i s t e r
N a r e n d r a
Modi regard-
ing the anti-
Covid-19 vac-
cination cam-
paign to be conducted nation-
wide from January 16.
Explaining the various aspects
of the campaign, the PM said
that the Centre will purchase
the vaccine and provide it free
of cost to the States.
Apart from Covid, the PM
also referred to bird flu and
expected all the chief ministers
to ensure proper and effective
arrangements to tackle the dis-
ease.
After the meeting with the
PM, the CM chaired a meeting
with state officials to review
arrangements for the cam-
paign slated to start on January
16. He directed the officials to
ensure that all necessary
arrangements are made on
time. Tasks like the formation
of the state-level task force,
strengthening the cold chain
system in all districts, ensuring
adequate space for storage and
distribution of the vaccine
along with arrangement of the
required human resource for
the tasks should be completed.
The process of the recruit-
ment of doctors, nursing and
other paramedical staff should
also be expedited, he said.
Regarding avian influenza,
the CM said that necessary pre-
cautions should be observed.
He directed officials of the
animal husbandry, forest and
health departments to work in
coordination to make an effec-
tive action plan for prevention
of bird flu. Chief secretary Om
Prakash, health secretary Amit
Singh Negi and secretary in-
charge Pankaj Pandey were
also present in the meeting.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The third and most comprehensive dry
run to check the preparedness for the
Covid-19 vaccine in the state would be
organised on Tuesday. This rehearsal
would be done at 309 vaccinated sites for
7725 beneficiaries.
Addressing the media persons here on
Monday, the Director General (DG) of
state health services, Dr Amita Upreti said
that the department is fully geared up for
the vaccination drive of Covid-19 com-
mencing from January 16. She informed
that in the first phase three lakh health
workers and frontline workers would be
vaccinated. The department has ear-
marked 4943 government and private
health units and a total of 9708 vaccina-
tion sessions would be organised in them.
Vaccine would be administered to 87588
health workers on the basis of priority.
Dr Upreti further informed that a total
of 317 cold chain points have been made
where the vaccine would be stored. An
arrangement for 483 ice island refrigera-
tors, 547 deep fridges, three walk in cool-
ers and two walk in freezers has been
made. As per the guidelines of the gov-
ernment of India, the vaccination would
be in three phases. In the first phase, the
vaccine would be administered to health
care workers and front line workers, in the
second phase people of more than 50 years
of age and those with co-morbidity would
be given the vaccine while in the third
phase the remaining population would be
covered. The department would deploy
502 observers for monitoring the vacci-
nation and apart from them 120 additional
observers would be stationed who would
also act as vaccinators,’’ she said.
The DG stressed that health services
would not be allowed to get affected by the
vaccination drive and an advisor group is
also working at the level of government of
India on this. Dr Upreti informed that the
administrative arrangement for the vac-
cination drive would be done on the lines
of the general elections. At every vacci-
nation centre, a waiting room, vaccination
room and an observation room would be
there. Onevaccinatorandfourvaccineoffi-
cerswouldremainstationedinacentreand
100 beneficiaries would be vaccinated in
one centre,’’ she said. The DG further
informed that a state level steering com-
mittee is constantly monitoring the
arrangements and in every district a task
force headed by district magistrate has
been constituted. She claimed that ade-
quate arrangements have been made to
deal with any adverse effect from the vac-
cine. The vice chancellor of the medical
university Dr Hem Chandra, the princi-
pal of Government Doon Medical College
(GDMC), Dr Ashutosh Sayana, the state
president of Indian Medical Association
(IMA) Dr Alok Semwal, additional mis-
sion director Dr Abhishek Tripathi and
others were present on the occasion.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Dehradun district admin-
istration has arranged enough
cold chain space to store over
4,000 litres of Covid-19 vaccine
and if the situation demands, it
can be provided to other districts
too as per the requirement. The
Dehradun district magistrate
Ashish Kumar Srivastava said
this while addressing media per-
sons at the collectorate on
Monday. Stating that the admin-
istration has made all the arrange-
ments to commence the first
round of vaccination of about
21,546 healthcare workers from
January 16 in the district,
Srivastava said that 51 sites will be
set up across the district in which
75 booths will operate and only
100 people will be vaccinated per
day in each booth. According to
him, there are over 14,000 health-
care workers in the private sector
and about 7,352 health workers in
the government sector and as per
the planned arrangements, about
7,500 workers will be vaccinated
per day.
He pointed out that the
administration requires cold chain
space to store about 100 litres of
the vaccine but the arrangements
have been made to store 4,074
litres. We have made arrange-
ments considering the time when
vaccination will commence for the
general public. If other districts
require the cold space storages, we
will provide them assistance too,
he said.
The administration will also
deploy zonal magistrates, sectors
magistrates and observers to facil-
itate the vaccination process in
every booth besides setting up
control rooms. After the health-
care workers and frontline work-
ers, the vaccination of people
aged above 50 years will com-
mence in the district, informed
Srivastava. However, he asserted
that the arrival of the vaccine does
not indicate the end of Covid-19
and people should continue to
observe precautions.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The operation of trains began
from the first railway station
of the Rishikesh-Karnprayag
rail project- the Yog Nagari
Rishikesh railway station on
Monday morning. The Jammu-
Tawi express arrived at this rail-
way station at 10:30 AM as the
maiden train to arrive at the
newly constructed railway sta-
tion. Trains will also operate
from this station during the
Kumbh Mela to be held in
Haridwar in the near future.
Chief minister Trivendra
Singh Rawat thanked the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
Union Railway minister Piyush
Goyal. Rawat said that the PM
has special affection for
Uttarakhand, adding that work
is being executed at a swift pace
on the Char Dham road project
and Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail
project. He said that both these
projects will prove to be life-
lines for the state. Completion
of these projects will boost eco-
nomic activities and develop
livelihood resources on a large
scale in the state, said the CM.
It is pertinent to mention
here that work on the 125
kilometre Rishikesh-
Karnprayag rail project costing
Rs 16,216 crore is progressing
at a brisk pace. The construc-
tion of the first station of this
project- Yog Nagar Rishikesh
was recently completed. The
project is slated to be complet-
ed by 2024-25. The CM is reg-
ularly monitoring the execution
of this project and periodical-
ly reviewing it. A dream project
of the PM and CM, the
Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail pro-
ject is also among the priorities
of the Union Railway minister.
A04B7?:7A8H0;³=8B70=:´
Sisters and brothers of
America, these are the res-
onating words with which
Swami Vivekananda started
his speech on September 11,
1893 at the world parliament of
religion in Chicago. These lines
from India's greatest youth
icon show how dear we hold
the idea of Vasudhaiva
Kutumbhakam. Our leader,
prime-minister Narendra Modi
pronounced during the 150th
anniversary of Swami's address
at Chicago; the world would
not have faced the 9/11 of 2001
had we assimilated Swamiji’s
teachings that he shared on
9/11 of 1883. It highlights the
relevance of his thoughts and
propositions in the current
world order.
Today, as we celebrate the
158th birth anniversary of this
mystical monk, let us reflect
upon his timeless teachings
and sagacious sermons. Born
on the day of Makar Sankranti,
he was a brilliant student, con-
tinually seeking the truth. This
led him to another noble soul
and his guru, Ramkrishna
Paramhans. I take this oppor-
tunity to bow my head to the
Paramhans for crafting Swami
Vivekananda for the world.
From Kasardevi in the
mighty Himalayas to
Kanyakumari in the capacious
ocean, he had travelled the
country's length and breadth to
propagate the principles of tol-
erance, pluralism and
universal acceptance.
The real brand ambas-
sador of Indian values,
culture, ethos and
knowledge system, he
had deliberations with
scholars across the globe
and found disciples all
over the world. Be it the
west or east he never
missed a chance to
spread the message of
world peace and harmo-
ny, scientific-temper and power
of concentration as enshrined
in the philosophy of Vedanta.
His works on Rajyoga, Karma
Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana
yoga cover the entire range of
spiritual life. Swamiji had a very
close connection with the
Devbhumi Uttarakhand. He
visited Devbhumi five times
(1888-1901) for gaining
strength, serenity, tenacity and
endurance. His five visits are
the testimony that he drew
some divine energy from
Devbhoomi. Souls-like Swamiji
are born once in many cen-
turies; his principles and words
are seminal for the world. We
need to imbibe and imple-
ment his rectitude and fulfil his
aspirations, not only for our
own citizens but the entire
world.
The government, under
the leadership of PM Modi is
committed to this cause.
Whether it's ISA, CDRI, skill
development, sports, start-ups
or recently launched national
education policy 2020 (NEP
2020), the ideals of Swamiji are
spread across the vision of the
government. Being the coun-
try's education minister, I
would like to emphasise on
NEP 2020. The policy’s letter
and spirit are in sync with
Swamiji’s conception of access,
inclusion, quality, ethics, crit-
ical thinking and hands-on
approach.
Swamiji wanted an educa-
tion through which character is
built, the strength of mind is
increased, intelligence is
expanded. NEP 2020 puts great
emphasis on it and focuses on
character building and creating
holistic and well-rounded indi-
viduals equipped with 21st
century cognitive skills. He
opined for a value based edu-
cation which promotes ideas of
universal brotherhood, toler-
ance, compassion and belief in
oneself; NEP envisions to pro-
mote morality and constitu-
tional values, respect for others,
cleanliness, sympathy etiquette,
democratic spirit, sense of ser-
vice, respect for public prop-
erty, scientific temperament,
independence, responsibility,
pluralism, equality and jus-
tice. He used to call economi-
cally poor as daridra narayan;
NEP understands it and sug-
gests provisions for special
education zones, national
scholarship portal and schol-
arships for disadvantaged
groups. He understood the
importance of mother tongue
and emphasised that no lan-
guage can be more appropriate
than our mother tongue. On
these lines, wherever possible,
NEP 2020 is committed to
implement the three language
formula. It also paves way for
the Indian institute for trans-
lation and interpretation (IITI)
for generating high-quality
material in different regional
languages. Vivekanand was an
advocate of women
empowerment, for
empowering half of the
population NEP 2020
recommends for a gen-
der inclusion fund and
better opportunities. He
vouched for exchange of
the best between the east
and the west and mutu-
ally among the Indians
but not merger or syn-
thesis. NEP 2020 pro-
motes enough scope and
space for internationalisation of
education while keeping the
Indian values. In the NEP 2020
research, teaching collabora-
tions and faculty and student
exchanges with high-quality
foreign institutions will be
facilitated. Campus opening
by top international universities
in India and vice-versa is also
provided in the policy. The rec-
ommendations in the policy
are reflections of the ideals of
Swamiji, to make our young
nation a Vishwaguru.
Swamiji had immense faith
in the capabilities of young
women and men, and he has
said that I can transform the
world if you give me a hundred
committed young people. India
is a young 65% population in
the less than 35 years of age. To
reap our demographic dividend
we need to develop the single
minded focus in coherence
with our beloved Swamiji. We
are poised to take the leader-
ship of the world as
Vivekanand’s vision is the foun-
dation of our world-view and
engagements. His spirit still fos-
ters us to arise, awake and lead
humanity to the summum
bonum. Let us all unite for a
more peaceful, congruous and
sustainable world. It's high
time!
(The author is the Union
Education Minister and repre-
sents Haridwar Parliamentary
constituency)
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Ahead of the vaccination
drive of Covid-19 com-
mencing from January 16, the
intensity of the contagion of
the disease is slowing down in
Uttarakhand. Apart from a
smaller number of new cases,
the authorities are reporting
more recoveries from the dis-
ease which is causing an
appreciable decrease in the
number of active cases of
Covid-19 in the state. The state
health department reported
only 156 cases of the disease
on Monday. The state now has
93777 patients with the dis-
ease. The department report-
ed the death of five patients
from the disease on Monday
after which the death toll
from the disease mounted to
1578. The authorities dis-
charged 523 patients of the
disease on Monday following
their recovery. A total of 88196
patients have so far recovered
from the disease. The recovery
percentage has now improved
to 94.05 percent and the sam-
ple positivity rate is 4.90 per-
cent.
Four patients of the dis-
ease were reported dead from
Mahant Indiresh Hospital,
Dehradun on Monday. One
patient was reported dead at
Sushila Tiwari government
hospital Haldwani on the
day.
The authorities detected
56 patients of Covid-19 from
Dehradun, 44 from Nainital,
15 from Haridwar,13 from
Udham Singh Nagar, eight
from Pauri, seven from Tehri,
four from Rudraprayag, three
from Champawat, two from
Pithoragarh and one each
from Almora, Bageshwar,
Chamoli and Uttarkashi on
Monday. Out of the 523
patients discharged on the
day, 174 belonged to
Dehradun, 123 from Nainital,
78 from Haridwar and 40
from Udham Singh Nagar.
Uttarakhand now has
2753 active cases of the dis-
ease. Dehradun is at continu-
ing to remain at top of the
table of active cases with 690
cases while with 529 active
cases Nainital is at second
spot.
Haridwar is at third posi-
tion with 333 cases, Almora
has 178, Tehri 159, Bageshwar
145, Pauri 140, Udham Singh
Nagar 129, Uttarkashi 114,
Chamoli 106, Pithoragarh 102
and Champawat 73 active
cases of the disease. With 55
active cases of Covid-19,
Rudraprayag is at the bottom
of the table of active cases of
Covid-19.
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Republic Day parade in
2022 will be at the new
Central Vista Avenue,” Union
Housing and Urban Affairs
Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
on Monday said as he outlined
that the development /rede-
velopment of Central Vista is
being undertaken with the
objective of upgrading
Parliament’s space, facilities
and equipping it better.
Work on redevelopment
of Rajpath will start soon after
this year’s Republic Day parade.
The work is expected to be
completed in the next 10
months.
As things stand, days after
the Supreme Court’s go ahead,
the Heritage Conservation
Committee (HCC) under the
Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs, has cleared the pro-
posal for the new Parliament
building under the Central
Vista Redevelopment Project.
Responding to a query
during a press conference,
Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs’ Secretary Durga
Shankar Mishra on Monday
said the committee discussed
the proposal of new parliament
building and gave its approval
today (Monday). “The pro-
posal was sent a few days ago,
discussed and cleared after a
detailed discussion,” he said.
Additional secretary of the
Union Housing and Urban
Affairs Ministry is the chair-
man of the 14-member
Heritage Conservation
Committee. The panel has nine
government officials and four
academics from School of
Planning and Architecture and
Delhi University. “The com-
mittee’s members are the ones
who look into what is provid-
ed under unified building
bylaws for preserving the her-
itage based on which they
accept, reject or suggest certain
modifications,” Mishra added.
Notably, the HCC does not
hold a public hearing. Asked
whether public hearing was
mandatory before granting
approval, he answered, “No”.
Last month, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had
laid the foundation stone of the
new Parliament building where
the Lok Sabha chamber will
have a seating capacity for 888
members, while the Rajya
Sabha will have 384 seats for
members. The National
Emblem will crown the new
Parliament building.
The Central Vista revamp,
announced in September, 2019
envisages a new triangular
Parliament building, with a
seating capacity for 900 to
1,200 MPs, that is to be con-
structed by August, 2022 when
the country will be celebrating
its 75th Independence Day.
The common Central
Secretariat is likely to be built
by 2024 under the project.
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Adeclining number of fresh
Covid-19 cases and a high
rate of recovery have resulted
in a continuous fall in the
country’s active caseload, which
accounts for only 2.13 per cent
of the total infections, the
Union Health Ministry said on
Monday.
The number of daily new
fatalities has also declined sub-
stantially in the country. On
Monday, less than 170 such
deaths were recorded after 229
days, the Ministry said. In fact,
in the last 24 hours, India
reported 16,311 new cases.
India’s total active case-
load has fallen to 2.25 lakh
(2,22,526) on Monday with
16,959 infected people recov-
ered and discharged. This has
led to a net decline of 809 from
the total active caseload.
The total recovered cases
stand at 10,092,909. The gap
between recovered cases and
active cases, that is steadily
increasing, is nearing 99 lakhs
and presently stands at
98,70,383.
The recovery rate has also
improved to 96.43 per cent on
Monday. This is amongst the
highest the world over. The
Ministry said that 78.56 per
cent of the new recovered cases
are observed to be concentrat-
ed in 10 States/UTs.
Kerala has reported the
maximum number of single
day recoveries with 4,659 newly
recovered cases. 2,302 people
recovered in Maharashtra fol-
lowed by 962 in Chhattisgarh.
Similarly, 80.25 per cent of the
new cases are concentrated in
9 States and UTs.
Kerala has also reported
the highest daily new cases at
4,545 followed by Maharashtra
with 3,558new cases.
Six States/UTs account for
69.57 per cent of the daily
deaths with Maharashtra wit-
nessing the maximum casual-
ties (34). Kerala and West
Bengal followed with 23 and 19
daily deaths, respectively.
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Researchers from IIT
Madras have found that
holding one’s breath can
increase the chances of a
Covid-19 infection. They said
that the process of virus-laden
droplets being transported
into deep lung increases with
decreasing breathing fre-
quency.
The research team led by
Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula,
Department of Applied
Mechanics, IIT Madras, with
his research scholars Arnab
Kumar Mallik and Soumalya
Mukherjee, IIT Madras mod-
elled the breathing frequency
in a laboratory and found
that low breathing frequency
increases the time of resi-
dence of the virus and there-
fore it increases chances of
deposition and consequently
the infection.
Also, the multiscale lung
structure has a significant
effect on a person’s suscepti-
bility to Covid-19, said the
study which is published in
the journal Physics of Fluids.
Elaborating on the need
for such research, Prof.
Panchagnula, said, “Covid-19
(the disease caused by
Coronavirus) has opened a
gap in our understanding of
deep pulmonological systemic
diseases.”
“Our study unravels the
mystery behind how particles
are transported and deposit-
ed in the deep lung. The study
demonstrates the physical
process by which aerosol par-
ticles are transported into the
deep generations of the lung,”
he added.
Prof. Panchagnula’s team
worked to gain a deeper
understanding of how the rate
of flow of droplet laden with
virus determines the deposi-
tion of the virus in the lungs.
In their research, the team
reported that holding the
breath and having low breath-
ing rate can increase chances
of virus deposition in the
lungs.
The study was conducted
to pave the way for develop-
ing better therapies and drugs
for respiratory infections.
Previous work from the
group has also highlighted
the significant variability in
aerosol uptake from individ-
ual to individual, suggesting a
reason why some people are
more susceptible to airborne
diseases than others.
The IIT Madras research
team imitated the droplet
dynamics in the lung by
studying the movement of
droplets in the small capillar-
ies which were of a diameter
similar to bronchioles.
They took water mixed
with fluorescent particles and
generated aerosols from this
liquid using a nebulizer.
These fluorescent aerosols
were used to track the move-
ment and deposition of parti-
cles in the capillaries.
The researchers studied
the movement of the fluores-
cent aerosol particles in cap-
illaries of size ranging from
0.3 to 2 millimetres which
covers the range of bronchiole
diameters.
They found that the depo-
sition is inversely propor-
tional to the aspect ratio of
capillaries, which suggests
that the droplets are likely to
deposit in longer bronchi-
oles.
The scientists also studied
how the ‘Reynolds Number,’ a
parameter that quantifies the
nature of flow - steady or tur-
bulent, determines the depo-
sition in the capillaries.
They found that when the
flow of aerosol movement is
steady then the particles
deposit via the process of dif-
fusion, however, if the flow is
turbulent then the particles
deposit via the process of
impaction
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With the impasse continu-
ing at the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) for the last nine
months, Chief of Defence Staff
General Bipin Rawat reviewed
the operational readiness of the
armed forces on Monday in
Ladakh. He is also likely to visit
some forward areas along the
border.
Incidentally, the CDS had
an extensive tour of Arunachal
Pradesh some days back to
check readiness. He interacted
with the Army and Indo-
Tibetan Border
Police(ITBP)troops on some of
the posts maintained by air. He
also reviewed some air force
bases and advanced landing
grounds in the State facing
China in the east. The top brass
briefed him about the situation
in the eastern sector.
As regards the ongoing
Ladakh tour, officials said here
on Monday he was apprised of
the current situation on the
1,700 km LAC in Ladakh by the
commanders of the Leh based
‘Fire and Fury Corps’.
He was also updated about
the army’s preparedness to
remain fighting fit during the
harsh winter months. The brief-
ing included logistical situation
of winter clothing and prefab-
ricated heated huts to enable the
troops to withstand temperature
dipping to minus 30 degrees.
As multiple rounds of talks
at the military and diplomatic
levels have so far failed to break
the logjam, the Indian army was
all geared up for a long haul dur-
ing the ongoing winter season.
At present, more than one lakh
troops of India and China are
facing each other in Ladakh
thereby heightening tension.
During his tour of Ladakh,
Rawat was also likely to inter-
act with troops at some bases in
an effort to boost their morale,
officials said. He was also like-
ly to review the readiness of
some of the fighting formations.
His visit came at a time
with all the three Services have
ramped up their war fighting
machinery. The Army has
deployed crack mountain
troops in Ladakh besides gear-
ing up its formations all along
the 4,000 km long LAC stretch-
ing from Ladakh in the west to
Arunachal Pradesh in the east.
The IAF has also increased its
alert on all the forwards bases
facing China and deployed
most of its frontline fighter jets
there.
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The NIA on Monday filed
first supplementary charge-
sheet before a Special Court,
Ranchi under various IPC
Sections relating to criminal
conspiracy and provisions of
Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act against four
accused persons in the CPI
(Maoist) case of Jharkhand.
The four are Manoj Kumar
alias Manoj Kumar Yadav
(arrested), Krishna Da alias
Krishna Hansda (Absconding),
Sunil Manjhi alias Sunil
Murmu (Arrested) and Manoj
Kumar Choudhary (Arrested),
all residents of district Giridih,
Jharkhand.
On January 22, 2018, after
collection of levy amount,
accused Manoj Kumar, while
he was en-route to deliver the
extorted funds to the cadres of
CPI (Maoist), was arrested by
State Police and levy amount of
C6 Lakh along with other
incriminating documents were
seized from his possession.
The NIA took over the
investigation of the case on July
21, 2018 and re-registered it to
probe the case.
“Investigation has estab-
lished that arrested accused
Manoj Kumar Yadav, was
working as an associate/ Over
Ground Worker (OGW) of
the CPI (Maoist), a proscribed
terrorist organization, and was
the conduit between the con-
tractors and the banned orga-
nization.
With no clue available ini-
tially, break-through in the
investigation was achieved sub-
sequently after extensive and
meticulous examination of sev-
eral witnesses and rigorous
technical analysis,” the NIA
said in a statement here.
Investigation has also
revealed that arrested accused
Sunil Manjhi, Regional
Committee Member of CPI
(Maoist), and absconding
accused Krishna Da, Regional
Committee Member and
Secretary, North Chotanagpur
Zone of CPI (Maoist) were
involved in raising funds by
collecting levy through extor-
tion for commission of terror-
ist activities by way of attack-
ing security forces, damaging
public and private property,
disrupting public peace and
killing innocent people.
It was further established
during investigation that Manoj
Kumar Choudhary was also
CPI (Maoist) cadre who used
to collect the levy amounts and
hand over the same to the other
senior members of the pro-
scribed organisation, it added.
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The Centre on Monday jus-
tified in the Supreme Court
the 2017 rules under the
Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (PCA) Act, 1960, and
said that there is difference
between “seizure” and “confis-
cation” of animals and a plea
can be filed in the concerned
court seeking release of seized
animals.
The top court said that
confiscation of animals can
only happen after the convic-
tion of a person under the
PCA Act and it cannot be
done during the pendency of
trial.
A bench of Chief Justice
SA Bobde and Justices AS
Bopanna and V
Ramasubramanian said that it
is talking about the situation
where the animals are taken
away from the protective cus-
tody of the owners even dur-
ing the proceedings.
“There is a difference
between sale and seizure.
When sale is there, then
income is generated. We are
only concerned with confis-
cation of animals from the
rightful owner and thus kept
locked up and injured,” the
bench said.
During the hearing,
Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta, appearing for Centre
said that they have filed a
detailed reply to the petition
and so far as seizure is con-
cerned a plea can be filed in
concerned court for release of
seized animals.
He said that the petition-
er NGO has confused
between “seizure” and “con-
fiscation” and an animal sub-
jected to cruelty cannot be
allowed to be maintained by
that person.
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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
on Monday urged youth to
work for strengthening democ-
racy and keeping the motto of
nation first.
Addressing the participants
at National Youth Parliament
2021, organised by the Ministry
of Youth Affairs and Sports,
and the Lok Sabha Secretariat
in the Central Hall of the
Parliament House, the Speaker
said before Independence,
Indian youth was at the fore-
front of the struggle for free-
dom. “In a similar way the
youth today must work cease-
lessly towards taking India to
the path of prosperity and
progress,” he said.
Birla also said that in a
democracy we share our
thoughts and experiences,
debate and discuss and then
reach a conclusion after exten-
sive discussion. This is the
strength of the democratic sys-
tem that gives everyone the
right to express their views. He
hoped that the Youth
Parliament would go a long
way in strengthening the spir-
it of democracy in keeping with
the motto of Nation First, he
said. Sports Minister Kiren
Rijiju and Secretary-General,
Lok Sabha Utpal Kumar Singh
were also present on the occa-
sion.
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From this year onwards, ten
best national parks, 5
coastal and marine parks and
top five zoos in the country will
be ranked and awarded annu-
ally. This was announced by
Union Environment Minister
Prakash Javadekar on Monday
at an event here after releasing
Management Effectiveness
Evaluation (MEE) of 146
national parks and Wildlife
Sanctuaries in the Country.
At present, India has a net-
work of 903 protected areas
across the States covering about
5 per cent of the total geo-
graphic area of the country. In
order to assess the efficacy of
protected areas, evaluation of
management effectiveness is
required, said the Minister.
He said that what other
countries could not achieve,
India has achieved and today
has a thriving biodiversity. “70%
of the global tiger population,
70% of asiatic lions and more
than 60% of leopards popula-
tion in India is a certificate of
India’s thriving biodiversity ,as
these big cats sit at the top of
food chain and their growing
numbers shows the well being
of the whole ecosystem.”
Management Effectiveness
Evaluation (MEE) of Protected
Areas (PAs) has emerged as a
key tool for PA managers and is
increasingly being used by gov-
ernments and international
bodies to understand the
strengths and weaknesses of the
protected area management
systems.
The results of the present
assessment are encouraging
with an overall mean MEE
score of 62.01 per cent which is
higher than the global mean of
56 per cent. On the occasion,
the Management Effectiveness
Evaluation of Indian Zoos
(MEE-ZOO) framework was
also released.
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The second edition of the
biennial pan-India coastal
defence exercise ‘Sea Vigil-21’
will be conducted for two
days starting Tuesday. The
exercise will be undertaken
along the entire 7,516 km
coastline and Exclusive
Economic Zone(EEZ) of
India. The first such exercise
was held in 2019.
Giving details here on
Monday, the Navy said the
drill will involve all the 13
coastal States and Union
Territories along with other
maritime stakeholders,
including the fishing and
coastal communities.
The exercise is being coor-
dinated by the Indian Navy.
The entire coastal
security set up was reorgan-
ised after the 26/11 Terror
attack at Mumbai which was
launched via the sea route.
The scale and conceptual
expanse of the exercise is
unprecedented in terms of
the geographical extent, the
number of stakeholders
involved, the number of units
participating and in terms of
the objectives to be met.
The exercise is a build up
towards the major Theatre
level exercise TROPEX
[Theatre-level Readiness
Operational Exercise] which
Indian Navy conducts every
two years. SEA VIGIL and
TROPEX together will cover
the entire spectrum of mar-
itime security challenges,
including transition from
peace to conflict.
Assets of the Indian Navy,
Coast Guard, Customs and
other maritime agencies will
participate in the exercise,
the conduct of which is also
being facilitated by the
Ministries of Defence, Home
Affairs, Shipping, Petroleum
and Natural Gas, Fisheries,
Customs, State
Governments and other agen-
cies of Centre and State.
While smaller scale
exercises are conducted in
coastal states regularly, includ-
ing combined exercises
amongst adjoining states, the
conduct of a security exercise
at national-level is aimed to
serve a larger purpose.
It provides opportunity, at
the apex level, to assess our
preparedness in the domain of
maritime security and coastal
defence.
Exercise ‘Sea Vigil 21’ will
provide a realistic assessment
of our strengths and weak-
nesses and thus will help in
further strengthening mar-
itime and national security.
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As the Supreme Court
rapped the Centre on the
three farm laws while hearing
a bunch of petitions on
Monday, the Congress on
Monday demanded that
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi should apologise and
immediately repeal the con-
tentious farm laws which are
against the interest of farmers
of the country.
The Congress’ sharp reac-
tion came soon after the
Supreme Court said it has
made up its mind to stay the
implementation of the three
farm laws which have led to
protests by thousands of
farmers at various Delhi bor-
ders.
Congress chief spokesper-
son Randeep Surjewala also
urged the Supreme court to
register cases against Modi,
Home Minister Amit Shah
and chief ministers Manohar
Lal Khattar and Yogi
Adityanath after taking note
of their actions that caused
damage to public property. He
said the central and state gov-
ernments have dug up roads
and caused blockades on the
national highways around the
national Capital.
“Prime Minister
Narendra Modi should apol-
ogise not only to the families
of 65 farmers who have sac-
rificed themselves, but also to
the 62 crore farmers of the
country. The prime minister
should thereafter talk to the
agitating farmers himself and
nothing short of it is accept-
able to the ‘annadatas’,”
Surjewala said at the AICC
Press conference.
Surjewala said the PM
should come forward and
wipe the tears of farmers, he
should shed his support for
crony capitalists and
announce the repeal of the
three farm laws immediately.
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6. I
n 2003, the trio of JK Bajaj,
Professor MD Srinivas and
AP Joshi came out with a
path-breaking work,
‘Religious Demography of India’. It
revealed the changing share of dif-
ferent religious communities in
India, based on the Census figures
between 1881 and 1991. The
Partition was a watershed moment
in India’s inter-communal rela-
tions. The study, however, suggests
that it was far from the culmina-
tion. Muslims are still the fastest
growing community in India,
particularly in certain pockets
close to the frontiers or coastline.
Numerous districts of India, often
contiguous, betrayed a significant-
ly higher growth rate of the
Muslim population. A belt of
Muslim concentration districts
spans Jammu Kashmir (JK),
western Uttar Pradesh (UP),
north-eastern Bihar, West Bengal
and Assam, running almost into
Bangladesh.
Way back in 1912, Colonel
UN Mukherji (based on his study
of Censuses 1881 to 1911) had
stated that the Hindus were a
“dying” race. Bajaj’s team —
through a more exhaustive analy-
sis of the Census figures — con-
cluded that the changes on the
ground were far too serious in
independent India than those in
the colonial era. These develop-
ments could not be without severe
consequences for India.
It was a book about India’s
future, or rather challenges to it,
which those in power should
have taken note of. However, the
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government
soon lost power in May 2004. The
UPA-1 Government attuned its
policies to the growing Muslim
clout. It set up the Sachar
Committee to study Muslim
underdevelopment, created an
independent Ministry of Minority
Affairs permanently headed by a
Muslim Minister and announced
lakhs of scholarships for the
minorities, where the lion’s share
went to Muslims. It was in a sense
Bajaj’s predictions coming true;
Muslim demographic heft was
moulding State policies.
However, those with whom
he shared his ideological affinity
also did not seem to realise the
importance of his work. They
would hardly read or quote from
his laborious work. Though Bajaj’s
Centre for Policy Studies contin-
ued to function and even secured
its own building in Central Delhi
(which apparently meant that it
was able to monetise its projects,
or obtain funding), his path-
breaking work was not suffi-
ciently appreciated by those on
whom he had pinned his hopes
the most.
Since 2014, India seems to
have come under a divinely-
ordained Prime Minister. The
Hindu nationalists have rea-
sons to be upbeat. However, the
pro-minority (read Muslim)
policies of the Government
have only got bigger and bet-
ter. New schemes like Nai
Manzil, USTTAD and Gharib
Nawaz have been started by the
Modi Government. Almost
C2,082 crore were disbursed
towards pre-matric, post-
matric and merit-cum-means-
based scholarships during
financial year (FY) 2019-20,
marking a definite improve-
ment over the C1,739 crore
worth of scholarships during
FY 2013-14. The ambit of
Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas
Karyakram (previously called
multi-sectoral development
programme for the minorities)
has been expanded to 308 dis-
tricts from mere 90 under the
UPA Government. What was
previously alleged as “appease-
ment” is now being re-inter-
preted as “empowerment”. All
the Congress-era institutions
catering to religious minorities
are functioning well. However,
this Government never
appointed a Commissioner for
Linguistic Minorities, though it
is a constitutional post.
Bajaj and Prof Srinivas
recently sprang a surprise with
a 1,000-page tome on Gandhi.
The book, titled ‘Making of a
Hindu Patriot: Background of
Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj’, is based
mostly on Gandhi’s own corre-
spondences and conversations.
As evident, it deals with the
period prior to 1908, when the
Hind Swaraj was published.
Gandhi spent 24 years in South
Africa before returning to India
in January 1915. This colum-
nist, though he is yet to see the
book, is in no doubt that the
authors would have done a
thorough job. However, was the
subject really worth the massive
labour the two authors put up?
Further, does this really con-
tribute something to India’s
future as their previous work
on religious demography did?
The crux of the authors’
argument is that Gandhi’s
political outlook was shaped
byprofoundHinduconvictions.
Those having read the speeches
andcorrespondencesof Gandhi
would know that this is correct.
Expressions like “I speak as a
Hindu” and “our Hindu scrip-
tures say that…” frequently
appearinhisliterature.Hemain-
streamedtheconceptslikesatya-
graha, ashram, brahmacharya,
Ram rajya, upvaas (fast), maun
(silence), Daridra Narayan,
Harijan and suchlike in a bid to
de-colonise the Indian mind.
However,whywouldsuchaper-
son, with deep formative influ-
ence of Hinduism, zealously
take up the Khilafat Movement
to restore the deposed Sultan of
Turkey on his throne? Gandhi
made Hindu-Muslim unity a
precondition for any political
action. He went to the extent
of distorting the bhajan
“RaghupatiRaghavRajaRam”to
includewordslikeAllah,Rahim
and Karim. Gandhi described
the marauding Moplahs in
Malabaras“God-fearingpeople”
and (at the Guwahati Congress,
1926) refused to censure Abdul
Rashid, the assassin of Swami
Shraddhanand, but rather
called him a “brother” who had
done no wrong.
BR Ambedkar — in his
landmark book Pakistan, or the
Partition of India — wondered
whether any sane man could go
to the extent that Gandhi went
for the sake of Hindu-Muslim
unity. However, while Gandhi
harmed the Hindu interests, he
failed to impress the Muslims
either. They dissociated them-
selves from the leadership of
Gandhi soon as the Khilafat
Non-Cooperation Movement
ended in a fiasco. Rather, the
Muslims turned upon the
Hindus as though they were
responsible for Mustafa Kemal
Pasha’sabolitionoftheCaliphate.
Gandhi had to acknowledge
that every Muslim was a bully,
and every Hindu a coward.
Gandhi fraternised with
Husyen Shaheed Suhrawardy
(1884-1963), the evil genius of
Great Calcutta Killings (August
1946) to the extent that the lat-
ter could attend Gandhi’s
prayers at Birla House in New
Delhi (September 1947) as
Subimal Dutt (later India’s
Foreign Secretary) found him
(With Nehru in Foreign Office,
P18). Is this how a “Hindu
patriot” should act?
One wonders what purpose
will be served by identifying a
“Hindu patriot” in Gandhi in
South Africa. In South Africa,
the Hindu-Muslim question
was either non-existent or sub-
servient to the question of
colonial policy. The immigrant
Indians were a small minority
among the huge native black
population and tiny White
rulers. Gandhi’s test of
Hinduism was in the India
between the years of Khilafat
Movement to the Muslim
League’s campaign for Pakistan.
He failed the test miserably.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Rao
Bhagwat launching the book is
perhaps an indication of
“Gandhi-tisation of the RSS”
even though the Hindus might
continue to put its faith in the
organisation as their saviour. If
Gandhi were really a “Hindu
patriot”, KB Hedgewar need not
have founded the RSS in 1925.
Moreover, the Gandhi that one
comes across in the Hind
Swaraj or Indian Home Rule
(1908) is a person who wants
to disengage with all forms of
modernism and industrialism,
viz; railways, machinery, law
courts, Parliament and so on.
Is it the way forward for the
much-touted “New India”?
(The writer is an author
and independent researcher
based in New Delhi. The
opinions expressed are personal.)
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1dUb^QdYfUd_GXQdc1``
Sir — The recent change in the
privacy policy of WhatsApp is
like holding people to ransom.
Even though the service provider
has clarified that the change is
only to facilitate business, there
is no assurance that personal
chats will not be tracked.
The credibility of WhatsApp
is now lost and people should
avoid using it for messages
related to business transactions.
The banks should withdraw all
the services provided through
WhatsApp and courts may also
review the earlier decision of
allowing WhatsApp for official
communication.
Intheageoftechnology,pri-
vacyisofutmostimportanceand
the Government should frame
rules to ensure that no company
is allowed to compromise on the
privacy and safety of end users.
It is also an opportunity for
the Government to promote
‘Make In India’ by encouraging
young entrepreneurs to develop
indigenous social media plat-
formssimilartoWhatsApp.That
willnotonly safeguardthepriva-
cy ofcommonpeoplebutalsoof
businesses and the Government.
M Raghuraman
Mumbai
UWUSdUTUTUbi
Sir — We as a society have failed
to take care of our elderly. The
problemsfacedbytheolderpeo-
ple are mainly due to the disin-
tegration of the traditional joint
family system. In the nucleated
families,theelderlyaremostlyleft
totakecareofthemselvesoratthe
mercy of a caretaker who often
ill-treats them. Moreover, geri-
atrics is still a neglected area in
modern medicine. The private
old-agehomesareveryexpensive
andmostlyoutofreachforalarge
section of society.
The expenditure of elderly
care is ballooning in the absence
of concrete models of support
from the Government. We are
still ill-prepared to deal with the
problems confronting the elder-
ly population like chronic illness,
mental health problems, ill-
treatment by caregivers and so
on. Our economic growth will
not be sustainable in the true
sense if we fail to empower our
older people and create a safe
environment for them.
Bhagwan Thadani
Mumbai
Cd_`SQcdURYQc
Sir — It is very saddening that
a few days ago, a Muslim shop-
keeper was detained by police
for selling shoes embossed with
the word ‘Thakur’ on the soles
in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr.
The incident raises uncom-
fortable questions about our
society and politics. It also shows
where we are headed as a nation
and society. Why a caste name
on the shoe becomes incendiary
when a Muslim sells it and not
when others do? Shopkeepers
have sold ‘Thakur’ footwear in
UP and elsewhere for decades
without it kicking up any dust.
Are we reaching a situation
where to use a certain title is to
invite trouble and legal action?
Such incidents show that we
are sitting on top of a volcano
which can erupt anytime lead-
ing to caste and class conflicts in
the society. It is the responsibil-
ity of the State Government to
ensure that no injustice is done
to the poor shopkeeper and his
livelihood is not affected.
Shovanlal Chakraborty
Kolkata
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T
he Department of Investment and Public
Asset Management (DIPAM) is in a war of
words with the Ministry of Finance (MoF)
over the proceeds of disinvestment of the
Government’s shareholding in Central Public
Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) during 2020-21.
The point raised by the DIPAM is that out of the
C2,10,000 crore target fixed in the Union Budget,
a big slice of C90,000 crore, was thrust upon it
by the MoF as being the projected proceeds from
the sale of 10 per cent shares in the Life
Insurance Corporation (LIC) and its residual
stake in IDBI bank (during 2018-19, LIC
acquired 51 per cent stake in IDBI Bank even as
the balance 49 per cent remained with the
Centre).
Leave aside C90,000 crore, even the balance
C1,20,000 crore is nowhere within reach as the
proceeds so far are a meagre C14,000 crore. The
Narendra Modi Government’s strategy of disin-
vestment pursued during the last seven years has
not worked. This is because barring two years i.e.
2017-18 and 2018-19 — when the actual proceeds
from divestment exceeded the goal — in the
remaining five years the target fell short. Even
during those two exceptional years, the good per-
formance was made possible primarily due to two
big ticket sales of the Union Government’s shares
in one CPSU to another. This was the sale of its
51.11 per cent shareholding in Hindustan
Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to the
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) dur-
ing 2017-18 yielding C37,000 crore and the sale
of its 52.63 per cent stake in the Rural
Electrification Corporation (REC) to the Power
Finance Corporation (PFC) 2018-19 that brought
in C13,000 crore. But, for these, even during 2017-
18 and 2018-19, actual proceeds would have fall-
en short.
These trends point towards bad handling of
the disinvestment process. At the root of this is
the faulty approach of the Union Government to
treat CPSUs as an appendage to the administra-
tive Ministry under which the PSU concerned
falls and by extension, treating proceeds from
divestment of its shareholding in them as a source
of revenue (albeit non-tax) while preparing its
Budget.
Unlike tax revenue which can be projected
with a degree of certainty (the crucial determi-
nants being the prevailing tax rate as per the law
of the land and the value of economic activity),
the same can’t be said about the proceeds from
disinvestment. In this case, a lot depends on the
market scenario and, in particular, the percep-
tion of investors about the PSU in which share
sale is contemplated. It is even more relevant in
cases where strategic disinvestment is mooted.
Under such a sale, the shareholding of the Union
Government is brought down to below 50 per
cent or even zero. For instance, the sale of its
entire shareholding of 51.11 per cent in HPCL
or sale of its entire 53.29 per cent shareholding
in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
(BPCL) that was initiated in 2019-20 and has not
yet happened. In such cases, if you don’t get a
buyer, the sale won’t materialise. The proof of the
pudding is in the eating.
As per the original plan, the 51.11 per cent
shares of the Union Government in HPCL were
to be sold to a private investor. But things did not
pan out as planned and towards the fag end of
that year i.e. January 2018, the Government had
to ask ONGC to pick up the entire
stake, as it desperately needed money
to meet the fiscal deficit target (in the
process, ONGC suffered a collateral
damage as it had to borrow C35,000
crore to fund the purchase). The sec-
ond flaw has to do with the
Government’s reluctance to transfer
rights proportionate to shares sold to
private parties.
Even in cases where strategic dis-
investment is proposed, it wants to
remain in the driver’s seat. To get an
idea, look at what Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget
speech for 2019-20. She had stated that
the intent was to change the extant pol-
icy of the Government directly hold-
ing 51 per cent or above in a CPSU to
one whereby its total holding, direct
plus indirect, is maintained at 51 per
cent.
Such a stingy approach and the
unwillingness of the political establish-
ment to relinquish control even after
divestment of majority ownership is far
from conducive to eliciting interest
from potential investors.
Third, the Government spends
too much time on policy formulation
— a process that goes on ad infinitum.
In early 2016, the NITI Aayog had rec-
ommended a strategic sale of over two
dozen CPSUs. But, the powers that be
didn’t act on those recommendations.
Meanwhile, early this year,
Sitharaman announced broad con-
tours of the Government’s plans on pri-
vatisation, delineating different
approaches to “strategic” (16 such sec-
tors have been identified) and “non-
strategic” sectors. Reportedly, a meet-
ing of the Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs (CCEA) will be held
shortly to approve the policy.
Allowing for about a year for the
NITI Aayog to come up with its recom-
mendations, it has been more than five
years and the policy on strategic disin-
vestment has not been finalised yet. Till
that happens, the Ministries concerned
won’t gain the necessary momentum to
push the sale process. Even after a
divestment plan for a PSU is finalised,
the Government remains in a flip-flop
mode. For instance, in the case of Air
India (AI), in its initial sale plan (2018-
19), it had insisted on retaining 26 per
cent stake, three years’ lock-in period
on disposition of shares by the acquir-
er, leaving a big slice of debt on the bal-
ance sheet, retention of employees and
so on. Since then several changes have
been made. The offer plan currently
under execution includes divestment of
all of the Government’s shareholding,
requiring the suitor to bid for the “enter-
prise value” (put simply, it means, he
will be free from any debt burden),
relaxation in other riders such as lock-
in period, retention of employees and
so on.
These flip-flops result in avoidable
delays and erosion in the sale proceeds.
If, only the Government had gone for
sale of its 100 per cent stake in its 2018-
19 offer and not insisted on the suitor
to pick up a big slice of the debt on the
AI’s books, further erosion in the real-
isable value from sales could have been
avoided. Fourth, notwithstanding much
trumpeting about governance reforms,
bureaucratic red tape rules the roost.
Almost all processes starting from
conception, getting approvals, appoint-
ment of transaction advisor, inviting an
Expression of Interest, financial bids,
selection of bidder and so on, crucial
to successful completion of disinvest-
ment are hamstrung by it. Add to this,
the reluctance of bureaucrats to take
timely decisions fearing they might be
questioned after retirement.
This leads to delay in processes and
by the time, all approvals are in place,
the market scenario has undergone a
drastic change. For instance, the sale of
BPCL was planned during 2019-20.
Then, the projected realisation from
sale was over C60,000 crore. But, the
officials were not ready. Even as they
exuded confidence that the sale would
go through during the current year, the
pandemic has spoilt the party. The
chances of the sale getting completed
by March 31 this year are dim.
Meanwhile, there has been significant
value erosion, even as the proceeds on
current valuation may not exceed
C45,000 crore.
To conclude, the present approach
of the Government to link divestment
of its shareholding in CPSUs to using
receipts (non-tax) therefrom to meet
the fiscal deficit target is flawed. It
should be abandoned. Instead, the
Government should pursue share sale
including strategic disinvestment (or
privatisation) as an objective by itself.
In this regard, formulation of an
appropriate strategy and preparation of
a PSU-specific plan should come from
the management (it is best equipped to
do the job) instead of being thrust on
it by the concerned administrative
Ministry under a typical top-down
approach.
However, the Government may
constitute a panel of eminent profes-
sionals (sans bureaucrats) for provid-
ing guidance on macro-economic issues
that have a bearing on the disinvest-
ment process and can be helpful in
maximising realisation from the sale.
In the current scenario, wherein the
Government is encouraging private
companies to invest even in sensitive
areas such as defence, space and so on,
there is no point in getting bogged
down in drawing a line between strate-
gic and non-strategic sectors. Any
decision to privatise a PSU should be
taken on the merit of each case.
This will give the much-needed
flexibility to the management to decide
the contours and timing of the divest-
ment, taking into account market con-
ditions. This will help in maximising
proceeds from sales and improve the
Centre’s budgetary position, too.
(The writer is a New Delhi-based
policy analyst. The views
expressed are personal.)
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