Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-04-03

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India has for the first time
overtaken the US in regis-
tering the second-highest daily
Covid-19 cases in the world as
it reported 81,466 new infec-
tions, and 469 fatalities in the
last 24 hours, taking the case-
load to above 1.23 crore and
6,14,696 deaths.
The Government took
exception that the 11 States —
Maharashtra, Punjab,
Karnataka, Kerala,
Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh,
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Delhi and
Haryana — have not suitably
enforced containment activities
and there was a need to use the
Police Act, Disaster
Management Act, and other
legal and administrative pro-
visions for imposing penalties
on defaulters to curb the surge
in cases.
According to the Health
Ministry, these 11 States have
contributed 90 per cent of
Covid cases, 90.5 per cent of
deaths in 14 days till March 31,
and have crossed or close to
crossing their early reported
peaks last year.
The highest jump in cases
came on the day India widened
its vaccination ambit to cover
those above 45 with more than
36.7 lakh Covid-19 vaccine
doses being administered, the
highest single-day coverage till
now. The cumulative number
of Covid-19 vaccine doses
administered in India has
crossed 6.87 crore, according to
the Union Health
Ministry.
In view of the rising coro-
navirus cases in the country,
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba
on Friday chaired a high-level
review meeting with focus on
11 such States/UTs, which are
reporting a high rise in daily
cases and daily mortality
because of Covid-19 in the last
two weeks.
The officials expressed
concern that Tier 2 and Tier 3
cities along with peri-urban
areas have recorded recent
high rise in cases with the
infection spreading from these
areas to the rural areas which
could overwhelm the weak
health infrastructure.
As per the meeting,
Maharashtra, Punjab and
Chhattisgarh were among 11
States to be categorised as
“States of grave concern” due to
high and rising daily cases and
higher daily deaths.
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Even as Home Minister Amit
Shah on Friday claimed in
Coochbehar in North Bengal
that Mamata Didi’s defeat from
Nandigram is certain, the
Trinamool Congress vehe-
mently refuted claims that the
Chief Minister was preparing
to file nomination from some
other constituency after having
sensed her defeat from
Nandigram.
Mamata is contesting
against former protégé-turned-
BJP-nominee Suvendu
Adhikari. The high-voltage
polling for Nandigram ended
on Thursday.
Mamata attacked Prime
Minister Narendra Modi for
“making false statements.”
She told a rally on Friday,
“I am not your party member
that you will suggest that I con-
test from another seat. I have
contested from Nandigram and
will win from there… We are
not your party’s members that
you will control us …”
TMC Rajya Sabha member
Sukhendu Shekhar Roy said,
“We want to make it clear that
there is no question of
Trinamool Congress president
Mamata Banerjee contesting
from anywhere other than
Nandigram and she is not con-
testing from any other seat.”
Modi had on Thursday
told an election rally at
Uluberia north-west of Kolkata
that there are whispers in the
?=BQ =4F34;78
Amid the uproar over the
use of a car registered in
the name of the wife of Assam
BJP MLA Krishnendu Paul to
transport an EVM, the Election
Commission of India (ECI) on
Friday suspended six officials,
including four polling person-
nel and the presiding officer of
Ratabari (SC) Assembly con-
stituency in Assam and ordered
an enquiry into the incident.
“The special general
observer in its report has stat-
ed that there is otherwise no
deliberate or malafide intention
in the incident aimed to disrupt
the polling process. Action is to
be taken against armed escort
officer for leaving behind the
stranded polling party and not
ensuring their safe arrival at the
destination,” the EC said.
The EC also issued a fac-
tual report on the incident
saying though the polled EVMs
comprising Balloting Unit,
Control Unit and VVPAT was
found to be with its seal intact
without any damage and all the
items were deposited in the
strong room, the EC decided to
do a re-poll at the concerned
polling booth in Ratabari
(SC)as extra precaution.
To prevent the polling team
from being assaulted in
Karimganj by a mob which
alleged that the electronic vot-
ing machine was being taken
for tampering the police resort-
ed to firing in the air to bring
the situation under
control.
A senior Assam journalist
had shared a video of the inci-
dent and it went viral on social
media.
The EC said following the
special observers report,
Armed Escort Officer Luhit
Gohain, Sub-Inspector of
Police (Armed Branch) of 3rd
Assam Police Battalion, Titabor
has also been
suspended.
To ensure credibility and
fairness, Presiding Officer
Sahab Uddin Talukdar, first
Polling Officer SouravAcharjee;
second Polling Officer: Abdul
MumitChoudhary and third
Polling officer: Sahab Uddin
Tapadar; had already been sus-
pended.
Targeting the BJP over the
incident, Congress leader
Priyanka Gandhi said the
Election Commission should
act decisively on such com-
plaints and that a serious re-
evaluation of the use of EVMs
needs to be carried out by all
national parties.
According to the EC’s
report, the polling party after
completion of polls on
Thursday was returning in a
convoy escorted by an armed
escort led by the Police Sector
Officer ABSI Luhit
Gohain.
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The DMK on Friday lashed
out at the Central
Government over “searches” by
Income Tax officials at the res-
idence of party chief MK
Stalin’s daughter Senthamarai
in Chennai and alleged it has
a “political objective.”
Stalin said while he would
face “pressures,” cadres should
continue to focus on field work
to secure victory for the party
in the April 6 Assembly polls.
In a statement, he cau-
tioned partymen to not get
diverted due to “diversionary”
action like raids or “false pro-
paganda” of the ruling
AIADMK and its allies.
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi tweeted, saying “raid-
ing the Opposition is BJP’s cop-
ing mechanism when facing
electoral defeat.”
Addressing a poll cam-
paign at Jayamkondam, Stalin
said his party would not be
frightened or worried by such
searches.
“We will not be worried
about it. Conduct more search-
es,” he said, adding his party
would only be energised more
by such raids.
He said he would not be
cowed down and he had faced
even the Emergency period
(1975-77).
The Centre thought of con-
fining them to their homes
through searches when polls
are all set to be held in a mat-
ter of few days. Such tactics
would not succeed with the
DMK men, he said.
Party general secretary
Duraimurugan said when par-
ties were on the verge of com-
pleting the campaign and
looked forward to the day of
polling, the income tax search-
es at the residence of
Senthamarai, daughter of his
party chief Stalin was done with
a ‘political objective.’
Income tax officials neither
confirmed nor denied the
searches. Reportedly, similar
searches were on in respect of
other candidates as
well.
The Centre has made a
‘wrong calculation’ that raids
just ahead of the election would
shock Stalin, his family and the
party and also weaken poll
preparations, Duraimurugan
claimed while speaking to
reporters here.
?C8Q =4F34;78
Congress general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on
Friday isolated herself after
her husband Robert Vadra
tested positive for
Covid-19.
In a video message, she
said she has been exposed to
coronavirus and is according-
ly isolating herself.
She also announced the
cancellation of her poll cam-
paign in Assam on Friday, in
Tamil Nadu on Saturday and in
Kerala on Sunday.
Priyanka has been cam-
paigning for the Congress can-
didates in Assam, Tamil Nadu
and Kerala, though she has not
campaigned in West
Bengal.
“I have been exposed to the
coronavirus. Although I have
tested negative yesterday, the
doctors have advised that I self
isolate for a few days,” she said
in a video message.
“Unfortunately, I have to
cancel the programme that
were scheduled for me for the
Assam campaign today and for
Tamil Nadu tomorrow and
Kerala, day after tomorrow,” she
also said.
“I would like to apologise
to everybody for not being able
to be there. I wish all the can-
didates that I was supposed to
campaign for the very, very best
in the election. I hope all of you
do well and the Congress is vic-
torious,” she said, while wish-
ing for the party’s victory in
these elections.
In a separate Facebook
post, Robert Vadra said he has
tested positive after he came in
contact with someone who
was COVID
positive.
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The Maharashtra
Government on Friday
announced night curfew from
6 pm to 6 am in Pune for seven
days beginning from Saturday,
even as the “active” cases
jumped to an alarming 70,851.
On a day when Pune
recorded 9,126 fresh infections
and 30 more deaths, the deci-
sion to impose night curfew in
Pune from 6 pm to 6 am for
seven days was taken at a
meeting chaired by
Maharashtra Deputy Chief
Minister Ajit Pawar.
In a related development,
Maharashtra recorded a new
high of 47,827 fresh infec-
tions, while 202 more people
died of the pandemic in vari-
ous parts of the State.
Talking to media persons
after the review meeting, Pune
Divisional Commissioner
Saurabh Rao said during the
night curfew period, restau-
rants, bars, malls and religious
places will be closed. However,
restaurants have been allowed
to provide food parcel and
delivery services until 10
pm.
Rao said it had been decid-
ed to take some measures keep-
ing in mind the goal of causing
minimal hassle to citizens. “We
have chosen measure that will
help us slow down the spread
of the virus. A golden mean
was settled upon,” he said,
Rao said during the next
seven days, the authorities
would not allow any social, cul-
tural or political events, except
marriages and last rites.
“For last rites, a maximum
of 20 persons will be allowed
and for marriages the limit will
be 50... We have started an
aggressive vaccination cam-
paign. We will continue it to
increase the daily vaccinations
till we record 1 lakh vaccina-
tions a day,” he said.
In a related development,
Pune district — which contin-
ues to be the worst-affected
city-district in Maharashtra -
on Friday saw the total number
of cases increase from 5,44,287
to 553413, while the total num-
ber of deaths in Pune rose from
8343 to 8373.
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Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal on Friday
said Delhi is encountering the
fourth wave of Covid-19 but
there is no need for imposing
another lockdown in the city.
Delhi recorded 3,594 fresh
Covid cases on Friday, the
highest daily count this year,
while 14 more people died due
to the infection, taking the
death toll to 11,050, according
to the city health
department.
In an emergency meeting
called at his residence, he said,
“If there is a need for a lock-
down in the future, a decision
will be taken after consultation.
The fourth wave is less serious
than the previous ones as there
are fewer numbers of deaths
and hospitalisations this time.”
Kejriwal suggested the
Centre should lift the 45+ age
bar for vaccination to pave the
way for mass inoculation.
“If the Centre allowed vac-
cination at non-healthcare
facilities like schools, immu-
nisation be undertaken on a
war footing to check the spread
of the virus,” he said.
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Of the more than 18 million
AstraZeneca coronavirus
vaccine doses administered in
Britain, only around 30 cases of
blood clots were reported,
British regulators have said.
The new number of cases
is 25 more than what was
reported last month.
Britain’s Medicines and
Healthcare products
Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
on Thursday described the
risk of blood clots associated
with the vaccine as “very
small,” dpa news agency
reported. As of March 24, a
total of 22 cases of cerebral vein
thrombosis and eight other
types of thrombosis had been
reported, the agency said.
Another document from
the authority listed a total of 24
cases of cerebral vein throm-
bosis, without providing details
about the discrepancy.
“On the basis of this ongo-
ing review, the benefits of the
vaccines against Covid-19 con-
tinue to outweigh any risks and
you should continue to get your
vaccine when invited to do so,”
the Britain’s Medicines and
Healthcare products
Regulatory Agency said.
In total, more than 31 mil-
lion people in Britain have
received the first dose of the
vaccination, more than 18 mil-
lion of them with AstraZeneca.
The number of cases has
improved significantly, with
the seven-day incidence figure
at 55 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Two Covid-19 vaccines,
Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford
University/AstraZeneca, are
currently being used in the UK.
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Ahigh-level Trinamool
Congress delegation on
Friday lodged a complaint
with the Election Commission
and asked it to ensure the
Central forces deployed in the
elections acted in an impartial
manner.
The team was led by for-
mer Union Minister Yashwant
Sinha, who recently joined
the TMC, senior Bengal
Minister Subroto Mukherjee
and Trinamool MP Dola Sen.
Referring to the complaint
lodged with Chief Electoral
Officer Aariz Aftab, the TMC
leaders said that the
“Commission is duty-bound to
conduct the elections impar-
tially and we have reminded
them of its duty.”
Echoing the statements
made by Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee from
Nandigram on Thursday,
Sinha said, “We have told the
ECI that the role of Central
forces has not been impartial
in many booths in the first two
phases… It was seen that in
many places the BJP support-
ers were being allowed to vote
while the TMC voters were
being simply shooed away…
There have been incidents of
violence and attacks on our
party supporters by BJP but
proper action was not taken.
We have appealed to the
Commission to ensure that
such incidents do not recur in
the next six phases.”
Mamata had on Thursday
attacked Union Home
Minister Amit Shah for influ-
encing the CAPF and the ECI
hampering the free and fair
nature of the elections. He too
referred to the Home Minister
alleging that he was pulling the
strings from Delhi to prejudice
the election process.
Saying that the way the
ECI was conducting itself was
unprecedented, Mukherjee
said, “I have seen elections for
the last 50 years. (But) I have
never witnessed such blatant
interference in the election
process by the Government in
Delhi before,” asserting
“despite the biased approach of
the Central forces, Mamata
Banerjee will win the elections
from Nandigram.”
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Khargone (MP): As a warning
against breaking the Covid-19
mask rule, the authorities in
Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone
district set up two temporary
jails on Friday to confine vio-
lators. Violators will be lodged
in these facilities for at least six
hours and all Covid-19 norms
will be followed, it was stated.
One of the temporary jails
was set up at a dharamshala to
confine persons found without
masks, a police station in-
charge Prakash Vaskale said.
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air that Mamata Didi is plan-
ning to file nomination from
some other seat after having
sensed defeat in Nandigram…
“Didi O Didi is there any
truth in the rumour that you
are going to contest from some
other seat… Like those in
Nandigram the people else-
where too are waiting to give
you an answer,” he said.
Referring to Mamata leav-
ing her home seat Bhawanipore
in South Kolkata, he said, “Didi
left Bhawanipore to go to
Nandigram. Then she realised
her mistake … so much so that
she was forced to camp in
Nandigram for three
days.”
Immediately after the
Prime Minister’s statement
conjectures were made on the
Chief Minister’s possible filing
of nomination from Murarai in
Birbhum district or Kolkata
Port seat in Kolkata from where
her close aide and senior
Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim
is contesting.
The stated whisper caught
wind based on a passing com-
ment made by Mamata earlier
that she could also be contest-
ing from Tollygunge seat in
Kolkata.
Earlier on Thursday
Adhikari had said after the
elections that “Begum
(Banerjee) is losing the elec-
tions … this time a victory for
her from Nandigram is not
happening.”
Meanwhile, Home
Minister Amit Shah who held
a rally and roadshow in
Coochbehar in North Bengal
said that “Mamata Didi’s defeat
is written on the wall … this
can be read from her body lan-
guage at Nandigram from
where she is losing the
battle.”
Shah said that the “Chief
Minister’s body language in
Nandigram showed on
Thursday that she had lost the
polls there,” adding “in fact the
BJP has won more than 50 seats
in the first two phases of elec-
tions for 60
seats.”
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New Delhi: The Election
Commission on Friday barred
Assam Minister and BJP leader
Himanta Biswa Sarma from
campaigning for 48 with
immediate effect for allegedly
making threatening remarks
against Bodoland People’s Front
chief Hagrama Mohilary.
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Facing stiff resistance by the
farmers on the Delhi bor-
ders after the enactment of the
contentious farm laws, the
Centre has shot off a commu-
nication to the Punjab
Government virtually placing
the agriculturists in the dock.
The communiqué, seeking
report from Punjab’s police
and administrative heads, has
accused the State’s farmers of
allegedly forcing mentally-chal-
lenged youngsters from Bihar
and Uttar Pradesh to work in
the fields as bonded labour
under the influence of drugs,
besides meting out inhuman
treatment.
That was not all! The let-
ter by the Union Ministry of
Home Affairs claimed that
these labourers, hailing from
poor families residing in
remote areas of the two states,
were brought in Punjab in the
name of “good salary”, but
were paid “poorly”, meted out
inhumane treatment.
Through the letter,
addressed to the state Chief
Secretary and the Director
General of Police (DGP), the
Centre has asked the Punjab
Government to inform it on
priority about the action taken
in the matter.
A controversy has arisen
over the Centre’s letter to
Punjab Government with the
state’s leaders questioning the
“timing”, while dubbing the
development as an attempt to
discredit the state’s farmers.
Even as the two Cabinet
Ministers, with whom The
Pioneer tried to get in touch
with over the issue, refused to
comment over the issue, main-
taining that it is upon the State
Government to reply to the
communication, they did not
rule out the possibility that the
letter has been sent due to the
ongoing farmers’ agitation and
in an attempt to “discredit” the
farmers of the State.
“”Only the State
Government would reply in
this regard. But, all I can say is
that the facts of any such inci-
dent have not been given in the
letter, nor any evidence has
been presented. It is also
strange to ask for a report on
the cases of 2019 and 2020 in
March 2021, after almost two
years,” said a Cabinet Minister,
who did not wish to be named.
The Minister said that the
letter has been sent due to the
ongoing farmers’ movement.
“This is an attempt to discred-
it the farmers of the state. This
seems nothing more than an
attempt to divide the agitating
farmers of Punjab and Uttar
Pradesh,” added the Minister.
“These are very unfortu-
nate allegations. Punjab is
known for langar…all the guru
ghar have served selflessly,”
said Congress MP from
Amritsar Gurjeet Singh Aujla.
Blaming the Centre for
making repeated attempts to
create hurdles in the ongoing
farmers’ protest, Aujla said:
“Currently, they have made
the decision to do away with
arhtiyas and making direct
payment to farmers a big issue
due to the agitation. In the
same way, Centre is making
another allegation against
Punjab which completely
wrong and incorrect.”
Terming the Centre’s mis-
sive as a “ridiculous assumption
aimed purely at defaming the
state’s farmers”, SAD’s former
MP Prem Singh Chandumajra
said that the such letters from
the Home Ministry would send
a wrong signal across the coun-
try and would create an atmos-
phere of confrontation.
“The fact of the matter is
that there is not one FIR of any
person being forced to work as
a bonded labourer in any of the
areas mentioned in the letter. In
fact, the opposite is true,” said
Chandumajra adding that the
farmers of Punjab pay labour-
ers in advance for their services
and that it why lakhs of
migrant workers come to
Punjab every year for planting
of the paddy crop.
The former MP demanded
that the report should be imme-
diately withdrawn and the real
reason why some mentally chal-
lenged people found their way
to the border areas which were
at the end of the railway lines
should be examined.
BJP leader Harjit Singh
Grewal, defending the Centre’s
letter, maintained that the devel-
opment has nothing to do with
politics.”The Centre received
some inputs which it has shared
with the State Government.
The BSF has apprehended these
persons and given its report to
the Centre…The MHA has not
written this letter as such…If
there is something like this
happening in the State, it should
be stopped,” said Grewal.
“There is no need to make
it a political issue. This is an
issue related with no political
party or the Government. It has
nothing to do with politics…It
is something between the con-
cerned Departments,” said
Grewal while appealing to all
political parties to let the agen-
cies do its work.
WHAT THE LETTER SAYS?
The Centre, in a letter sent
to the Punjab Chief Secretary
and DGP on March 17, 2021,
has informed the Punjab
Government that 58 mentally
challenged people from Bihar
and Uttar Pradesh were found
working as “bonded labourers”
in the border districts of the
State, and asked it to take
appropriate action to deal with
the “serious” problem.
The Ministry said that it
had been informed by BSF that
most of the 58 Indian nation-
als it had apprehended from the
border areas of Gurdaspur,
Amritsar, Ferozepur and
Abohar in 2019-2020, were
found to be “either mentally
challenged or in a feeble state
of mind” and had been work-
ing as “bonded labourers” with
farmers in border villages of
Punjab.
The apprehended persons
belonged to poor family back-
ground and hailed from remote
areas of UP and Bihar.
“It has been further
informed that human traffick-
ing syndicates hire such labour-
ers from their native place to
work in Punjab on the promise
of good salary, but after reach-
ing Punjab, they are exploited,
paid poorly, and meted out
inhuman treatment. For mak-
ing them work for long hours
in fields, these labourers are
often given drugs, which
adversely affect their physical
and mental condition,” read the
MHA’s letter.
It added that the BSF had
been handing over the rescued
persons to the state police for
further necessary action.
“Keeping in view the multi-
dimensional and overwhelm-
ing enormity of the problem,
which involves human-traf-
ficking, bonded labour and
human rights violation, you are
requested to look into the mat-
ter and take appropriate mea-
sures to address this serious
problem,” the Home
Ministry told the Punjab
Government.
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Emergency Response and
Support System 112’ will
soon be started in Haryana to
provide police and other emer-
gency services to the people.
“For this, 630 new Innova
vehicles have been purchased,
which will soon be dedicated in
the service of the public,” said
Haryana Home Minister Anil
Vij while addressing the senior
police officers during a review
meeting of the Police
Department on several impor-
tant issues like crime preven-
tion, detection, law and order
situation.
The Minister said that the
Special Task Force (STF) of the
police would be strengthened
further so that criminal activ-
ities of interstate gangsters
could be monitored and effec-
tively dealt with.
Expressing satisfaction
over the performance of STF,
the Minister gave in-principle
approval to provide them new
modern vehicles, latest tech-
nology equipment and software
etc.
It was informed in the
meeting that Haryana
Assembly had passed a strin-
gent Haryana Control of
Organised Crime (HRCOC)
Bill to check organised crime in
the state. The same had been
sent to the Central
Government for the
Presidential assent. It would be
implemented in the entire state
as soon as it is approved.
The Home Minister was
also apprised that 800 person-
nel retire from the Police
Department every year while
200 lost their lives. This year,
the recruitment process for
about 7500 vacancies is to be
done through Haryana Staff
Selection Commission.
On this, the Home
Minister assured to get the
recruitment process accelerat-
ed.
While reviewing the crime
scenario, Vij said that criminals
and law violators should have
the fear of law while the pub-
lic should have faith in the
police. The fear of the police
among criminals will increase
only when the police will
increase their efficiency and
enhance their social interaction
with the public, he added.
He also reviewed success-
fully worked out cases like
theft, burglary, simple and
vehicle thefts. Vij directed to
work out all the pending cases
so that the general public can
get relief.
He also instructed to take
effective steps for investigation
so that the offenders can be
convicted and victims can get
timely justice.
The Home Minister said
that many times the police are
not able to solve public griev-
ances on time, which is a mat-
ter of concern.
He instructed the officers
to make a mechanism for time-
ly redressal of grievances and
resolve them within the pre-
scribed time limit.
The SPs of those districts
which had a high number of
pending cases of crime were
also asked to improve their per-
formance.
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Punjab’s revenue collection,
during the financial year
2020-2021, has witnessed an
upward trend to the tune of
C10,382.08 crore in comparison
to the corresponding period of
last fiscal. The Government has
attributed the rising revenue to
the “efficacious fiscal consoli-
dation measures” undertaken
by the State Government.
“The total revenue collec-
tion was C42,918.34 crore
reflecting a hike of 31.91 per-
cent as compared to C32,536.26
crore collected during 2019-20,”
said a spokesperson of the
Chief Minister’s office.
Pertinently, the collection
from VAT and CST amounted
to C6,113.54 crore during 2020-
21 while the previous year’s fig-
ures stood at C5,408.12 crore
thus showing an increase of C
705.42 crore (13.04 percent).
Similarly, the Excise col-
lection pegged at C6,091.21
crore during the previous fis-
cal showing an increase of
C1,068.35 crore (21.27 per-
cent) over the collection of C
5,022.86 crore during the cor-
responding period for the
financial year 2019-20.
Meanwhile, the GST col-
lection and compensation cess
during 2019-20 was C22,105.28
crore while the corresponding
figure during 2020-21 stood at
C30,713.59 crore which shows
a surge of C8,608.31 crore
(38.94 percent).
The State Government
through fiscal consolidation
coupled with economic pru-
dence and budget manage-
ment has led to the marked
improvement in the excise col-
lection, said the spokesper-
son.
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To ensure quality drinking
water 24X7 and minimize
the water losses for holy city
Amritsar and industrial hub
Ludhiana, the World Bank and
Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB) have
approved 300 million US
Dollars loan for canal-based
drinking water schemes under
Punjab Municipal Services
Improvement Project.
Notably, the Chief Minister
Capt Amarinder Singh had
been pursuing with the Centre
to secure World Bank and
AIIB loan to ensure clean
drinking water to the resi-
dents in the two cities. The
other two canal-based water
supply projects in Jalandhar
and Patiala are already under
execution.
Currently, Amritsar and
Ludhiana are being supplied
with ground water sources,
that is tube wells. As per the
Central Ground Water Board
(CGWB) report, the ground-
water has been over exploited
and the quality of drinking
water has deteriorated causing
health hazards. Therefore, it has
been proposed to change water
supply from ground to canal
water to ensure uninterrupted
potable drinking water supply
in the urban areas.
Giving the breakup of the
total estimated project cost of
300 million US Dollars for the
canal based water supply pro-
ject at Amritsar and Ludhiana,
the spokesperson said that the
entire project would be co-
financed by IBRD (World
Bank) loan of 105 million US
Dollars and an Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB) loan of 105 million US
Dollars along with
Government of Punjab (GoP)
funds to the tune of 90 million
US Dollars.
Further, the spokesperson
said that in the Amritsar pro-
ject, the source of surface water
supply is Upper Bari Doab
Canal and thereafter a 440
MLD (million litres per day)
Water Treatment Plant would
be constructed in Vallah village,
Amritsar, for treating the sur-
face water.
After treatment, the clear
water would be pumped to the
Over Head Service Reservoirs
(OHSR) which would further
serve the city residents to main-
tain continuous supply of water.
The infrastructure has
been designed to meet the
water demand for 30 years.
It would benefit the resi-
dents of Amritsar with an esti-
mated population of 14.51 lakh
for 2025 and 22.11 lakh for
2055.
At present, the canal based
water supply project for
Amritsar has been awarded to
M/s Larsen and Toubro
Limited at a contract amount of
Rs 784.33 crore.
Likewise, the source of
water supply in Ludhiana pro-
ject is Sirhind Canal and there-
after a 580 MLD Water
Treatment Plant would be con-
structed for treating the surface
water.
After treatment, the clear
water would be pumped into
the OHSR which would further
cater to the city residents to
maintain continuous supply of
water.
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After the commencing of
procurement season from
April 1 in the state, Haryana
Government is expecting to
procure more than 80 lakh
tonnes of wheat.
Deputy Chief Minister
Dushyant Chautala on Friday
said that procurement has
started at about 500 procure-
ment centres in the state and
this time, more than 80 lakh
tonnes of wheat is expected to
be procured.
He said that when the
farmer visits the procurement
center to sell his crop, he will
get a J form, then within 40
hours, the farmer will get the
payment for his crop. If the
farmer is not paid within 72
hours, then the government
will pay nine percent interest
on that amount, he said while
talking to mediapersons in
Gurugram district.
He said that this time, six
crops are being procured at
minimum support price
(MSP).
Assuring farmers of the
procurement of every single
grain of wheat and mustard
crop, the Deputy Chief
Minister said that the State
Government has made exten-
sive provisions for procure-
ment. For the first time, the
government procurement
agencies have started purchas-
ing wheat and mustard from
April 1.
The farmers are getting
good prices in the open mar-
ket for mustard and it is report-
ed that in the open market
mustard is being procured at Rs
5,200 to Rs 5,400 per quintal,
he said.
Dushyant further said that
the State Government intends
to ensure that during the ongo-
ing COVID-19 pandemic,
farmers do not face any trou-
ble while selling their crops. For
this, proper arrangements have
been made for procurement in
the mandis.
If any irregularity is found
in the procurement process
then strict action will be taken
against the concerned officer.
The priority of the state gov-
ernment is to ensure that the
crop brought by every verified
farmer is procured as soon as
he brings it to the concerned
procurement centre, the
Deputy Chief Minister said.
Responding to a question
regarding farmers’ protest
against him at Hisar a day
before, Dushyant said that in a
democracy, everyone has the
right to protest. The govern-
ment aims to ensure that every
farmer gets the fair price of his
crops and that too in a time-
bound manner, he added.
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Despite the crisis of Covid-
19, Haryana Government
has received revenue of Rs
1,022.63 crore from mining
operations during financial
year 2020-21, which is 31 per
cent more than the previous
financial year, the state’s Mines
and Geology Minister Mool
Chand Sharma said on Friday.
The Minister said that
stringent steps taken against the
mining mafia in the state have
started showing results.
“Just as the Coronavirus
pandemic has affected the
entire world, it also affected the
mining activities as well.
Though no mining work was
done for 26 days due to the
lockdown last year, getting rev-
enue of Rs 1,022.63 crore is
commendable. This is the first
time in the history of the
Department, when the rev-
enue from mining works has
crossed the Rs 1,000 crore
mark,” he said.
Sharma said that during
the year 2019-20, the revenue
from mining works was Rs
702.25 crore whereas during
2018-19, revenue was Rs 583.21
crore. The Minister said that
the State Government aims to
ensure availability of con-
struction material at reasonable
prices for the common man in
the state, and also to curb ille-
gal mining.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana witnessed a major
spike in Covid-19 cases for
the second consecutive day
with the detection of 1861
fresh positive cases and ten
deaths on Friday.
This was the highest single-
day spike this year in the state.
The active cases crossed
11000-mark in the state and
was recorded at 11022 till the
evening. The highest number
of active cases were in
Gurugram at 2282 followed by
1641 in Karnal and 1230 in
Ambala district of the state.
“The death toll reached
3174 while the total infections
jumped to 294270 in the state.
In the last 24 hours, two deaths
each were reported in Karnal
and Jind while one death each
was reported in Kaithal,
Fatehabad, Bhiwani,
Yamunanagar, Hisar and
Gurugram,” according to the
Haryana Health Department’s
evening bulletin.
Out of 1861 fresh cases
reported, a maximum of 398
positive cases were reported in
Gurugram followed by 261 in
Karnal and 183 in Panchkula.
146 fresh positive cases were
recorded in Faridabad, 127
each in Yamunanagar and
Ambala, 117 in Kurukshetra,
107 in Kaithal and
Among 170 critical
COVID-19 patients in the state,
141 were on oxygen support
while 29 were on ventilators.
Till date, 294270 patients
(including 1191 in the last 24
hours) have recovered and
been discharged from hospitals
in the state, the bulletin stated.
The fatality rate was
recorded at 1.08 percent in
Haryana. The COVID positive
rate was 4.68 per cent and
recovery rate was recorded at
95.18 percent. As many as
63.11 lakh samples have been
tested till date in Haryana, the
bulletin added.
287 NEW CASES IN
CHANDIGARH, 1 DEATH
A 58- year- old man died
from coronavirus in
Chandigarh on Friday as 287
fresh cases pushed the infection
count to 27,543, according to a
health bulletin.
The number of active cases
rose to 3098 and 139 patients
were discharged after they
recovered from the infection,
taking the number of cured
persons to 24,064. So far,
316,037 samples have been
taken for testing, of which
2,87,463 tested negative while
reports of 161 are awaited, it
said.
As many as 2938 benefi-
ciaries were given the Covid-19
vaccine at 55 sites in the city on
Friday. Among the total bene-
ficiaries, a maximum of 1663
were above 45 to 60 years of age
followed by 745 above 60 years
of age, who got their first dose
of vaccine. The beneficiaries
also included healthcare and
frontline workers. A total of 84,
096 beneficiaries have been
vaccinated in the city so far.
Meanwhile, Dr Amandeep
Kang, Director of Health
Services (DHS), UT
Chandigarh said a three-mem-
ber Central team which visit-
ed Chandigarh asked the UT
Health officers to lay emphasis
on contact tracing and enhanc-
ing vaccination. The team
members led by Additional
Secretary Vijoy Kumar Singh
with experts from Dr Ram
Manohar Lohia Hospital and
Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi
held a meeting with officials of
the Health Department,
Chandigarh Administration
and doctors from the PGI. In
the meeting, the team members
also suggested that the UT
Health officers should con-
duct a Sero survey to know the
extent of the infection spread
in the city.
408 FRESH CASES, 4 FATAL-
ITIES IN HIMACHAL
Himachal Pradesh on
Friday reported 408 fresh
COVID-19 cases and four
deaths. “In the last 24 hours,
two persons died at Hamirpur
while one female died at
Kangra and one male died at
Shimla due to COVID-19,”
stated Himachal’s evening
health bulletin.
The death toll reached
1043 while the total case tally
stood at 64420 in the state. Of
the 408 fresh cases, a maximum
of 77 were reported in Una fol-
lowed by 73 in Hamirpur and
61 in Shimla.
There were 3338 active
cases in the state till the
evening. Una has the highest
number of active cases at 682
followed by 651 in Kangra and
561 in Solan, the bulletin stat-
ed.
So far, 60023 people have
recovered from the virus in the
state. 285 people have recov-
ered in the last 24 hours, it said.
Till now, over 12.72 lakh
COVID-19 tests have been
conducted in the state. In the
last 24 hours, 4521 tests were
conducted till the evening on
Friday, the bulletin added.
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Punjab Government has set
up 1965 Government and
296 private vaccination centres
across the State, covering both
urban and rural areas, with the
combined capacity to give
2,75,675 jabs every day.
“Vaccination drive against
Covid-19 is being carried out
across the State in full swing,”
said the state Health and Family
Welfare Minister Balbir Singh
Sidhu on Friday.
The Minister said that with
an aim to restrict the increasing
graphofcoronaviruscasesinthe
State, the Health Department is
nowaimingtogetthemaximum
numberofpeoplevaccinatedfor
this virus following which a spe-
cialawarenessdriveisbeingcon-
ductedintheruralareasofState.
“Afterremovingtheconditionof
co-morbidities for above 45
years persons, the overwhelm-
ing response has been received
from all districts for the vacci-
nation,” he said.An intensified
awareness campaign was
launched by the Health and
Family Welfare Department to
aware people about the precau-
tions and guidelines issued to
control the spread of COVID-
19, he said adding that howev-
er, the campaign is now moving
a step ahead to motivate people
to get vaccinated to create
immunity against the
virus.Lauding the concerted
efforts being made by the team
of the Health Department,
Ludhiana, Sidhu said that our
teams have been visiting Health
and Wellness Centres at villages
where general public and staff
members are being sensitized
regarding COVID vaccination
andmythsrelatingtothevaccine
were busted and their queries
were answered to speed up the
drive.
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Punjab on Friday registered
2,903 fresh cases of the
novel coronavirus, besides 57
casualties pushing the state
Covid-19 tally to 2,45,768 and
the death toll to
6,983.
Of the total, nine fatalities
each were reported from
Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar; fol-
lowed by six each Amritsar and
Patiala; five each from
Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, and Tarn
Taran; three each from
Bathinda and SAS Nagar
(Mohali); and two each from
Kapurthala, Moga, and
Pathankot.
The state’s active has
increased to 25,458, of which
345 patients are on oxygen sup-
port, while 33 are critical and
on ventilator support. Total
10.36 percent of the total cases
reported in rthe state till date
are “active”.
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The upward trend in the
number of novel
Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases
in Uttarakhand is continuing.
The state health department
reported 364 new cases of the
disease on Friday which
increased the cumulative tally
of the disease in the state to
1,01,275. The death toll in the
state also mounted to 1,721 on
Friday as death of two patients
of the disease was reported.
The authorities discharged
194 patients from different
hospitals of the state following
their recovery on Friday. A total
of 95649 patients have recov-
ered from the disease in the
state and the recovery per-
centage is now at 94.44 and the
sample positivity rate is 3.66
per cent.
The authorities reported
139 new cases of the disease
from Dehradun, 118 from
Haridwar, 34 from Nainital, 31
from Udham Singh Nagar, 12
from Pauri, six each from
Almora and Champawat, five
each from Rudraprayag and
Tehri, three from Uttarkashi,
two each from Bageshwar and
Pithoragarh and one from
Chamoli on Friday.
The health department
reported the death of a 42 year
old female patient at All India
Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) Rishikesh on Friday.
A 62 year old male was report-
ed dead at Neelkanth hospital,
Nainital on the day.
The state now has 2404
active patients of the disease.
Dehradun continues to be at
the top of the table of active
cases of the disease with 996
patients, Haridwar has 656,
Nainital 168, Udham Singh
Nagar 134, Tehri 132, Pauri
109, Almora 54, Uttarkashi 36,
Rudraprayag 33, Pithoragarh
29, Bageshwar 20 , Champawat
19 and Chamoli 18 active cases
of Covid-19.
In the ongoing vaccina-
tion drive against the disease
47,714 people were vaccinated
in different parts of the state on
Friday. This is the highest sin-
gle day vaccination number in
the state so far. In the state
1,26,020 people have been fully
vaccinated so far as they have
received both the first and sec-
ond dose of the vaccine. A total
of 366266 senior citizens (60
Plus) have received the first
dose of the vaccine in the state.
Similarly 67779 persons in the
age group of 45-59 years have
been vaccinated in the state.
The Chief Operations
Officer (COO) of state Covid-
19 control room, Dr Abhishek
Tripathi said that 433 vaccine
sessions were organised in dif-
ferent parts of the state on
Friday.
In Dehradun 107 vaccine
sessions were organised in
which 3700 senior citizens,
7055 persons between 45 to 60
years of age, 326 healthcare
workers and 273 frontline
workers were vaccinated on
Friday. Similarly 1687 senior
citizens, 3553 persons between
45 to 60 years of age, 93 health
care workers and 1088 front
line workers were vaccinated in
47 vaccine sessions in Haridwar
district on the day.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The chief minister Tirath
Singh Rawat has said that
Uttarakhand should become
the first state in the country to
be fully vaccinated for Covid-
19. He gave this directive while
reviewing the situation of
Covid-19 in the state on Friday.
He said that a fool proof plan
for 100 percent vaccination
should be prepared and
arrangement for vaccination at
village level should be made.
The CM said that the focus on
testing, tracking and treatment
should be made and the best
treatment protocol should be
followed to reduce the death
rate from Covid-19. He said
that the district administration
of Haridwar, Dehradun and
Pauri should make special
preparations for Kumbh. He
emphasised on increased test-
ing, arrange-
ments for stay,
toilets and
water at bor-
ders where RT-
PCR tests are
being done.
The CM said
that Rs 20
Crore for
Haridwar have
been provided
for testing. He
said that the
people not
wearing masks
and not main-
taining social
d i s t a n c i n g
should be
penalised.
He said
that the tourists
and pilgrims
should be
asked to follow the Covid-19
protocol in a decent and polite
manner. “We should focus on
two things, everyone should
wear masks and everyone
should be vaccinated. The vac-
cination should be taken to vil-
lages. The elderly residing in
the mountainous villages can-
not come for vaccination. We
have to approach them. It is a
challenging task but we should
do it,’’ he said.
The chief secretary Om
Prakash said that the special
preparation for the upcoming
Yatra season should be made.
He said that arrangements for
strict adherence of Covid-19
protocol should be made dur-
ing the Yatra season. He said
that testing teams should be
increased and focus on micro
containment zones should be
made. The secretary Health,
Amit Singh Negi said that
Uttarakhand is having a better
testing and positivity rate then
the rest of the country but the
death rate is slightly more than
then the national average. He
said that focus on vaccine sup-
ply should be made.
The director general (DG)
of Uttarakhand police Ashok
Kumar, Garhwal and Kumaon
commissioners and all district
magistrates attended the meet-
ing.
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The minister for soldier wel-
fare and industrial devel-
opment Ganesh Joshi was
detected positive for the novel
Coronavirus (Covid-19) on
Friday. Joshi himself took to
social media to inform about it.
He said that he was tested for
Covid-19 on Friday morning
and was found positive for the
disease. The minister informed
that his condition is stable and
asked the people who came
into his contact recently to get
themselves tested.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
In order to make measures
against forest fires more
effective, the principal chief
conservator of forests (head of
forest force) Rajiv Bhartari has
directed all the divisional for-
est officers (DFOs) to take
various steps. In a letter to all
the DFOs, the PCCF has direct-
ed them to ensure that four to
six workers are deputed in
each crew station. The mobile
numbers of the staff members
should be painted outside the
crew station to enable the gen-
eral public to contact them. The
crew station staff should be
provided necessary equipment,
food items and vehicle and the
regular presence of the work-
ers should also be ensured
along with a record of the
works done. Further, to make
the crew more effective, drills
should be conducted daily in
the morning
and evening.
The crew
m e m b e r s
should collect
and destroy dry
leaves, branch-
es etc from fire-
lines daily in
the morning
and evening.
Bhartari also
directed that
the crew should
be briefed before and debriefed
after each incident of forest fire.
Steps taken to control forest fire
incidents should be reviewed so
that necessary changes or
improvements can be made in
the future.
The PCCF pointed out
that all the funds under cen-
trally funded and state sector
plans along with CAMPA for
2020-21 have been released. An
additional sum of Rs 180 crore
has also been released for pro-
curement of about 2,000 fire
kits and establishment of con-
trol rooms under CAMPA
2020-21 supplementary annu-
al work plan. He further point-
ed out to the department offi-
cials that organising the field
workers and fire watchers into
a team while also ensuring
their presence at the crew sta-
tions will make the task of tack-
ling forest fires more effective.
?=BQ 347A03D=
In yet another major devel-
opment reversing the deci-
sion taken by the previous
chief minister, the state gov-
ernment ordered the removal
of about 100 party leaders
appointed to various posts in
different state government
run bodies. An order issued
by chief secretary Om
Prakash on Friday states, “All
the non-governmental per-
sons appointed as chairper-
son, vice chairperson, advisor
and other posts in various
commissions, corporations,
councils etc are relieved of
their post with immediate
effect.
This does not apply to
those appointed to constitu-
tional posts for a fixed time
period.”
It is pertinent to mention
here that previous chief min-
ister Trivendra Singh Rawat
had appointed party leaders
believed to be close to him to
various positions in different
bodies. Of these leaders about
10 were given the status of
cabinet minister while more
than 25 were accorded the
status of state
minister.
However, according to
sources there was discontent
within the party organisa-
tion regarding these appoint-
ments. It is being stated that
the chief minister Tirath
Singh Rawat might soon
make new appointments to
various posts.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Gearing up for the Salt
assembly by election the
Uttarakhand Congress party
has constituted a 19 member
election coordination com-
mittee headed by veteran
leader and former speaker of
Vidhan Sabha, Govind Singh
Kunjwal.
Many prominent leaders
of Kumaon division have
been included in the com-
mittee entrusted with spear-
heading the campaign of
Congress candidate Ganga
Pancholi in Salt. Addressing
the media persons at the
Congress Bhawan here on
Friday the Vice President of
Uttarakhand Congress Surya
Kant Dhasmana said that the
Pradesh Congress Committee
(PCC) president Pritam
Singh has endorsed the com-
mittee.
He said that the Rajya
Sabha MP Pradeep Tamta,
deputy leader of Congress
party in Vidhan Sabha Karan
Mahra, MLA Harish Dhami,
former MLAs Mayukh
Mahar, Ganesh Godiyal,
Ranjit Rawat, Madan Singh
Bisht, Manoj Tiwari, Lalit
Pharswan, former MLA and
President of Women
Congress Sarita Arya, Vice
President PCC Dhirendra
Pratap and general secretary
organisation Vijay Saraswat
are the members of the com-
mittee.
The coordination com-
mittee also includes Hemant
Bagadwal, Pitamber Pandey,
Mahesh Arya and Vikram
Singh Rawat. Dhasmana said
that the PCC president has
directed the committee to
come into operational mode
immediately.
The by election for the
Salt assembly constituency
would be held on April 17.
The counting of the votes
would be on May 2 and the
results are expected on the
day.
The by-election is neces-
sitated due to the death of the
BJP MLA Surendra Singh
Jeena. Both the Congress and
BJP have already submitted
the list of 30 start campaign-
ers each to the election com-
mission for
Salt.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Amid scare of the Covid-19, the his-
toric Jhanda fair commenced with
the raising of the holy flag at historic
Darbar Sahib, on Friday. The fair is cel-
ebrated to commemorate the auspicious
occasion of the birthday and arrival of
Guru Ram Rai in Doon valley in the
year 1676. The huge mast of the flag was
hoisted amid chanting of Bhajans by the
devotees in the afternoon. This year the
effect of Covid-19 was clearly visible
during the ceremony and there was a
considerable decrease in the number of
devotees. The organisers had asked the
devotees to attend the fair in limited
numbers this year and the administra-
tion had imposed a compulsion of neg-
ative RT- PCR report to attend the fair.
It had an effect on the attendance and
less number of people as compared to
past visits to the fair this time. However
a large number of devotees attended the
fair despite restrictions.
The holy flag mast was lowered in
the morning and old cloth coverings
were removed. A new mast (86 feet tall)
was washed with honey, milk, water of
river Ganga and curd. The devotees
then covered the mast by Sada Gilafs
(white cloth coverings) and Sanil Gilafs.
The devotees carried these pious cloths
on their heads which were wrapped on
the mast. The Darshani Gilaf (the out-
ermost cloth covering) was then
wrapped on the mast. The mast was
hoisted amid cheers and beating of
drums by the devotees at 2.12 pm under
the guidance of Mahant Devendra
Dass. The faces of the devotees were lit
when an eagle circled the sky over
Darbar Sahib. The devotees consider
sighting of the eagle as an auspicious
sign on the occasion of Jhanda Fair as
they believe it as a blessing by the Guru
Maharaj (Guru Ram Rai).
During the process of bringing
down the old flagpole and raising of the
new flag, the youth ‘sangat’ devotees
from Punjab were wearing yellow dress.
In the Shri Darbar Sahib premises,
the Sangat (devotees) kept on singing
‘Bhajans’ and ‘kirtan’ concerned with
‘Guru Mahima’ (miracles of Guru
Maharaj). The devotees also danced
enthusiastically over the
rhythm of the musical
instrument ‘dhol’.
Mahant Devendra
Dass congratulated the
people and blessed the
devotees on the occasion.
Addressing the devotees
he said that Jhanda fair
spreads the message of
love, harmony, mutual
brotherhood, compas-
sion and peace. He said
that whoever bows at
Jhande ji (the holy flag
pole) his/ her wishes get
fulfilled, that is why the
faith of the devotees is on
a constant rise year after
year. In his message,
Mahant Dass wished that
the divine blessings of
Shri Guru Ram Rai
Maharaj would always
remain showered over
the people of India and
Uttarakhand.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The labour minister Harak
Singh Rawat has directed
reinstatement of 38 employees
removed from the Uttarakhand
building and other construc-
tion workers welfare board.
The minister has directed the
secretary of the department to
reinstate the workers from the
date they were
removed.
It is pertinent to mention
here that the former chief min-
ister Trivendra Singh Rawat
had removed Harak Singh
Rawat from the position of the
cash rich board last year and
appointed Shamsher Singh
Satyal on the post. The gov-
ernment had also removed the
then secretary of the board
Damyanti Rawat who is con-
sidered as a protégé of Harak
Singh Rawat and appointed
labour commissioner Deepti
Singh as secretary.
The new board headed by
Satyal had reversed many deci-
sions taken by the earlier board
which included removal of the
employees. On Thursday the
state government removed
Deepti Singh and handed over
the responsibility to deputy
labour commissioner Madhu
Negi Chauhan.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Continuing to act against
members of the police
force for negligence while on
duty the director general of
police, Ashok Kumar ordered
the suspension of a constable
posted in the Patelnagar police
station in Dehradun. The DGP
has also directed the Dehradun
senior superintendent of police
to get an impartial inquiry
conducted by the superinten-
dent of police (city) and submit
its report within 15 days.
According to information
provided by the police, on
March 31, a professor had
complained to the DGP
through the social media alleg-
ing that the said police consta-
ble had misbehaved with him.
The complainant had said
that a suspicious person
was laying near his home
and had not moved or
about 15 minutes. The
professor had informed
the police control room
about this from where it
had been relayed to the
Patelnagar police station.
After some time the
police constable phoned
him and was informed by
the professor about the
person near his home.
However, the constable alleged-
ly misbehaved and refused to
take action citing Covid-19
and other reasons. The allega-
tions were found to be true in
a primary probe of the incident
directed by the DGP. The
response of the constable to the
complainant was not good,
considering which his suspen-
sion was ordered. The DGP
stressed that such behaviour
during duty will not be toler-
ated. The department will not
tolerate negligence by any
police personnel while on duty,
added Kumar.
?=BQ 70A83F0A
The disturbance arising here
after the deputy Kumbh
Mela officer Harbir Singh was
roughed up in the Bairagi
camp on Thursday evening
appears to have been resolved
for now with members of the
Nirmohi Akhada welcoming
and garlanding the officer on
Friday.
After hoisting of the
Dharm Dwaja during the
Kumbh Mela on Friday, Singh
reached Nirmohi Akhada
where he was welcomed by the
Mahant Rajendra Das with
flowers and a garland. Stating
that elements involved in the
altercation could not have been
saints of the Akhada, the offi-
cer said that now there is no
dispute between him and the
Akhada. It should be men-
tioned here the Akhil
Bharatiya Akhada
(ABAP) had taken
serious cognisance of
the incident and
decided to hold an
internal discussion to
decide the course of
action.
It is pertinent to
mention here that
due to the uncertain-
ties caused by the Covid-19
pandemic the previous chief
minister had directed that the
Kumbh Mela be held in a lim-
ited manner. However, consid-
ering public sentiments, the
current chief minister Tirath
Singh Rawat directed that
unnecessary restrictions be lift-
ed. This increased the pressure
on the authorities to ensure
necessary facilities. Despite
various works being done,
some of the works in the
Bairagi camp had not been
completed which had caused
discontent among some mem-
bers of the religious fraternity.
Works like supply of electrici-
ty and water, and toilets had not
been completed here. It was
regarding this that Singh had
gone to talk with the Sadhus
when he was roughed up by
some persons on Thursday
evening.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
The State’s Tourism, Culture
and Irrigation minister
Satpal Maharaaz met the
ambassador of Nepal to India,
Nilambar Acharya and deputy
chief of mission Ram Prasad
Subedi at the Nepalese embassy
in the national capital and dis-
cussed the Pancheshwar dam
project and other issues.
Meeting the Nepalese rep-
resentatives, Maharaaz con-
veyed the good wishes of chief
minister Tirath Singh Rawat.
He said that the open border
between India and Nepal is a
unique aspect of the relation-
ship shared by the two nations
which enables convenient
movement of the people of
both countries. Talking to the
Nepalese ambassador, the min-
ister referred to various his-
torical, religious and other
aspects which link the two
nations and their people. He
said that the two nations share
a border more than 1,850 kilo-
metres long in five Indian
states of Sikkim, West Bengal,
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and
Uttarakhand. He said that the
planned Ramayan circuit is a
symbol of the strong cultural
and religious links of the two
nations. Considering this, it is
important that the rail line be
extended from Lumbini in
Nepal to Gorakhpur in India
and from Janakpur in Nepal to
Ayodhya. He also discussed
how tourism can be boosted
with mutual cooperation in the
times of Covid-19. The minis-
ter further said that along with
Pancheshwar dam project,
India is a partner in various
development projects in Nepal.
Considering this, it is essential
that the two nations move for-
ward on various development
schemes with a cordial spirit of
cooperation, added Maharaaz.
'*3RUGHUVVXVSHQVLRQRI
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?=BQ =4F34;78
Based on the Border Security
Force’s (BSF) input, the
Union Home Ministry has
informed the Punjab
Government that 58 mentally
challenged people from Bihar
and UP were found working as
bonded labourers in the border
districts of the State and asked
it to take action to deal with the
“serious” problem.
In a communication to the
Chief Secretary of Punjab, the
Home Ministry said BSF has
found these 58 people were
brought to Punjab with the
promise of good salary but
exploited, given drugs and
forced to work in inhumane
conditions. Many of them were
found in mentally challenged
state, drugged and workings as
bonded labour in border farms,
said the BSF report.
The Home Ministry said
the BSF has informed it that
these labourers were rescued
from the border areas of
Gurdaspur, Amritsar,
Ferozepur and Abohar in
Punjab in 2019 and 2020.
“During the course of ques-
tioning, it emerged that most of
them were either mentally
challenged or were in a feeble
state of mind and have been
working as bonded labourers
with farmers in border villages
of Punjab.
The persons apprehended
belong to poor family back-
ground and hail from remote
areas of the States of Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh,” the letter to
Punjab Government.
The Home Ministry said it
has been further informed that
“human-trafficking syndicates
hire such labourers from their
native place to work in Punjab
on the promise of a good
salary, but after reaching there,
they are exploited, paid poor-
ly and meted out inhuman
treatment”. To make them work
in the fields for long hours,
these labourers are often given
drugs, which adversely affect
their physical and mental con-
dition, the letter said. The BSF
has been handing over the res-
cued persons to the state police
for necessary action.
“Keeping in view the multi-
dimensional and overwhelm-
ing enormity of the problem,
which involves human-traf-
ficking, bonded labour and
human rights violation, you are
requested to look into the mat-
ter and take appropriate mea-
sures to address this serious
problem,” the
Home Ministry told the Punjab
Government. The Home
Ministry also sent a copy of the
letter to the Union Labour
Secretary with the request to
issue suitable instructions to all
states, especially Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh and Odisha
for creating awareness amongst
people to ensure that the poor
are not duped by unscrupulous
elements by making false
promises for better job
prospects.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Amid the vitriolic and high
decibel poll campaigning
in West Bengal and Assam
Assembly elections, a BJP del-
egation comprising Union
Ministers Prakash Javadekar,
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and
BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP, Anil
Baluni met election commis-
sion of India (ECI) officials
here on Friday demanding
action against West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee for violation of poll
conduct and DMK leader
Udhayanidhi Stalin for his
remarks against late BJP lead-
ers Sushma Swaraj and Arun
Jaitley.
The meeting came soon
after after a TMC delegation
led by Yashwant Sinha met EC
officials in Kolkata to com-
plain about “central police
forces being partial” towards
the BJP.
Addressing newspersons
outside the ECI office at
‘Nirvachan Sadan’, Javadekar
blamined Banerjee for violat-
ing the model code of con-
duct.
“TMC violated the model
code of conduct and the West
Bengal CM has violated ECI
rules, so we have demanded
action against her,” said
Javadekar.
BJP had complained that
Banerjee’s sitting at a booth for
two hours was allegedly to
“slow down the pace of voting
on getting feedback that high
voter turnout signified her
defeat by a huge margin”. BJP
had filed a complaint for her
“repeated threats and intimi-
dation to BJP supporters at a
public rally in Goghat,
Hooghly.”
Javadekar also said they
have also demanded action
against Stalin for saying that
BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj
and Arun Jaitley died due to
pressure exerted by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi. The
daughters of the two late lead-
ers had on Thursday taken to
social media to hit out at
Stalin.
?C8Q =4F34;78
Congress leader Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra on Friday
said the Election Commission
needs to start acting decisive-
ly on reports of private vehicles
transporting electronic voting
machines, and a serious re-
evaluation of the use of EVMs
needs to be carried out by all
national parties.
Her remarks came over a
video which surfaced on social
media allegedly showing elec-
tronic voting machines (EVMs)
in what was claimed to be the
car of a BJP candidate in
Assam.
Tagging the tweet which
carried the video, Priyanka
Gandhi said every time there is
an election, videos of private
vehicles caught transporting
EVMs show up.
“Unsurprisingly they have
the following things in com-
mon: 1. The vehicles usually
belong to BJP candidates or
their associates. 2. The videos
are taken as one off incidents
and dismissed as aberrations 3.
The BJP uses its media machin-
ery to accuse those who
exposed the videos as sore
losers,” the Congress general
secretary said.
The fact is that too many
such incidents are being report-
ed and nothing is being done
about them, she said.
“The EC needs to start act-
ing decisively on these com-
plaints and a serious re-evalu-
ation of the use of EVMs needs
to be carried out by all nation-
al parties,” she said in a series
of tweets.
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The Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (DMK) has
approached the Election
Commission (EC) after the
Income Tax Department raid-
ed four places owned by party
chief MK Stalin’s son-in-law
Sabareesan, just a few days
ahead of the Tamil Nadu
Assembly elections.
In its letter to the EC,
DMK accused the Income
Tax department of acting on
the behest of the BJP and with
the consent of CM Edappadi
Palaniswami. DMK claimed
that the act of the Income Tax
officials amounted to corrupt
practice and abuse of power
and that their acts were intim-
idating and defamatory in
nature. DMK urged the EC to
direct the Income Tax
department to restrain itself
from ‘abusing is power’ and
affecting the level playing
field for parties in Tamil
Nadu.
Over 25 officials from the
IT department are searching
four places owned by
Sabareesan, who is a
close advisor of Stalin.
D M K
O r g a n i s a t i o n
Secretary RS Bharathi
addressed a letter to
Chief Election
Commissioner Sunil
Arora and the chief
electoral officer of Tamil
Nadu, alleging that the I-T
department was being used as
a political vendetta by the BJP.
DMK accused BJP and
the AIADMK of attempting to
tarnish its image by indulging
in acts as such and asked the
EC to direct the saffron party
to not use the I-T department
to settle political scores.
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Anew forecasting strategy
has been planned for mon-
soon this year, Secretary in the
Ministry of Earth Sciences M
Rajeevan said on Friday.
Rajeevan also said that he has
reviewed the preparations for
monsoon forecast.
“Monsoon 2021 Forecasts:
Today reviewed preparations
for monsoon forecasts Will be
released next few days a new
forecasting strategy planned
this year with new products
Watch for @Indiametdept
announcement @moesgoi
always committed for better
services for nation @drharsh-
vardhan (sic),” the secretary
tweeted.
The country’s official
weather forecaster, India
Meteorological Department
(IMD), issues monsoon fore-
cast every year. The first fore-
cast is issued by mid-April
while the second is issued by
the first week of June.
The forecast gives a fair
idea of the four-month rainfall
season from June to September,
which is very crucial for the
agriculture sector.
=TfUâTRPbcX]V
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As Myanmar’s military con-
tinued crackdown on civil-
ians protesting against the
February 1 coup, India on
Friday condemned any use of
violence and said it stood for
the restoration of democracy in
the country.
At a media briefing,
Spokesperson in the Ministry
of External Affairs Arindam
Bagchi said India has urged for
the release of political prison-
ers and supported any attempts
to resolve the current situation,
including through the efforts of
10-nation ASEAN.
“Let me be very clear. We
condemn any use of violence.
We believe that the rule of law
should prevail. We stand for the
restoration of democracy in
Myanmar,” he said. To a ques-
tion on whether India will
allow people from Myanmar to
cross over to the Indian side
along the Indo-Myanmar bor-
der, Bagchi said it is being dealt
with as per law as well as on
humanitarian considerations.
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Despite being rivals in the
West Bengal elections, the
Congress has ostensibly come
out in support of Trinamool
Congress chief Mamata
Banerjee’s clarion call seeking
Opposition unity.
While the grand old party
said the West Bengal Chief
Minister’s letter reflects the
view of the Congress on the
issue of protecting the
Constitution from the attacks
by the BJP led Centre, the party
has gone full throttle in Assam
where the last phase of assem-
bly polls are due on Tuesday.
AICC spokesman Rajeev
Shukla said the sentiment of
opposition unity has always
been there in Congress. “Rahul
Gandhi has repeatedly said
that constitutional institutions
are under attack from the BJP
government and the opposition
should fight unitedly against
this assault. Congress always
talks about a united opposition,
especially on national issues or
on the subject of protecting the
Constitution,” the former
Union Minister said.
Congress is in alliance with
Left parties and is contesting
against the TMC in Bengal.
However, it seems to lend sup-
port to Mamata in her fierce
poll battle against the BJP as
Rahul and other senior leaders
have not visited Bengal for
campaigning yet. Rahul and
Priyanka have been regular to
other poll bound states of
Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala
and Puducherry.
While Congress insiders
are confident that its strategy
will help Mamata retain West
Bengal, the mood in the party
is upbeat as it believes it will
stall the prospects of ruling BJP
in neighbouring Assam.
The party wants to reach
out to all the 40 seats in the last
phase and has scheduled at
least 10 rallies of Rahul Gandhi
and other leaders covering four
assembly seats in the area.
Congress general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi who too was
scheduled for few public
address in Assam as well other
poll bound states has however
scaled down following her iso-
lation due to her husband
Robert Vadra being tested
covid positive.
Backed by AICC in-charge
of elections in the north east-
ern state, Chhattisgarh CM
Bhupesh Baghel has been burn-
ing the midnight oil with his
team from his home state to
regain the Congress glory in
the region.
Congress leaders who are
involved in the campaign con-
fided that the performance of
the two phases has been
favourable. Congress has been
able to change the narrative
that BJP both at Centre and
State have denied Assam and
other NE States of the special
status they enjoyed for
decades. “The reduction in the
centre-state sharing schemes
from 90:10 during UPA to
60:40 now and progress in the
state will remain a far-fetched
dream without communal
harmony. BJP is so desperate
that it is engineering a defec-
tion even during the elec-
tions,” said a senior party
leader and a former Union
Minister camping in Assam
for last couple of months.
A per media reports ear-
lier, Home Minister Amit
Shah claimed that BJP has
made significant gains in
upper Assam in the last two
phases and that it will get 37
seats, Congress General
Secretary Jitendra Singh said
the results on May 2 will
show how two new parties in
upper Assam were instru-
mental in making Congress
sweep the first phase, helping
in division of non-Congress
votes between themselves and
the BJP. He said it will help
Congress win seats it wasn’t
expecting to win.
In the third phase, the BJP
is contesting on lesser number
of seats as most of the seats in
the third phase are being con-
tested by its allies. The oppo-
sition Congress and AIUDF
are confident of winning the
maximum number of seats in
both the second and third
phases of the polls.
In the 2016 Assembly elec-
tion, Congress and AIUDF
fought separately. While the
former got 30.9 per cent of the
votes, the latter could garner
13 per cent. BJP secured 29.5
per cent and its allies AGP and
BPF got 8.1 and 3.9 per cent of
the votes respectively leading
to the formation of
Sarbananda Sonowal
Government in Assam.
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The Enforcement Directorate
(ED) has filed Prosecution
Complaint (chargesheet) before
PMLA Special Court Jaipur
against accused persons Anil
Gadodia of Delhi, Rameshwar
Sharma, proprietor of Eurro
Export, Jaipur, Yodying, Thai
national and Mayur Ranjan in
the case of smuggling of red
sanders.
The ED has provisionally
attached movable / immovable
assets worth Rs 1.44 crore
belonging to the accused per-
sons. “Money laundering inves-
tigation revealed that
Ramehswar Sharma of Jaipur
exported / attempted to export
the red sanders supplied by Anil
Gadodia of Delhi in connivance
with other co-accused persons.
Yodying, a permanent citizen of
Thailand was acting at the
behest of foreign persons who
were purchasing red sanders
while Mayur Ranjan who was
fluent in Chinese Language was
acting as a translator and was
assisting the other accused per-
sons,”the ED said in a statement.
The DRI had recovered
and seized four of such con-
tainers from Mundra Port
which were to be exported to
Hong Kong in guise of Marble
Slabs wherein 14.25 Metric Ton
of Red Sander Woods were
found stuffed and concealed
with around 94 Metric Tons of
Marble Slabs.
Meanwhile, in another case
of money laundering from
Jaipur, the ED has attached
assets worth C57.30 lakh of
Bhoor Singh Rajpurohit and
others in Barmer Crude Oil
Theft case.
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The ED has filed Prosecution
Complaint against Naxal
leader Arvind Yadav and his
family members before Special
Court (PMLA), Patna. The
ED had initiated investigation
on the basis of 61 FIRs regis-
tered by Bihar Police and in
some of them, Charge-Sheets
have also been filed against
Arvind Yadav, who is a noto-
rious Naxalite and an active
member and leader of the
banned Left-Wing Extremist
(LWE) and Militant Naxalite
Organization CPI (Maoist).
Money laundering investiga-
tion revealed that Arvind Yadav
and his family members invest-
ed the said proceeds of crime
in various movable and
immovable properties includ-
ing land house constructed
thereon worth C1,02,88,611and
one truck valued C11,00,000 in
the name of his family mem-
bers and associates.
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Union Minister
Nitin Gadkari
hassaidthatthepace
of highway construction in the
country has touched a record 37
km per day in the financial year
2020-21 and assumed that per-
haps India has created a world
record in this regard during the
pandemic time.
He said the achievement
was remarkable as it was
achieved despite constraints
posed by the COVID-19 pan-
demic. The ministry of road
transport and highways has
constructed 13,394 km of high-
ways in the fiscal year 2020-21.
“Tremendous progress has
been achieved in building
national highways across the
country... We have achieved a
road-building pace of 37 km of
highways a day,” Gadkari said at
an event at his residence to cel-
ebrate the feat on Thursday
evening. He also honoured all
the present and past officers
since year 2014 for making this
remarkable feat.
Gadkarisaidthese“achieve-
ments are unprecedented and
have no parallel in any other
country in the world”.
He said over the past seven
years, the length of national
highwayshasgoneupby50per-
centfrom91,287km(asofApril
2014) to 1,37,625 km (as of
March 20, 2021).
“Cumulativecostofongoing
project works has increased by
54 percent at the end of the
financial year 2020-21, com-
pared to the financial year 2019-
20 (as on March 31),” the min-
ister said.
Total budgetary outlay
increased by 5.5 times, from Rs
33,414croreinthefinancialyear
2015 to Rs 1,83,101 crore for the
financial year 2022.
The sanctioned amount has
increased by 126 percent in the
financial year 2020-21, over the
financial year 2019-20 despite
COVID-19-related impact, the
minister said adding that the
sanctioned length in kilometers
has also increased 9 percent in
FY21 over FY20.
Average annual project
award (annual average award
length) during the financial year
2015 to the financial year 2021
increased 85 percent, compared
to FY10 to FY14, as per the
Ministry.
Average annual construc-
tion (average annual construc-
tion length) during FY2015 to
FY2021hasincreasedby83per-
cent compared to FY2010 to
FY2014, the Ministry added.
Gadkari said that when he
took over the charge of the min-
istryofhighways,therewere406
stalled projects entailing an
investmentofRs3.85lakhcrore.
It was a slew of steps that
saved Indian banks from Rs 3
lakh crore of non-performing
assets (NPAs), he said.
Gadkari said massive ini-
tiatives to resolve the deadlocks
and accelerate the
pace of highway
building, including
termination of pro-
jects worth Rs
40,000 crore, resulted in fast-
tracking of the road building.
The Government envisages
building 34,800 km of highways
at a cost of about Rs 5.35 lakh
crore under the ambitious
Bharatmala Pariyojna.
The National Highways
Authority of India (NHAI), he
said, has also made a world
record by laying down 12,500
cubic meters of concrete on a
stretch of 2.54 km. NHAI con-
tractor Patel Infrastructure had
created a world record by laying
the highest quantity of concrete
on a four-lane highway in 24
hours recently.
The feat by contractor Patel
Infrastructure Ltd was recog-
nized by the India Book of
RecordsandtheGoldenBookof
World Records.
It had laid a four-lane high-
way of 2,580 meters length
within 24 hours totaling about
10.32 lane km.
The highway is part of the
greenfield Delhi-Vadodara-
Mumbai8-laneExpresswaypro-
ject and was carried out by the
world’s largest fully automatic
ultra-modern concrete paver
machine.
The ministry has taken sev-
eral initiatives to increase the
pace of construction.
A new India is in the mak-
ing with infrastructure which
will be no less than that in the
US and Europe in five years,
Gadkarisaid.Asolidfoundation
has already been laid with over
Rs 17 lakh crore worth of pro-
jects in the last five-year period,
the Minister added.
“In five years, I can guaran-
teethatIndia’sinfrastructurewill
change... It will be no less than
the US or European countries...
A new India is emerging,”
Gadkari said.
He said a network of green
expressway corridors is being
laid, including the Rs 1-lakh
crore Delhi-Mumbai
Expressway, and added that the
30-km Dwarka Expressway,
being built at a cost of Rs
10,000 crore, is an engineering
marvel and would result in a
Singapore-like place on Delhi’s
borders.
He also said border roads
are being augmented and about
90 percent of work has been
completed on the Kailash
Mansarovar route project via
Pithoragarh.
Work is being done there
on war-footing with the
Australian tunneling method in
minus 8-degree temperatures,
he said.
With the completion of this
project, the arduous trek
through treacherous high-alti-
tude terrain can be avoided by
the pilgrims of Kailash
Mansarovar Yatra and the peri-
od of the journey will be
reduced by many days.
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The expert panel of the
country’s top drug regula-
tor, Director Controller
General of India (DCGI), has
permitted Hyderabad-based
Bharat Biotech to give a third
dose of Covaxin to a few vol-
unteers in its clinical trials of
the Covid-19 vaccine, sources
said.
Sources in the Union
Health Ministry said that the
Bharat Biotech presented
amendments to the subject
expert committee of the Drugs
Controller General of India
(DCGI) in the approved Phase
2 clinical trial protocol for
administration of booster
dose six months after second
dose.
“The firm presented
amendments in the approved
Phase 2 clinical trial protocol
for administration of booster
dose after six months after
second dose. After detailed
deliberation, the committee
recommended that the firm
should conduct the booster
dose study only in a 6 mcg
cohort and also should follow
up the subjects at least for six
months after the third dose,”
the SEC said in a minutes of
meeting.
Further, Bharat Biotech
was asked to present the
details of the primary and sec-
ondary objectives and various
assessments to be carried out
in the subjects. “Accordingly,
the firm (Bharat Biotech)
should submit the revised
clinical trial protocol for eval-
uation,” the SEC said in the
meeting that took place on
March 23.
In the meeting, Bharat
Biotech presented amend-
ments in the approved Phase
3 clinical trial protocol for
unblinding of subjects on
placebo and addition of
another cohort in Brazil which
the SEC recommended.
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In a first of its kind human
genome study, researchers
have identified 13 new rare
genomic variants associated
with Alzheimer’s disease.
The lesser-known gene
mutations may hold critical
information about the biology
of the disease and can lead to
the development of new drugs
for the devastating neurologi-
cal condition, according to
researchers from the
Massachusetts General
Hospital (MGH) in the US
whose study has been pub-
lished in the Alzheimer’s
Dementia: The Journal of the
Alzheimer’s Association.
The new gene variants are
linked with the functioning of
synapses—the junctions that
transmit information between
neurons—development of neu-
rons and neuroplasticity—the
ability of neurons to reorgan-
ise the brain’s neural network.
“This paper brings us to
the next stage of disease-gene
discovery by allowing us to
look at the entire sequence of
the human genome and assess
the rare genomic variants,
which we couldn’t do before,”
said lead author Dmitry
Prokopenko from MGH’s
McCance Center for Brain
Health.
The results are published in
“Rare gene variants are the dark
matter of the human genome,”
said Rudolph Tanzi, director of
the hospital’s Genetics and
Ageing Research Unit.
Of the three billion pairs of
nucleotide bases that form a
complete set of DNA, each per-
son has 50 to 60 million gene
variants—and 77 per cent are
rare, he added.
Notably, Tanzi and col-
leagues co-discovered genes
that cause early onset (prior to
age 60) familial AD (that is, a
form that runs in families),
including the amyloid protein
(A4) precursor (APP), and the
presenilin genes (PSEN1 and
PSEN2). Mutations in these
genes lead to accumulation of
amyloid plaques in the brain,
a hallmark of AD.
The next 30 AD gene vari-
ants that were discovered are
primarily linked to chronic
inflammation in the brain (or
neuroinflammation), which
also increases the risk for this
cognitive disease. However,
loss of synapses is the neuro-
logical change that is most
closely correlated with the
severity of dementia in
Alzheimer’s disease, yet no
clear genetic links between
the disease and these vital
connections had previously
been identified, as per the
study.
Identifying less-common
gene mutations that increase
the risk for AD is important
because they may hold critical
information about the biology
of the disease, said Tanzi.
This study was supported
by the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund
and grants from the National
Institutes of Health.
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