- Sharad Pawar, the NCP chief and a key coalition partner in Maharashtra's MVA government, said the allegations made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh against state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh are "very serious" and need to be investigated thoroughly. - Pawar met with leaders of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, the three parties forming the MVA, to discuss ways to address the political crisis triggered by Singh's claims of corruption against Deshmukh. - Pawar will meet Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to find a solution and has suggested appointing a former police officer with an untainted reputation to investigate Singh's allegations.

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With the “letter bomb”
dropped by Mumbai’s
former Police Commissioner
Param Bir Singh having tuned
into the first-ever major polit-
ical crisis for the 16-month-old
MVA Government in
Maharashtra, the ruling Shiv
Sena on Sunday appeared to be
depending heavily on NCP
president Sharad Pawar to
resolve the explosive situation
arising out of Singh’s allegation
that State Home Minister Anil
Deshmukh had asked arrested
police officer Sachin Vaze to
collect C100 crore every month
from restaurants, bar and other
sources in the metropolis.
Terming the allegations
made by the former police
chief as “very serious” and
indicating that the NCP would
take a call on Deshmukh’s res-
ignation in a day or two,
Pawar — who is considered the
architect of the MVA
Government — talked with the
leaders of three constituting
parties at his New Delhi resi-
dence in the evening to tide
over the crisis.
While NCP leaders Ajit
Pawar, Jayant Patil, Praful Patel
and Surpriya Sule were present
at the meeting, Sanjay Raut is
representing the Shiv Sena.
Senior Congress leader Kamal
Nath is attending the meeting
on behalf of his party.
Pawar will meet Chief
Minister Uddhav Thackeray
in Mumbai on Monday to dis-
cuss a way out of the crisis fac-
ing the three-party
Government in the State.
Earlier in the day, talking to
media persons in Delhi, Pawar
said, “Singh has made serious
allegations against Deshmukh.
But he has not given substan-
tial proof to back his allegation.
I have to talk to our Home
Minister to listen to his side of
the story. I would like Chief
Minister Thackeray to order a
thorough probe into the former
Police Commissioner’s allega-
tions against the Home
Minister.
“Prior to this Press confer-
ence, I spoke to the Chief
Minister. We will take a deci-
sion on Deshmukh after con-
sulting all stakeholders in the
Government. The Chief
Minister has all the powers to
take a decision in this regard.
He can take a decision after
holding a proper enquiry into
allegations against
Deshmukh.”
Alluding to Singh’s claim
that he had briefed the NCP
chief and other party Ministers
about the “several misdeeds
and malpractices” being
indulged in by the Home
Minister, Pawar said, “Singh
had met him. He spoke about
his transfer. He also spoke to
me about the interference in
the functioning of his depart-
ment. Beyond this, he did not
tell me anything else.”
On the issue of reinstate-
ment of Sachin Vaze back into
the police force in June last
year, Pawar said, “The power to
reinstate Vaze was very much
with the Police Commissioner
(Singh) himself.”
“In his letter, Singh has
alleged that the Home Minister
had told Vaze that he had a tar-
get to accumulate Rs 100 crore
a month. But he has not said as
to how the money was sup-
posed to be collected and who
the money will be given to,” he
said.
Alleging that an attempt is
being made to ‘destabilise’ the
MVA by the BJP, Pawar sus-
pected the role of former Chief
Minister Devendra Fadnavis
behind the ‘letter bomb’ drama
that unfolded on Saturday
morning. Pawar wanted to
know, ‘How come the letter
surfaced in the media after
Fadnavis reached New Delhi.
The Chief Minister should
appoint an officer with an
unimpeachable reputation to
investigate Singh’s allegation.
An attempt is being made to
destabilise the MVA
Government. But, the MVA
Government is stable. The cur-
rent developments will not
have any bearing on the sta-
bility of our Government.’
Later, in a series of tweets
put out by his official handle,
Pawar said, ‘An in depth
enquiry should be conducted
by an officer or an individual
who enjoys utmost respect of
the police administration and
the public at large.’
‘My suggestion to the
@CMOMaharashtra is that
Julio Francis Ribeiro, former
Police Chief of Maharashtra
and former CP of Mumbai,
should be assigned this respon-
sibility,’ Pawar tweeted.
‘He has a great reputation
and if he accepts this respon-
sibility then the truth will def-
initely come to the fore and the
public at large will start believ-
ing more in the Police and in
the government in particular,’
Pawar added.
Meanwhile, the
Maharashtra Congress-one of
the constituents in the MVA
Government -asked its part-
ners Shiv Sena-NCP not to
‘buckle’ under the pressure
brought to bear in on them to
destabilise the State
Government.
Congress state general sec-
retary spokesperson Sachin
Sawant said since the last over
six years, the BJP-led Centre
has been making attempts to
?=BQ =4F34;78
As Uttarakhand hosts
Mahakumbh amid sharp
surge in daily Covid cases in
the country, the Centre has
directed the State Government
to strictly follow all the strin-
gent measures to ensure that
the largest religious congrega-
tion does not turn into “super-
spreader event.”
The warning comes in the
wake of the Uttarakhand
Government’s decision to lift
Covid restrictions for the gath-
ering at a time when a surge in
infections is being reported
from several other
States.
Alluding to the high-level
Central team’s concerns about
the State Government’s laxity in
handling the congregation, the
Centre noted that numerous
pilgrims are expected to arrive
at the Mahakumbh from the 12
States which are witnessing
increase in infections.
In a letter to Uttarakhand
Chief Secretary, Union Health
Secretary Rajesh Bhushan
“strongly” highlighted the con-
cerns raised by the Central
team and about the “need for
stringent measures to control
the spread of Covid-19 during
the ongoing
Kumbh”.
A high-level Central team
led by NCDC Director visited
Uttarakhand on March 16-17
to review the medical and pub-
lic health measures undertak-
en by the State for the Kumbh
Mela in Haridwar.
The State Government has
been advised to follow scrupu-
lously the SOPs issued by the
Ministry and display signage to
disseminate the main points of
these SOPs; increase awareness
of self-reporting, especially
among local population, in
case of symptoms suggestive of
Covid-19; and set up system for
generating early warning sig-
nals in areas with susceptible
population by monitoring
trend of ARI/ ILI cases through
Emergency Operational
Centres.
Last week, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi during his
meeting with the State Chief
Ministers had also pointed out
that “Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities
are being affected. In the first
phase, we could contain the
spread as the infection did not
spread to the villages. But now
as the small cities are being
infected, villages need to be
protected more.”
On Sunday, the country
recorded 43,846 fresh infec-
tions in the last 24 hours,
crossing more than 1.5 lakh
cases in the last four
days.
“It has been noted that
there is the potential of an
upsurge in cases in the local
population after the auspicious
Shahi Snan days at the Kumbh
Mela,” the letter
said.
B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q 46A0
The last Sunday before the
first round of Assembly
elections saw Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Home
Minister Amit Shah launching
a frontal attack on Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee
from twin rallies of Bankura
and Egra.
Taking on Mamata’s “khela
hobey” (game is in the offing)
slogan, the Prime Minister said
the Trinamool Congress’
“khela” only revolved around
corruption, syndicate and
tolabaji (extortion) but that
khela will not be allowed to
continue once the BJP comes to
power in Bengal. The PM was
addressing a rally at Bankura.
Poking fun at the CM, he
said, ‘Didi …. O … Didi we
know that you are a big player
but I can assure you that
enough is enough, there will be
no more khela of corruption,
syndicate and tolabaji as the
BJP will bring in the real
change in Bengal, not the one
brought by you 10 years
ago.’
B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q
=0=30:D0A
Continuing to attack the
national BJP leadership
and the turncoat leaders like
Suvendu Adhikari, who had
recently left the TMC to join
the saffron outfit, Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee on
Sunday said the people would
never support the “gaddars
and they would be thrown out
of Bengal along with their
masters who are goons coming
from outside
Bengal”.
Addressing a mammoth
election rally at Contai in East
Midnapore, Mamata said, “I
was a donkey not have under-
stood the real face of these gad-
dars (traitors) … a straightfor-
ward person that I have always
been, I trusted them and
allowed freedom and in return
they looted the people.”
In an apparent reference to
Adhikari, Mamata said, “They
have misappropriated thou-
sands of crores… I am told a
scam only in the cooperative
bank where they functioned as
chairman amounts to C5,000
crore … and now to save these
ill-gotten money they have fled
to the BJP.’
?=BQ =4F34;78
Rapidly modernising its
Armed forces and flexing
its muscles in several regions,
including the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) and India-
Pacific, China has emerged as
the strongest force in the
world.
The USA, which has the
largest defence budget, stands
second. India is at the fourth
position behind Russia.
These facts have emerged
in a study conducted by a UK-
based defence website Military
Direct. In its report released on
Sunday, the study said
“The USA, despite their
enormous military budgets,
comes in 2nd place with 74
points, followed by Russia with
69, India at 61 and then France
with 58. The UK just about
makes the top 10, coming in
9th place with a score of 43,”
said the report.
The study said the ultimate
military strength index was
calculated after taking into
consideration various factors
including budgets, number of
inactive and active military
personnel, total air, sea, land
and nuclear resources, average
salaries, and weight of equip-
ment.
China has the strongest
military in the world with 82
out of 100 points in the index,
it noted. “Based on these scores,
which account for budgets,
men, and things like air and
navy capacity, it does suggest
that China would come out as
top dog in a hypothetical super
conflict,” it said.
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The mystery shrouding the
alleged murder of Thane-
based businessman Mansukh
Hiran, whose Scorpio laden
with gelatin sticks was recov-
ered from near the residence of
industrialist Mukesh Ambani
on February 25, turned murki-
er on Sunday as Maharashtra
Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS)
arrested a bookie and a con-
victed policeman.
The ATS identified the
persons arrested as convicted
constable Vinayak B Shinde
(51) and cricket bookie Naresh
R Gor (31).
The arrests of Shinde and
Gor come a day after the Union
Home Ministry asked the NIA
to take over the investigations
into the murder of Hiran,
whose body was recovered
from the marshy Reti-Bunder
creek Mumbra in the neigh-
bouring Thane district on
March 5.
Shinde and Gor are said to
be accomplices of Sachin Vaze,
who is currently in the custody
of the NIA in the explosive
SUV planting case.
Shinde is a dismissed
policeman, who has been con-
victed in the case involving the
fake encounter of Ramnarayan
Gupta, alias Lakhan
Bhaiya.
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Amid a surge in Covid-19
cases, the Rajasthan
Government has decided to
impose night curfew in eight
cities from 11 pm to 5 am and
ordered closure of markets by
10 pm from Monday.
The Government has also
made it mandatory for people
coming to Rajasthan from
other States to carry a Covid-
19 negative test report from
March 25. If they do not
have the negative test report,
they will have to stay in quar-
antine for 15
days.
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New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker
Om Birla was admitted to the
AIIMS Covid Centre here for
observation on March 20 after
testing positive for coronavirus,
and he is presently stable.
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Kolkata: TMC MP Sisir
Adhikari on Sunday joined the
BJP in presence of Home
Minister Amit Shah. Adhikari,
a father figure in East
Midnapore’s politics, is father of
Suvendu Adhikari.
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undermine all Opposition par-
ties’ Governments in different
states. ‘Administrative offi-
cers under the jurisdiction of
the State are being pressured
with the help of the Central
investigation agencies and there
are many examples like Vinod
Rai before the country,’ Sawant
said.
‘This is nothing new… An
ex-DIG of Gujarat Police DG
Vanzara had leveled serious
allegations against the then
Gujarat HM and current Home
Minister of India Amit Shah.
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Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal on Sunday
dedicated 163 development
projects worth Rs 1411 crore to
the people of all 22 districts in
the state.
The Chief Minister while
inaugurating and laying the
foundation stone of these pro-
jects during a state level pro-
gramme held through video
conferencing from Chandigarh
said that these projects would
ensure equitable development
in 90 assembly constituencies
of the state. The state Cabinet
Ministers, Union Ministers,
Member Parliament, MLAs,
public representatives and
administrative officers also
attended the programme from
various districts.
Speaking on the occasion,
the Chief Minister said that
“Unlike previous governments,
who walked on the motto of
regional and district-wise
development, we have ensured
equitable development of all the
90 assembly constituencies.”
He said that through
Parivar Pehchan Patra, the gov-
ernment will make every per-
son self-reliant by providing
them first-class facilities in
health, education, employment
along with ensuring their secu-
rity.
Manohar Lal informed that
out of 60 lakh families regis-
tered under this scheme, a
survey will be conducted and
in the first phase 1 lakh fami-
lies having the lowest income
will be identified. Further, a
plan will be prepared to make
them self-employed in any
field of their choice, he said.
“Lists of employment
opportunities have been pre-
pared by all the departments so
that the beneficiaries under this
scheme can opt for the business
opportunities as per their
wish”, said the Chief Minister.
Manohar Lal said that in
this year’s budget, the State
Government has decided to
upgrade 100-bed District Civil
Hospitals to 200 beds.
A budget of Rs 1,55,645
crores have been allocated to
build ‘Resilient and Resurgent’
Haryana.
Generally, about 75 per-
cent of the budget is spent
under revenue expenditure
head, while only 25 to 30 per-
cent is allocated under capital
expenditure.
This year, marking a para-
digm shift in its architecture, an
untied fund of Rs 8,585 crores
as medium-term expenditure
framework (MTEF) has been
allocated in this budget to
focus on special projects, he
added.
He further said that the
government did not utilize
borrowing space of around Rs
8,585 crores by adopting tough,
fiscally prudent measures.
“We intend to utilize the
resources earmarked under the
MTEF fund this year on special
projects that focus on health,
agriculture and infrastructure.
such special projects, include
expanding medical infrastruc-
ture such as upgrading district
hospitals to two hundred bed
facilities, establishing mother
and child hospitals, biosafety
labs, International Horticulture
Market at Ganaur, Apple
Market at Pinjore, Spices
Market at Sersa (Sonipat),
Micro Irrigation projects as
well as signature projects such
as Orbital Rail Corridor, High-
speed rail connectivity between
Delhi and Karnal, expanding
the metro network in
Gurugram and other areas and
so on,” he said.
The Chief Minister said
that generally, the national
highways in Haryana are
always being constructed from
north to south but now the
government has decided that a
new Panipat to Dabwali high-
way would be built from east to
west.
Later talking to the medi-
apersons, the Chief Minister
said that keeping in view the
recent surge in the COVID-19
cases, it was decided to inau-
gurate and lay the foundation
stone of all these projects from
Chandigarh only.
He said that in the year
2019, projects worth about Rs
4,000 crore were dedicated to
the people of the state in March
and in October 2020, 306 pro-
jects worth Rs 1850 crore were
inaugurated.
9RcjR_R4Z_RfXfcReVd
ac`[VTedh`ceYC%Tc ?=BQ 10670?DA0=060
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP)
national convener and
Delhi Chief MinisterArvind
Kejriwal on Sunday virtually
sounded the poll bugle for the
2022 state assembly polls by
promising jobs, better schools,
improved hospitals, free elec-
tricity to the people, while at
the same timeasking the state
party leaders and volunteers to
get prepared for thecrucial
electoral battle.
Not sparing Punjab Chief
Minister Capt Amarinder
Singh from hisblistering attack
for not keeping the poll
promises and deceiving thep-
eople of the state, Kejriwal
announced to provide jobs,
unemploymentallowance,
besides better school and health
infrastructure and freeelec-
tricity on the pattern of Delhi
Government.
Kejriwal used the stage of
Maha Kisan Mahapanchayat in
Moga district,organized in sup-
port of the farmers protesting
against the Centre’sthree farm
laws, to exhort the party cadre
to get ready for theassembly
elections, scheduled to be held
in the state early next year.
“You have one year’s time,
reach out to every single per-
son in Punjab,and tell them
how they have been cheated for
several years on thepretext of
false promises by both the
Congress and the Shiromani
AkDal (SAD),” he said.
Showing Capt Amarinder’s
‘Ghar Ghar Naukri’ card,
Kejriwal said: “Keep this card
highlighting the promises
made by the ruling Congress in
thelast state Assembly elec-
tions in your pockets and
remind the peoplewhile meet-
ing them that they have been
cheated. The people of
Punjabvoted for development,
job, electricity, and subsidized
schemes, butCongress’ promis-
es could not see the light of the
day till now.”
“The card issued by Capt
Amarinder should not be
thrown away butshould be
kept. This card will remind you
how Captain lied and gotvotes,
four years ago. Capt has
betrayed you and now you
have to takerevenge,” he said.
Referring to a recent survey
conducted by a private channel,
Kejriwalsaid that it says that
AAP would form the govern-
ment in Punjab in2022. “When
the AAP government will be
formed, the AAP government
willprovide jobs to all on the
job cards issued by Captain
andunemployment benefits
will also be given until jobs are
found,” hesaid.Kejriwal added
that every promise made by
AAP to the people in Delhihas
been fulfilled but Captain
Amarinder has not fulfilled a
singlepromise. He said that 73
percent of the people in Delhi
do not getelectricity bills while
the people of Punjab buy the
most expensiveelectricity.
Urging the people of
Punjab to support AAP in the
next Assemblyelections,
Kejriwal said that his party
came to power with full major-
ity in Delhi for two consecutive
terms and within six years, the
AAP-led Delhi government
has effected many changes in
education,health, electricity
and other sectors.
Reiterating all the achieve-
ments of the Delhi government
in the lastsix years, Kejriwal
asked the party workers to set
a vision for thepeople of
Punjab. “We have to create a
long-term vision for thewelfare
of the people of Punjab. You
have one year, go and meet
thepeople and note down their
problems,” he said.
“The people of Punjab have
made up their minds to elect
the AAPgovernment in the
next Assembly elections. We
will work with a visionof form-
ing a new Punjab once the AAP
government is formed in thes-
tate,” he added.
Comparing the situation
with Delhi, Kejriwal said that
whatever AAPhas promised in
Delhi, every single one was ful-
filled.
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Union Minister for Health
and Family Welfare,
Science and Technology and
Earth Sciences, Dr Harsh
Vardhan on Sunday inaugu-
rated the Centre of Excellence
for Intelligent Sensors and
Systems at CSIR-CSIO here.
This facility will house the
development of multi sensor
systems based on Seismic,
Acoustic, IR and UWB in the
area of perimeter monitoring
for societal and strategic appli-
cations using artificial intelli-
gence and machine learning.
Speaking to scientists at the
Central Scientific Instruments
Organisation (CSIO), a labo-
ratory of the Council of
Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) here, Dr
Vardhan said that such initia-
tives will kick-start a lot of syn-
ergies to proven strengths in
many areas, which are at the
heart of the Prime Minister’s
‘Make in India’ dream.
Later, speaking to media-
persons, the Minister said that
CSIR-CSIO has a head-start by
already having delivered in the
complex, multi-disciplinary
areas of earthquake monitoring
systems which have helped in
real time disaster management
for metro rail systems and
avionic display systems for
Indian defence needs.
Dr Vardhan encouraged
the scientists working in the
development of solutions for
fighting COVID-19. He saw
the air sampling devices for
detection of COVID 19 virus in
aerosols and was impressed
with the economical solution
having better suction capacity
having less noise levels making
it suitable for deployment in
hospitals and other critical
areas in place of expensive
imported equipment.
He also saw the UVC retro-
fit units for existing HVAC
ducts for neutralizing COVID-
19 virus in the air flow of build-
ings.
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Three people were killed
and as many injured as an
inebriated 18-year-old alleged-
ly rammed his Mercedes into a
taxi after jumping a red light in
Mohali and then hit two
cyclists. The teenager Samrat,
a Chandigarh-resident who
was allegedly driving the lux-
ury car, was arrested by the
police on late Saturday night.
Two occupants of the taxi,
Dharampreet Singh and
Ankush Narula, and a cyclist,
Ram Prasad, died, while three
people sustained injuries in
the crash near the Radha Soami
Chowk on early Saturday
morning, the police said.
The police have booked
Samrat and his friends Arjun
and Prabhnoor, who were
accompanying him in the
Mercedes. A resident of
Chandigarh’s Sector-34/D,
Samrat belongs from the fam-
ily of Weldon Opticals in
Chandigarh. Mohali Senior
Superintendent of Police (SSP)
Satinder Singh said that the
three in the luxury car were
drunk when the accident took
place. They fled from the acci-
dent spot even after sensing the
serious condition of victims
and didn’t inform police or
ambulance, he added.
The police have recovered
empty bottles of liquor from
the Mercedes, the senior police
officer said, adding that Samrat
did not even have a driving
licence.
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Calling Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s financial
policies thoughtless in terms of
backward trend showing in
every sector, Punjab Sports
and Youth Services Minister
Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi on
Sunday said that the Bharatiya
Janata Party’s Central
Government needs a fiscal
guidance from renowned
financial experts, such as for-
mer Prime Minister Dr
Manmohan Singh.
Sodhi said that Indian
economy has turned a full cir-
cle in the last five years after
demonetization. “Now, the
Government is focused on
Monetisation 2021, this is noth-
ing but the great Indian assets
sale. The government may still
choose to call it another reform
and perhaps another achieve-
ment but how will this asset
sale prove beneficial for us
when we are trailing down the
targets of public expenditure,”
he said.
He said that the Centre
wants to sell 50 railway stations,
150 trains, telecom assets,
power transmission assets,
sports stadia, stake in airports,
petroleum pipelines, and ship-
ping berths in ports.
“Everything is put on sale but
after that, what is the plan to
run this country. These part-
time policies raised question
marks and showed dearth in
vision,” he said.
Terming the decision of
bank privatization a blunder,
Sodhi said that this
Government has no right to
sale national assets when they
are not been able to create a
single ‘Navratna’.
Describing Modi’s
approach as ostrich-like focus,
Sodhi said that since revenue
receipts are so poor, the
Government has been consis-
tently borrowing to finance its
current (revenue) expenditure.
Sodhi said that low inter-
national oil prices presented the
Government an opportunity to
encourage a consumption-led
revival by passing the benefits
to the people but the govern-
ment has taken the adverse way
to fill up its exchequer at the
stake of the common man.
“The Modi Government con-
tinues to squeeze every family’s
shrinking budget through
excessive petroleum taxes and
cesses,” he said.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) on Sunday lashed
out at Punjab Chief Minister
Capt Amarinder Singh accus-
ing him of “instigating” the
farmers’ agitation against the
Centre’s three farm bills for
“vested political interests”.
Taking a strong exception
to Capt Amarinder’s remarks
that ‘how many more farmers
do you want to kill’ while crit-
icizing the Centre’s three farm
laws, BJP’s national general
secretary and Punjab affairs in-
charge Dushyant Gautam said
that it was ironical that such
“politically-motivated” state-
ments are coming from the
mouth of a man, who is
responsible for 1,232 farmer
suicides in Punjab, which many
of deceased farmers have clear-
ly mentioned in their suicide
notes.
“What is more shameful is
that for his vested political
interests, Capt Amarinder sup-
ported and instigated the
farmer’s agitation, thereby
bringing the business in Punjab
to almost standstill,” he said
while addressing the conclud-
ing session of the Punjab BJP’s
two-day state executive meet.
Gautam also questioned
Capt Amarinder as to why he
chose to remain “mum” on sev-
eral key monetary pre-poll
promises made to the farmers,
which remains unfulfilled till
date.
Launching a scathing
attack on the Chief Minister for
“cleverly skirting” all the major
pre-poll monetary promises
while listing achievements of
his government’s four-year,
Gautam termed Capt
Amarinder’s claims as nothing
but a “bundle of lies” to befool
the people of Punjab.
Reacting to Capt
Amarinder’s claims that he
had never said that he would
eliminate the drugs mafia com-
pletely.
Gautam said that Congress
Election Manifesto for 2017
Assembly Elections clearly
mentions, “The Congress Govt
will wipe out the drug trade
within a month (4 hafte) of its
assuming office.”
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Forty-four persons in Punjab
succumbed to the novel
Coronavirus on Sunday, taking
the state’s death toll to 6,324 at
the case fatality rate of 2.97 per-
cent, while 2,669 fresh cases in
the past 24 hours pushed the
COVID-19 tally to 2,13,110.
Highest 10 of the state’s
deaths were reported from
Hoshiarpur, followed by eight
from Ludhiana, seven from
Gurdaspur, six from Jalandhar,
five from Amritsar, two from
Tarn Taran, and one each from
Ferozepur, Kapurthala,
Pathankot, Patiala, SAS Nagar
(Mohali), and Sangrur.
Among the fresh infec-
tions, Jalandhar reported the
highest number of cases with
393 testing positive for the
virus, followed by Ludhiana
with 330 fresh cases, SAS Nagar
(Mohali) with 327, Hoshiarpur
with 259, Patiala with 244,
Ropar with 188, Amritsar with
184, Kapurthala with 157,
Gurdaspur with 136, SBS Nagar
(Nawanshahr) with 104 fresh
cases, among others.
Total five teachers — three
from Ludhiana and two from
Muktsar, and 10 students from
Ludhiana were among those
tested positive for the virus on
Sunday. A total of 1,331
patients were discharged after
recovering from the deadly
contagion.
?=B Q 270=3860A7
With 867 fresh Covid-19
cases, Haryana’s caseload
surged to 279828 on Sunday
while five more people suc-
cumbed to the virus taking the
toll to 3098 in the state.
One death each was report-
ed in Kaithal, Ambala, Karnal,
Panchkula and Kurukshetra
due to COVID-19, the state’s
Health Department’s bulletin
stated.
The Chief Minister
Manohar Lal while talking to
the mediapersons on Sunday
said that the government is
closely monitoring the present
COVID situation in Haryana
and any decision regarding
whether to impose night cur-
few in the state would be taken
after March 31.
In view of the upcoming
festivals and auspicious days,
the Chief Minister urged that
people should refrain from
any kind of gatherings and cel-
ebrate these occasions at their
home with their family mem-
bers. He said that no matter
how many steps the govern-
ment takes, the desired results
are yielded only when there is
cooperation from people.
Wearing of masks and fol-
lowing the social distancing
norms and Standard Operating
Procedures (SOPs) should be
followed in true spirit, he
added. As per the health bul-
letin, a maximum of 181 fresh
cases were reported from
Gurugram followed by 142 in
Karnal. There were 5355 active
cases in the state till the
evening. 337 people recovered
from the virus in the last 24
hours taking the total recover-
ies in the state to 271375.
Out of 85 critical patients
admitted in the hospitals, 68
patients were on oxygen sup-
port while 17 were on ventila-
tor, the health bulletin
said.
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Amid the ongoing farmers’
agitation against three cen-
tral farm laws, Haryana Deputy
Chief Minister Dushyant
Chautala on Sunday said that
neither will mandis be closed
in the state nor will the pro-
curement system on minimum
support price (MSP) be
scrapped.
Mandis are the backbone
of the State Government as no
crop procurement system can
be imagined without these,
Dushyant said while addressing
a gathering during the Holi
Milan ceremony at village
Nariala in Faridabad.
He said that during the
wheat season last year, every
single grain of farmers was pro-
cured in the entire state.
Earlier, the farmers’ pay-
ment used to be deposited in
the account of the arthiyas, but
after talking to the arthiyas, the
farmers’ payment was sent
directly to the farmers’
account.
He said that last year, 23
per cent farmers were paid
directly in the wheat season
and 67 per cent farmers were
paid directly in the paddy sea-
son.
This time 78 percent of the
farmers have uploaded their
own accounts.
?=BQ C0A=C0A0=
Two ‘’Nihangs’’, traditional
Sikh warriors, were shot
dead by police during an
encounter after the duo
attacked policemen with
swords at a village in Punjab’’s
Tarn Taran on Sunday.
The two ‘’Nihangs’’, identi-
fied as Mehatab Singh and
Gurdev Singh, were wanted in
a murder case at Nanded in
Maharashtra, police
said.
After their mobile location
was traced in Sursingh village,
the Nanded Police alerted the
police in Punjab and a team of
two SHOs were sent to nab
them.
The two accused attacked
the SHOs with swords, leaving
them critically injured, police
said.
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The Uttarakhand chapter of
FICCI Ladies Organisation
(FLO) felicitated its members
for commendable work during
its annual program. Head of
Aasraa Trust, Shaila Brijnath,
assistant director of Lal
Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration,
Ekta Uniyal, founder of Social
Development for Communities
(SDC) foundation, Anoop
Nautiyal and superintendent of
police (Intelligence) Nivedita
Kukreti were special guests on
the occasion.
FLO Uttarakhand chair-
person Kiran Bhatt Todaria
spoke about the various activ-
ities of the organisation. Neha
Sharma of Trikon Society,
Namita Gupta of Aan
Charitable Trust, Komal Batra,
Smriti Batta, Charu Chauhan,
Tripti Behl, Anuradha Doval,
Archana Manglik and others
were felicitated on the
occasion.
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Himachal Chief Minister Jai
Ram Thakur on Sunday
said that emergency was an
important part of Independent
India and those who raised
voice against it and struggled
hard during this period should
always be remembered.
The Chief Minister was
speaking at Loktantra Prahari
Samman function organised
to pay respect and honour the
immense contribution made
by the persons who were jailed
during the emergency. On this
occasion, out of 81 Loktantra
Prahari, 66 Loktantra Prahari
were honoured by the Chief
Minister. Thakur said that gen-
erally people have a tendency to
forget the past, especially hard
times, but the emergency peri-
od should never be forgotten as
it had taught several lessons.
He said that in the year
2019, Himachal Pradesh
Government had decided to
start Loktantra Prahari
Samman Yojna to honour the
persons who were put behind
bars during emergency. On
March 20, the State
Government passed the
Himachal Pradesh Loktantra
Prahari Bill 2021 in HP Vidhan
Sabha. With this, now people of
the state who were jailed dur-
ing emergency would get hon-
orarium, he said.
The Chief Minister said
that the emergency was
imposed at midnight on June
25, 1975, which remained in
force upto March 21, 1977 for
21 months.
Every person was per-
forming their respective job
and circumstances were nor-
mal and the law and order sit-
uation was also under control,
so there was no such need of
imposing an emergency.
Nobody had ever thought of it,
which was a tough and difficult
phase of Independent India,
he added.
Thakur said that during the
emergency, the government
had deprived the common
people of their fundamental
rights and nobody could raise
their voice against the govern-
ment. Large number of lead-
ers and people including many
innocents were jailed without
any valid reason. Censorship
was imposed on newspapers
and other media, he said.
The Chief Minister further
said that it has been 45 years
since this incident.
This year the state has also
completed its 50 years of
Statehood on January 25 and to
mark the golden jubilee of the
Statehood, the State
Government has decided to
organise 51 events.
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Himachal Pradesh
Agriculture Minister
Virender Kanwar said that
Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA)
is expected to be signed by
March end for the loan agree-
ment for Rs 1010 phase-II of
the HP Crop Diversification
Promotion Project (HPCDP).
He said that it will be
implemented in all the 12 dis-
tricts of state to boost up the
socio-economic status of farm-
ers’ families as has been
achieved in the phase-I of the
project being implemented in
five districts- viz- Mandi,
Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur
and Una since 2011.
Kanwar was presiding over
the Governing Council meeting
of the HP Agriculture
DevelopmentSociety,theorgan-
isation executing the project.
The Minister asked the
Department and the project
authorities to complete the
preparations during the effec-
tuation period of three months
after the execution of loan
agreement in March end, so
that the project activities of the
phase-II begin immediately.
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The State Government has undertaken
initiatives to decrease the gap between
forests and people. Chief Minister Tirath
Singh Rawat said this while speaking at a
function organised in Ramnagar, Nainital
on the occasion of International Day of
Forests on Sunday.
Rawat said that to ensure the direct
participation of women in forest conser-
vation and development while also increas-
ing self-employment opportunities, they
will be linked to self employment through
skill development. The State government
is doing commendable work in Corbett
tiger reserve where for the first time in any
tiger reserve in India, 50 women nature
guides and 50 Gypsy women drivers will
be involved in tourism activities.
The Chief Minister said that 5,000
males and 5,000 females will be prepared
as guides through skill development for
national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in
the state. The CM also announced that 50
additional Gypsy jeeps will be registered
in Corbett from the next tourist season.
These jeeps will be operated by women.
These women will be provided necessary
financial assistance under the Veer
Chandra Singh Garhwali scheme to pro-
cure the jeeps. An amphitheatre will be
made and a light at sound show on
Corbett and wild animals will be held at
Amdanda. Rawat further said that the
world class wildlife rescue centre under
construction in the Dhela range will be
opened to tourists for viewing tigers. The
CM also announced that a bus station will
be construction at Ramnagar for buses
from Garhwal and Kumaon regions.
Speaking on the occasion, the Forest
and Wildlife minister Harak Singh Rawat
said that various decisions had been taken
by the state government. He said that the
experiment to train women as nature
guides had resulted in the women earning
about Rs 25,000 per month. He said that
during its four years in office, the BJP state
government had considerably developed
wildlife tourism in Ramnagar which is
benefitting the businessmen, youths and
women.
The principal chief conservator of
forests, Rajiv Bhartari, other departmen-
tal officials and public representatives were
also present on the occasion
?=BQ 347A03D=
Atotal of 137 persons were
found positive for Covid-
19 while 32 patients recovered
in the state on Sunday. No
deaths of Covid patients were
reported in the state on the
day.There are currently 861
active cases of the disease in the
state. On the same day, 2,782
beneficiaries were vaccinated in
a total of 46 sessions held in the
state. According to the health
department, 1,09,260 persons
have been fully vaccinated
against Covid in the state so far.
Of the persons found pos-
itive for Covid on Sunday, 53
were in Dehradun, 41 I
Haridwar, 14 in Nainital and 15
in Udham Singh Nagar. Among
the other districts, two positive
cases were reported from
Almora, five from Chamoli,
one each from Uttarkashi and
Bageshwar, two from Pauri, one
from Rudraprayag, two from
Tehri and zero from both
Pithoragarh and Champawat.
As far as the active cases are
concerned, there are 306 in
Haridwar, 206 in Dehradun,
110 in Nainital, 87 in Udham
Singh Nagar, 39 in Pauri and 32
in Almora. The number of
active cases of Covid in other
districts include seven in
Bageshwar, eight in Chamoli,
17 in Champawat, four in
Pithoragarh, 13 in
Rudraprayag, 18 in Tehri and
14 in Uttarkashi.
E8AB8=67
The ongoing farmers’ agita-
tion is not a spontaneous
event. It is one of the conse-
quences of decades old dis-
content emanating from para-
digm shift in agriculture begin-
ning with the Green Revolution
in 1960s. It would be wrong to
think that only the new farm
bills are at its roots. At its core,
there are seeds of the Green
Revolution which have
enslaved farmers in various
ways. And, above all, these poi-
son-laden seeds have shattered
the life base with which the
society is nurtured and on the
strength of which we dream of
a safe future. A natural resource
that has been most whipped off
by our modern farming is the
groundwater of the earth.
Now, a study has ascer-
tained that indiscriminate
exploitation of groundwater is
resulting in sinking of land
worldwide. The study con-
ducted by the American
Association for the
Advancement of Science is
based on the study of 1,596
cities out of 7,343 major cities
selected in the world's poten-
tial land subsidence areas. Most
of the areas of land subsidence
affected by groundwater
exploitation are located in Asia,
with about 64 crore people
residing there. According to a
report by The Guardian, coun-
tries like India, China and
Mexico are rapidly draining
groundwater to meet their food
demands. Agriculture is at the
forefront of excessive exploita-
tion of groundwater.
Although the earth is a
water planet with 70 per cent
of it being covered by water,
potable water is just 2.5 per cent
of the total water, and it is this
scarce water which is used to
irrigate food crops. In the pre-
Green Revolution agriculture,
or traditional Indian agricul-
ture, the need for water for irri-
gation was very low. Most of
the food production in that
period came from rainfed agri-
culture in which crops were
dependent only on soil mois-
ture maintained by rainwater.
The most astonishing truth
in the world of our era is that
about 72 per cent of the limit-
ed drinking water is guzzled by
our modern agriculture – agri-
culture built around the Green
Revolution. Water scarcity is a
very big national issue in itself.
Major cities in the country,
including several regions of the
country and the national cap-
ital are reeling under water cri-
sis. The water crisis is deepen-
ing to the extent that food secu-
rity is not guaranteed in the
near future. The national food
security arising out of the
Green Revolution, in fact, is at
the cost of water security. Food
security is important. Water
security is even more impor-
tant. Three-fourths of the 2.5%
of water on which human soci-
eties, all wild and domesticat-
ed animals, industry, com-
merce and socio-economic sys-
tems have also to be dependent,
is used by agriculture alone—
it should be considered as the
biggest crisis arising out of the
Green Revolution.
The said study has also
revealed some formidable facts.
It says that the city of Jakarta in
Indonesia has sunk up to two-
and-a-half metres in the last
decade due to overexploitation
of groundwater. Even if the
subsidence is only a few cen-
timeters, it is considered to be
of alarming proportions. But
here, it is in meters. The study
also brought out the fact that 25
per cent of the Netherlands is
below sea level and most of the
areas are prone to land subsi-
dence. The study also mentions
that when the sea level increas-
es due to global warming, the
threat to the global population
will become even more fright-
ening.
India ranks first in the
exploitation of groundwater
worldwide. According to NITI
Aayog, the number of major
cities with zero ground water
status is increasing. Rainwater
harvesting is being made
mandatory by the
State govern-
ments. But due to
lack of awareness
among the citi-
zens as well as
lack of implemen-
tation, the
groundwater cri-
sis is deepening.
The sinking
of the land is a
major problem,
the soil is also los-
ing its moisture,
and gradually
a d v a n c i n g
towards desertifi-
cation. Dung,
compost, green
manure, etc. were of great
value in maintaining moisture
in the soil, but the seeds of the
Green Revolution need chem-
ical fertilisers, pesticides and
vast quantities of water.
All our catering is depen-
dent on agricultural products
and the price of each product
has to be paid with water.
Wheat and rice are our two
major crops covering the
largest cultivated area. About
1,500 litres of water are con-
sumed in producing one kilo-
gramme of wheat and 2,497
litres in producing the same
qiuantity of rice. India is the
second largest producer of sug-
arcane in the world.
Uttarakhand (Terai Region),
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab
are the main Indian states cul-
tivating sugarcane. Sugarcane
production gulps water at the
rate of 150,000 to 300,000 litres
per quintal.
In California, USA, where
80% of pure water is used for
irrigation of cultivated crops,
about one million acres of
agricultural land is used for
growing alfalfa as a fodder
crop, which is exported to
China. An article in the New
York Times has expressed con-
cern that the US exports one
billion gallons of water to
China as alfalfa per year.
The water of the earth is a
natural resource on which our
food security, health security,
economic security, environ-
mental security etc depend.
Unfortunately, our state and
local body governments are not
aware of this alarming threat.
From sowing the seeds of the
Green Revolution to harvesting
them, the tube wells are being
operated round the clock to
suck out groundwater, and
nobody is even bothered—
neither the governments nor
the farmers. In many of the
Green Revolution areas of the
country, groundwater has gone
too deep for the motors of
tubewells to extract. The con-
cern is just to get electricity for
free. What an irony that gov-
ernments are elected on
promises of free electricity and
the crisis deepens. When elec-
tricity is free, the motors of the
tubewells never stop. And now
there are evidences from many
regions in the world that the
land under our feet is sinking
into the abyss.
A paper in the famous
research journal Science esti-
mates that by the year 2040, as
many as 1,20,000 square kilo-
metres of land will be under
serious threat due to subsi-
dence on account of extraction
of natural gas, oil and ground-
water. Although groundwater is
also extracted indiscriminate-
ly for fulfilling the require-
ments of industries, supplying
water for populations espe-
cially in urban areas, our mod-
ern farming is in the first place
to pull the largest proportion of
the groundwater.
The research team's scien-
tists warn that there will be an
unprecedented increase in the
demand and scarcity of
groundwater for global popu-
lation and economic develop-
ment in the coming decades. It
is also mentioned in the report
that in the last century subsi-
dence due to overexploitation
of groundwater was observed at
least at 200 places in 34 coun-
tries.
As the water from the
underground reserves is pulled
out of the deeper layers, the
upper land moves downwards
to fill the gap. As the global
warming is causing melting of
glaciers and poles, the water
level of the seas is increasing,
the risk of sinking of beach
cities will further increase when
groundwater is being rapidly
depleted.
There are also traditional
seeds of traditional crops, like
finger millet (mandua), barn-
yard millet (jhangora), pearl
millet (bajra), sorghum (jowar),
amaranth (ramdana or chulai)
etc. that are grown in many
areas of the country and can be
produced without irrigation.
There are many traditional
species of wheat and paddy
which can be grown on rainfed
lands, and this is happening in
many places. The mountain
areas of Uttarakhand and
Himachal Pradesh are exam-
ples of non-irrigation cultiva-
tion. The governments of many
states are promoting cultivation
of pulses and oilseeds so that
water can be saved. But our
agricultural policy does not
reflect on the conservation of
groundwater reserves, crops
needing minimum water and
also seeds that can tolerate
drought conditions. The strate-
gies for coordination and bal-
ance between the synergy of
agro-health and food security,
water security and environ-
mental protection are also out
of our national agricultural
policy. And the biggest concern
is that even the farmer leaders
never want these issues to be
raised.
About 80 million people in
the country do not have easy
access to drinking water. In this
dismal state of the environ-
ment, what is the logic behind
managing water-guzzling agri-
culture when alternatives are
there? There is much hue and
cry on food security, but there
is eerie silence over water secu-
rity! Is sustainable food secu-
rity possible without water
security?
(The author is a former pro-
fessor of Environmental Science
in GB Pant University of
Agriculture and Technology)
7KHEDQHRIZDWHUJX]]OLQJDJULFXOWXUH
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Police arrested a man
accused of murdering a
woman, Muskan, at a hotel on
Rajpur Road in Dehradun on
March 14.
Addressing media persons
on Sunday, the Dehradun
senior superintendent of police
(SSP) Yogendra Singh Rawat
informed that the Pauri police
caught the accused during
checking in Srinagar. The
accused, identified as Bittu
Singh Rawat, disclosed to police
that he had committed thefts in
many hotels and conned peo-
ple in many places including
Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kotdwar
and Almora. According to his
statement to the police, he got
to know the victim during his
stay in Dehradun and decided
to stay with her on March 13
night at a Rajpur Road located
hotel. After having drinks, the
victim, Muskan allegedly start-
ed asking for smack from the
accused and started shouting
when he said he didn't have any
with him. The accused stated in
his statement to the police that
he strangled the victim in anger
after he failed to calm her
down in the hotel room. He
walked out of the hotel the same
night when the rush was less in
the hotel, informed the police.
After this, the accused revealed
to police that he went to ISBT
after walking out of the hotel
and got into a roadways bus to
Haridwar from where he went
to Mathura and after spending
a few days there, he was head-
ing to his home in Chamoli
when the Pauri police caught
him during checking near
Srinagar.
As per the police, the
accused used stolen identities
for all of his alleged crimes and
used to dispose of them after
using them once. They also
revealed that the accused has no
real identity documents which
could be traced back to him
after a crime and as per him, he
learned all such tricks from
other culprits during his time in
jail.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Considering the risk of adul-
teration in food products
during the approaching Holi
festival, the authorities in
Dehradun have started con-
ducting raids in various eater-
ies and confectionery shops.
Besides this, the department
concerned has also sent sam-
ples of various food products to
Rudrapur for testing.
According to the district food
safety officer Ganesh Kandwal,
the administration started a
special drive against adulter-
ation during Holi from the first
week of March.
We have formed six teams
to keep a check on the food
quality during Holi. The teams
are regularly conducting sur-
prise inspections in various
sweet shops and restaurants
and have collected around 30
samples of various food prod-
ucts, stated Kandwal.
He also informed that the
administration has also issued
more than half a dozen notices
so far to the eateries and sweet
shops which were running
without proper license and
registration. He also disclosed
that the administration has
also issued notice to one of the
prominent eateries in
Dehradun- Chai Sutta Bar
which has multiple outlets here
but lacked proper license and
registration to run
them.
Meanwhile, many local res-
idents and confectionery shop
owners have opined that the
administration collects samples
during festivals but their results
fail to arrive on time.
According to them, the
sample collection is of no use
if the result of an adulterated
food product comes after its
consumption by the con-
sumers. Responding to this,
Kandwal said that the samples
are sent to a lab in Rudrapur
and as per the protocol, the
results must arrive within 14
days but sometimes the results
get delayed due to certain rea-
sons and the administration
needs a lab report to take
action in adulteration cases.
However, he added that the
administration regularly runs
awareness campaign for con-
sumers and they should also be
attentive of their purchases
during festivals. People should
consume and buy food prod-
ucts from reliable stores, espe-
cially during the festivals when
the chances of adulteration
increase rather than experi-
menting on buying products
from random new places,
asserted Kandwal.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Municipal Corporation
of Dehradun (MCD)
would seize Inter State Bus
Terminal (ISBT) and City
Junction Mall if the operator of
these bodies would not deposit
the pending property within 15
days. Last month, the Ramky
Company that manages both
the buildings deposited about
Rs 58 lakh out of the total Rs
1.12 crore property tax which
was pending for about three
years. On the direction of the
municipal commissioner,
Vinay Shankar Pandey, the
corporation had issued a notice
to the company to deposit the
remaining property tax within
the first two weeks of March
but the company failed to do so
in the given time. According to
the municipal tax superinten-
dent, Dharmesh Painuly, the
MCD has sent a final notice to
the company recently in which
the corporation has given 15
days to deposit the remaining
amount of Rs 56,28,244 in the
corporation failing which the
corporation would seize both
the buildings in the first week
of April. The officials informed
that Ramky raised an objection
last year against the property
tax stating they are not liable to
deposit the property tax of
the buildings as per their
agreement with Mussoorie
Dehradun Development
Authority (MDDA).
However, the officials from
MDDA denied such agree-
ment and as per the munic-
ipal commissioner’s instruc-
tions, Ramky had to pay 50
percent of the pending dues
in February.
Meanwhile, the tax sec-
tion of MCD was also
opened on Sunday being the
last date of the 20 percent
rebate of property tax. The
officials informed that about
Rs two lakh was collected on
Sunday and so far, the MCD
has collected over Rs 29 crore.
Further, the mayor Sunil Uniyal
‘Gama’ informed that he will
take the decision on the exten-
sion of the rebate period on
Monday.
?=BQ 347A03D=
As a part of its Corporate
Social Responsibility
(CSR), the Punjab National
Bank
Dehradun east circle office
donated a large number of
umbrella sheds to roadside
workers and vendors. The
bank’s circle head YS Rajput
informed the gathering belong-
ing to the economically weak-
ersection that PNB is always
ready to provide its service to
weaker section of the society.
He also expressed hope that all
the beneficiaries will be pro-
viding necessary education to
their children and assured of
every possible help to the
needy. The bank’s DGM AK
Gupta and other officials were
also present on the occasion.
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Three Indo-Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP) personnel
who helped reunite a stranded
70-year-old man with his fam-
ily in Karnataka after about
three decades have been award-
ed the top commendation of
the paramilitary for undertak-
ing the humanitarian task.
The decorated troops,
posted with the 36th Battalion
of the border guarding Force at
Lohaghat in Uttarakhand,
chanced upon Kenchappa
Govindappa at a roadside
eatery in nearby Chalti village
of the State when one of them
stopped there for refreshments
early this year.
Constable Riyaz Sunkad
noticed the precarious condi-
tion of the septuagenarian and
described the incident to his
two seniors in the battalion
who also hailed from
Karnataka- Head Constables
Premananda Pai and Sharana
Basava Ragapur.
Pai and Ragapur later went
to the eatery as they were also
proceeding on leave. The duo
found the old man was in a bad
physical shape and was in an
emotional shock as he was
lost for years and could not get
in touch with his family or rel-
atives.
The man was unable to
communicate his plight to the
locals as he was conversant only
with Kannada and did not
know Hindi. He used to sleep
at a bus stop behind the eatery
even during winters.
The two ITBP jawans
sought more information from
the eatery owner and were
informed that Kenchappa had
come to this location on a truck
many years back and that he
was not paid any money.
For survival, the man
helped in the daily chores of the
eatery owner in lieu of food.
The two Head Constables
later made a video with the
man at the eatery and uploaded
it on social media platforms
like Facebook following which
they received a call from an
advocate who knew
Kenchappa’s family that lived in
Kalghatagi village of Dharwad
district in Karnataka.
The two ITBP men then
embarked on an over 2,000 km
journey to Karnataka before
taking Kenchappa to Delhi
where he was lodged in a hotel,
got him a good bath and shave,
bought new clothes for him
and got into a train to
Karnataka.
The two ITBP personnel
handed him over to his family
who were elated to see him.
Kenchappa had six chil-
dren, four sons and two daugh-
ters, and he had left his home
sometime in 1991 in search of
a job.From Karnataka, he prob-
ably reached Maharashtra and
later to Chalti in Uttarakhand
where he suffered penury for
three decades.
The ITBP headquarters in
recognition of this humanitar-
ian deed early this month
awarded the Director General
commendation role and silver
disc insignia, meant for ren-
dering exceptional service, to
the three personnel who joined
the paramilitary force around
2002-2003.
According to the citation,
they were awarded the top cat-
egory force honour “for exem-
plary humane approach and a
great sense of responsibility by
reuniting an old man with his
family by taking him from
Chalti to Dharwad”.
“The force is proud of the
three men who did a humani-
tarian task beyond the call of
their official duty and reaf-
firmed the values that the force
stood for,” said ITBP
spokesperson Vivek Kumar
Pandey.
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Aadhaar is no longer
mandatory for pensioners
to get Jeevan Pramaan, the dig-
ital life certificate that is
required to collect their pen-
sions.
According to the new rule
notified by the Government,
Aadhaar verification has also
been made voluntary for its
instant messaging solution
‘Sandes’ and attendance man-
agement at public offices under
the Aadhaar Authentication for
Good Governance (Social
Welfare, Innovation,
Knowledge) Rules, 2020.
“Aadhaar Authentication
in Jeevan Pramaan is on a vol-
untary basis and user organi-
zations shall provide alternate
means of submission of Life
Certificate. NIC shall comply
with provisions of Aadhaar Act
2016, Aadhaar Regulation
2016 and the O.Ms (official
memorandum), circulars and
guidelines issued by UIDAI
from time to time,” a notifica-
tion by the Ministry of
Electronics and IT dated
March 18 said.
Digital Life Certificate for
pensioners scheme was intro-
duced to address the woes
that pensioners faced as they
were required to be present
before pension disbursing
agency or had the life certifi-
cate issued by authority where
they served earlier and deliv-
ered that to the disbursing
agency.
The digital life certificate
helped pensioners from phys-
ically travelling to the respec-
tive organisation.
However, many pensioners
complained about problems
in getting pension due non-
availability of Aadhaar cards or
their fingerprints becoming
unreadable.
While some Government
organisations provided an
alternate way of issuing pen-
sion in 2018, the notification to
make Aadhaar voluntary for
the digital life certificate has
been issued now.
Simultaneously, the
Electronics and IT Ministry
has made Aadhaar optional for
users of instant messaging
solution, Sandes app, devel-
oped by the National
Informatics Centre.
“Aadhaar Authentication
in Sandes is on a voluntary
basis and user organisations
shall provide alternate means
of verification. NIC shall com-
ply with provisions of Aadhaar
Act 2016, Aadhaar Regulation
2016 and the O.Ms, circulars
and guidelines issued by
UIDAI from time to time,” a
separate notification dated
March 18 said.
Developed under project
name Government Instant
Messaging System, the app is
used within public depart-
ments.
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All-India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) chief Dr
Randeep Guleria on Sunday
warned that there was nothing
to stop the second wave of
Covid-19 in India from being
as severe as the first unless peo-
ple follow appropriate behav-
iour and are quickly vaccinat-
ed.
“The recent spike in infec-
tions is likely being caused by
slip-ups in precautionary mea-
sures and variants of the virus,”
he said. The cases could spread
even more rapidly if basic pro-
tective steps like wearing masks
and rigorous contact-tracing
are not followed.
“There is a loss of Covid-
appropriate behaviour. Now
people feel that the pandemic
is over because vaccines are
here. So they fail to wear masks.
We see large crowds gathering
- again without masks. Many of
these crowded events have
become super-spreading
events,” Dr Guleria said to a
news channel.
“The other issue is that we
are becoming lax in the basic
principle of testing, tracking,
and isolating than what we
were doing six months ago. The
third point is that the virus
itself is mutating and some of
the variants are more infec-
tious,” he said.
India added 43,846 new
coronavirus infections in the
past 24 hours alone, setting
another highest daily-high in
nearly four months, amid a
worrying surge. This rise has
prompted states like Punjab,
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
and Tamil Nadu to consider
revert to school closure,
restricted public gatherings,
and other measures, including
lockdowns in worst-hit dis-
tricts.
The daily rise in infec-
tions today was the highest
recorded in 112 days, while the
number of fatalities has risen to
1,59,755 with 197 daily new
fatalities, the data updated at 8
am showed. Maharashtra,
Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, and
Gujarat are the five states that
have recorded the highest sin-
gle-day surge since yesterday,
government data show.
The number of cases and
mortality could both rise in the
second wave, according to Dr
Guleria.
Referring to the vaccines,
he acknowledged that some
studies show vaccine efficacy
falling 10-20% when it comes
to the South African variant of
Covid-19. “As we go along
with vaccinations, other vari-
ants may appear. We will have
to be ready to tweak the vac-
cines...it is not a cause of con-
cern since we do not have
enough data. But we need to be
vigilant,” he said.
“There may be variants in
India. If the variants are of clin-
ical significance - causing more
severity or more number of
infections, that is a cause of
concern. We know that the
virus will undergo mutation,”
he said.
Containment zones need
to be developed, he said, adding
that aggressive testing and
quarantine must be followed.
Mere night curfews and week-
end lockdowns may not alone
stop the chain of transmission,
he said.
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The Congress on Sunday
said it would not be fair on
its part to comment on the con-
troversy that erupted after ex-
Mumbai police chief Param Bir
Singh accused Maharashtra
Home Minister Anil
Deshmukh of graft as the NCP
and the Chief Minister are
looking into it.
Steering clear of making a
direct comment on the matter,
Congress spokesperson
Abhishek Singhvi said the issue
concerns Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray and the
NCP as the minister in ques-
tion is from that party.
Attempting to deflect ques-
tions concerning Maharashtra,
Singhvi raised the issue of graft
charges against Karnataka
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa
to accuse the BJP of hypocrisy
and questioned
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s silence on the mater.
He asked why the prime
minister and Home Minister
Amit Shah have not uttered a
word about the corruption
allegation against Yediyurappa,
even when there have been
three judgments from the high
court in this regard.
“We want Yediyurappa to
resign immediately,” the
Congress spokesperson said.
On the developments in
Maharashtra, he said the Maha
Vikas Aghadi Government is
one and NCP leader Sharad
Pawar is addressing charges
against Deshmukh, who
belongs to that party.
“Sharad Pawar has
commented on what is essen-
tially concerning a minister
from that part of the
coalition. I think it would not
be fair for me to say anything,
much of what has been said by
Pawar in consultation with the
CM.
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Aperson cannot donate
blood for the next 28 days
after taking the last dose of
Covid-19 vaccine, according to
a recent order by the National
Blood Transfusion Council
(NBTC) under the Union
Health Ministry.
As approved in the 30th
meeting of the governing body
of the NBTC held on February
17, the deferral criteria for
blood donation post Covid-19
vaccine was finalised as “28
days post vaccination deferral
after the last dose of Covid-19
vaccination irrespective of the
type of the vaccine received.”
The order implies that the
donor has to wait for 28 days
after taking the second dose of
the vaccine, which means that
he or she cannot donate for 56
days after taking the first jab.
The order was issued by
NBTC director Dr Sunil Gupta
on March 5. According to the
Union Health Ministry, two
doses of the vaccine need to be
taken by an individual 28 days
apart to complete the
immunisation schedule.
Protective levels of anti-
bodies are generally devel-
oped two weeks after receiving
the second dose, it has said.
Two vaccines — Oxford’s
Covishield manufactured by
Serum Institute in the country
and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin
have been approved by the
National Drug Regulator for
restricted emergency use in
India.
The countrywide vaccina-
tion drive was rolled out on
January 16 with healthcare
workers (HCWs) getting
inoculated and vaccination of
the frontline workers (FLWs)
started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-
19 vaccination commenced
from March 1 for those who
are over 60 years of age and for
people aged 45 and above with
specific co-morbid
conditions.
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On the World Water Day on
Monday, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will launch
the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch
the Rain” campaign. The ‘his-
toric’ MoU to implement the
Ken Betwa Link Project, the
first project of the national per-
spective plan for interlinking of
rivers, will also be signed by
Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh chief ministers at the
event.
The PMO said in a state-
ment that the campaign will be
undertaken across the country
in both rural and urban areas
with the theme “catch the rain,
where it falls, when it falls” and
it will be implemented from
March 22 to November 30 - the
pre-monsoon and monsoon
period in the country.
It will be launched as a ‘Jan
Andolan’ (public movement)
to take water conservation at
the grassroot level through
people’s participation. It is
intended to nudge all stake-
holders to create rainwater
harvesting structures suitable
to climatic conditions and sub-
soil strata, to ensure proper
storage of rainwater, the PMO
said.
After the event, gram sab-
has will be held in all gram
panchayats of each district
(except in poll-bound states) to
discuss issues related to water
and water conservation. Gram
sabhas will also take ‘Jal
Shapath’ (oath) for water con-
servation, it added.
The Ken Betwa link pro-
ject agreement heralds the
beginning of inter-state coop-
eration to implement the
vision of former Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
to carry water from areas that
have surplus water to drought
prone and water deficit areas
through the interlinking of
rivers, the PMO said.
This project involves trans-
fer of water from Ken to Betwa
River through the construction
of Daudhan Dam and a canal
linking the two rivers, the
lower Orr project, Kotha bar-
rage and Bina complex multi-
purpose project.
It will provide annual irri-
gation of 10.62 lakh hectare,
drinking water supply to about
62 lakh people and also gen-
erate 103 MW of hydropower.
The PMO said the project
will be of immense benefit to
the water starved region of
Bundelkhand, especially to the
districts of Panna, Tikamgarh,
Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh,
Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and
Raisen of Madhya Pradesh
and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi
and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh.
It will pave the way for
more interlinking of river pro-
jects to ensure that scarcity of
water does not become an
inhibitor for development in
the country, the PMO said.
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Three years down the line,
India has marked a key
milestone in universalising pri-
mary healthcare with the tar-
get of operationalising 70,000
Ayushman Bharat-Health and
Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs)
by March 31 being realised
ahead of time. Ayushman
Bharat- Health and Wellness
Centres (AB-HWC) were
launched in April 2018.
The Union Health
Ministry on Sunday said till
date, about 41.35 crore people
have accessed care in these AB-
HWCs and about 54 per cent
of them are women, the min-
istry said.
The feat of scaling up pri-
mary health care facilities at
this pace despite the COVID-
19 pandemic was enabled by a
high degree of coordination
between the Centre and states
and union territories, foresight
in planning, flexibility in adap-
tation, standardisation of
processes, and regular interac-
tions at all levels for monitor-
ing and prompt redressal of
issues, it said.
This is testimony to the
process of effective decentral-
isation and cooperative feder-
alism, the ministry said.
By December 2022, as
many as 1,50,000 sub-health
centres and primary health
centres in urban and rural
areas were targeted to be trans-
formed to AB-HWCs and
deliver comprehensive prima-
ry health care that includes pre-
ventive and health promotion
at the community level with
continuum of care which is free
and close to community in
rural and urban areas.
“This mission mode
approach also aimed at realis-
ing India’s vision of universal
health coverage,” the state-
ment said.
Apart from expanding and
strengthening the existing
reproductive and child health
services and communicable
diseases services, the func-
tional AB-HWCs provide ser-
vices related to non-commu-
nicable diseases (NCDs) and
are gradually adding other
primary health care services
for mental health, ENT, oph-
thalmology, oral health, geri-
atric and palliative health care
and trauma care, etc., it stat-
ed.
“HWCs demonstrate a
high potential for positive
outcomes in terms of gender
equity for care seeking, and
promoting wellness as a criti-
cal component of primary
health care. To date, about
41.35 crore people have
accessed care in these AB-
HWCs. About 54 per cent of
them are women,” it said.
Preventive health care is
the essential component of
the services delivered through
HWCs. The identified indi-
viduals with the chronic con-
ditions are put on treatment
with necessary follow-up.
So far, 9.1 crore screenings
for hypertension, 7.4 crore
screenings for diabetes, 4.7
crore screenings for oral can-
cer, 2.4 crore screenings for
breast cancer and 1.7 crore
screenings for cervical cancer
in women have been done, the
ministry highlighted.
Tele-consultation services
are another key component of
HWCs. More than 9.45 lakh
tele-consultations have been
done at the HWCs, it said.
“About 75 per cent of total
NCD screenings have been
conducted during this
COVID-19 period (between
1st February 2020 to till date)
itself, showing the confidence
reposed by people in these AB-
HWCs during the present
public health challenge,” the
Ministry said.
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Patients with low vitamin D
levels who are hospitalised
for Covid-19 may have a
lower risk of dying or requir-
ing mechanical ventilation if
they receive vitamin D sup-
plementation of at least 1,000
units weekly, according to a
study.
“Given how common vit-
amin D deficiency is in the
world and the United States,
we believe that this research
is highly relevant right now,”
said co-author Sweta Chekuri,
M.D., of Montefiore Health
System and Albert Einstein
College of Medicine in the
Bronx, New York.
Research has shown that
vitamin D supplementation
can prevent inflammation in
other respiratory diseases,
but there have been limited
studies examining the role of
vitamin D supplementation in
Covid-19.
The purpose of the study
that was presented virtually at
ENDO 2021, the Endocrine
Society’s annual meeting, was
to determine whether being
supplemented with vitamin D
before being admitted to the
hospital with Covid-19 result-
ed in less severe Covid-19 dis-
ease in patients with a low vit-
amin D level.
The researchers studied
124 adult patients with low
vitamin D that was measured
up to 90 days before their
admission for Covid-19. They
compared the patients who
were supplemented with at
least 1,000 units of vitamin D
weekly to those who had not
received vitamin D supple-
ments in terms of whether
they were mechanically ven-
tilated or died during admis-
sion.
They found that patients
who were supplemented were
less likely to be mechanically
ventilated or to die following
admission, though the finding
wasn’t statistically significant
(37.5 percent of patients who
were not supplemented vs.
33.3 percent of those who
were) They also found that
more than half of those who
should have been supple-
mented were not.
“Though we weren’t able
to show a definitive link to
severe Covid-19, it is clear
that patients with low vitamin
D should receive supplemen-
tation not only for bone
health, but also for stronger
protection against severe
Covid-19,” said co-author
Corinne Levitus, D.O., of
Montefiore Health System
and Albert Einstein College of
Medicine. “We hope this
research will encourage clin-
icians to discuss adding this
supplement with their
patients who have low vita-
min D, as this may reduce the
odds of people developing
severe Covid-19.”
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Scientists from Jawaharlal
Nehru Centre for Advanced
Scientific Research, an
autonomous institute of the
Department of Science
Technology (DST) have found
a method to mimic nature’s
own process of reducing car-
bon dioxide in the atmosphere,
namely photosynthesis, to cap-
ture excess carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere.
This artificial photosyn-
thesis (AP) harnesses solar
energy and converts the cap-
tured carbon dioxide to carbon
monoxide (CO), which can be
used as a fuel for internal com-
bustion engines.
In artificial photosynthesis
(AP), scientists are essentially
conducting the same funda-
mental process in natural pho-
tosynthesis but with simpler
nanostructures. However, there
are plenty of hurdles to over-
come as a successful catalyst to
carry out AP.
The scientist designed and
fabricated an integrated cat-
alytic system based on a metal-
organic framework (MOF-808)
comprising of a photosensitiz-
er (molecules which absorb
light and transfer the electron
from the incident light into
another nearby molecule) that
can harness solar power and a
catalytic centre that can even-
tually reduce CO2.
The work described above
has been accepted for publica-
tion in the journal ‘Energy
Environmental Science’ of
Royal Society of Chemistry,
UK.
The scientists have immo-
bilized a photosensitizer, which
is a chemical called ruthenium
bipyridyl complex and a cat-
alytic part which is another
chemical called rhenium car-
bonyl complex ([Re(CO)5Cl]),
inside the nanospace of metal-
organic framework for artificial
photosynthesis. Both these
molecular entities stay in close
proximity in the confined
nano-space of a porous metal-
organic framework system
resulting in excellent Co2
uptake capability at room tem-
perature. This synthetic strat-
egy empowers efficient solar
light-driven photocatalysis.
The developed catalyst
exhibited excellent visible-light-
driven CO2 reduction to CO
with more than 99% selectivi-
ty. The catalyst also oxidizes
water to produce oxygen (O2).
The photocatalytic assembly,
when assessed for CO2 reduc-
tion under direct sunlight in a
water medium without any
additives, showed superior per-
formance of CO production.
Being heterogeneous, the inte-
grated catalytic assembly can be
reused for several catalytic
cycles without losing its activ-
ity.
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The threat of coronavirus
infection looms large in
Delhi Prisons as it readies for
the returning inmates who
were granted parole last year
amid the coronavirus pan-
demic outbreak.
According to jail officials,
it will be difficult to maintain
social distancing with the
surge in the number of
COVID-19 cases in the pris-
ons.
They said the situation
could be more difficult to
manage when the inmates,
who were granted parole dur-
ing the pandemic outbreak last
year, would return.
There are a total of 18,900
inmates in the Delhi Prisons
comprising Tihar, Rohini and
Mandoli jails. However, the
intake capacity of Delhi
Prisons Department is 10,026
inmates.
The number of inmates
will pass the 20,000-mark as
more will come after their
emergency parole lapse, a
senior jail official said.
Meanwhile, the jail
authority asserted that all steps
are being taken to keep the
COVID-19 situation under
control. Last time an inmate
was tested positive for coron-
avirus was on January 14.
After that, three more persons
were found positive, but their
condition was detected before
they entered the jail.
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