˘ ˇ ˘ ˇ...association, said the varia- ... farmers need to be given incen- ... the officer of...

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Just when the coronaviruscases begun to dip, five pop-

ulated States — Kerala,Maharashtra, Punjab,Chhattisgarh and MadhyaPradesh — have started expe-riencing an upsurge in dailycases.

Daily Covid-19 cases in thecountry climbed to about14,000 after nearly 22 daystaking India’s tally to1,09,77,387, while the recover-ies surged to 1,06,78,048.

Only two States,Maharashtra and Kerala,account for 75.87 per cent oftotal number of active Covid-19 cases. At the same time, 78per cent of the new deaths werereported from just 5 States, theUnion Health Ministry said.

Health experts have calledfor dual efforts to address theemergence of the virus byramping up vaccinations andimplementation of safety pro-tocols to curb transmission.

“In the past week,Maharashtra has exhibited aspike in the number of dailynew cases, accounting for high-est number of daily new casesin the country today. In last 24hours, 6,112 daily new caseshave been reported in theState,” the Centre said, addingthat infections have increasedby 37 per cent in Mumbai asthe State capital recorded 823cases on Friday, the highest sin-gle-day spike in infections sinceDecember.

Meanwhile, the Ministrysaid 18 States/UTs have notreported any Covid-19 deathsin the last 24 hours. These areTelangana, Haryana, J&K (UT),Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh,Tripura, Assam, Chandigarh,Lakshadweep, Manipur,Meghalaya, Ladakh (UT),Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland,Arunachal Pradesh, Andamanand Nicobar Islands, Dadraand Nagar Haveli and Damanand Diu.

The Ministry added that atotal of 1,07,15,204 Covid-19vaccine doses have beenadministered through 2,22,313

sessions, as per the provision-al report till 8 am on Saturday.These include 63,28,479 health-care workers (first dose),8,47,161 healthcare workers(second dose) and 35,39,564frontline workers (first dose).

Dr Rahul Bhargava,Director-Bone MarrowTransplant Programme, FortisMemorial Research Institute,Gurugram, said Covid inap-propriate behaviour, air traveland high density population inMaharashtra and Kerala arecausing upsurge in the cases.The Government had also lift-ed air travel from the countries

which had variants.It’s not only Maharashtra

and Kerala, but in the lastseven days, Chhattisgarh toohas seen a rise in daily activenew cases. In the last 24 hours,259 daily new cases have beenreported.

“Similarly, Punjab has alsoshown a sudden spike in thenumber of daily new casesreported in last 7 days with 383daily new cases in last 24hours,” said the Ministry in astatement.

Dr Jugal Kishore, Head ofDepartment of CommunityMedicine from Safdarjung

Hospital, said lockdown is nota solution to the crisis.

“This shows that the StateGovernment has not been ableto strengthen its health infra-structure as well as inculcateCovid-norms.”

He also emphasised onfocussing on the areas wheresero-survailance surveys havebeen negative. “Those suscep-tible of the virus should begiven priority while imple-menting the anti-Covid normsas well boost health system.”

Speaking at a webinarorganised by the InternationalCentre, Goa, Director Generalof the Council for Scientific andIndustrial Research Dr ShekharMande said, “In Kerala and insome parts of Maharashtra thenumber has been increasing inthe past few days and thatmight be a reflection of the factthat people have become com-placent and believe that theworst is behind us. The worstis not over and unless we fol-low all precautions, we will notbe able to get over the pan-demic so easily.”

Rajeev Jayadevan, scientif-ic adviser and former presidentof the Indian MedicalAssociation, said the varia-tions in cases were expected,given how viruses behave in alarge geographical area.

Jayadevan also said whatIndia is witnessing could becalled a “stochastic spread” ofnovel coronavirus, where nouniformity in daily outcomescould be determined.

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India and China on Saturdayemphasised their commit-

ment to ensuring peaceful dis-engagement from the stand-offsites in Ladakh at the earliest.The flashpoints include HotSprings, Gogra, and DepsangValley.

This reiteration came dur-ing the tenth round of talksbetween Corps Commandersof the two armies at Moldo bor-der meeting point at the Lineof Actual Control (LAC) inChushul. The two military offi-cials along with their respectivedelegations also reviewed thepullback process from thesouthern and northern banksof the Pangong Tso (lake).

Both armies on Thursdaycompleted the withdrawal oftanks and troops at thePangong friction point. This isseen as the first step in bring-ing peace and tranquility at theLAC after the ten-month-longstand-off. The process startedin a synchronised manner onFebruary 10.

As per the agreementbetween the two sides, the

military officials were to meet48 hours after the complete pullback from Pangong. The meet-ing on Saturday between LtGeneral PK Menon and MajorGeneral Liu Lin was the firstone since the pull back.

Besides taking stock of thesituation post the withdrawal atPangong lake, the two com-manders also discussed ways todisengage from Hot Springs,Gogra, and Depsang valley,sources said here.

They said India will insiston a faster disengagementprocess in the remaining areaslike Hot Springs, Gogra, andDepsang to bring down tensionin the region.

Officials were hopeful ofearly agreement to mutuallypull back troops fromPatrolling Point 15 and 17A inGogra as normalcy wasrestored to a large extent in theadjacent Pangong region.

However, a mutuallyacceptable plan to disengagefrom the Depsang plains couldtake longer, sources said. Thisregion in the past also sawstand-offs and intervention atthe higher levels were resortedto defuse tension, they added.

Sources said the tension inthe Depsang Plains was due toChina blocking Indian patrolparties from accessing PatrolPoints (PP) 10, 11, 11A, 12 and13. That was due to the reasonthat the Indian patrols have togo beyond a feature called bot-tleneck area on foot.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday stressed

the Centre and States shouldwork together and make coop-erative federalism more mean-ingful which, he said, should“trickle down to districts inorder to promote growth.”

The PM also made a strongcase for giving the private sec-tor “full opportunity to becomea part of Government’sAatmanirbhar Bharat pro-gramme.”

Addressing the sixth meet-ing of the Governing Councilof NITI Aayog, Modi said farmreforms are to give technologyto agriculture.

Highlighting need tochange in agriculture sector, he

pointed out that the countrystill imported grain worth�65,000 crore that can be putin farmers pocket. Modi saidfarmers need to be given incen-tives to invest in agriculture.

The Prime Minister urgedto focus on storage and pro-cessing of agricultural productsto reduce wastage. He stressedon the need to exportprocessed foods rather thanraw foods to increase profits.

Modi said reforms are veryimportant for country’s farm-ers to get the necessary eco-nomic resources, better infra-structure and modern tech-

nology.The Prime Minister said

that the private sector shouldbe given full opportunity tobecome a part of Government’sAatmanirbhar Bharat pro-gramme.

“Centre and States shouldwork together for the nation’sprogress... Government has torespect and give due represen-tation to the private sector foreconomic progress,” Modi said.

The Governing Councilpresents a platform to discussinter-sectoral, inter-depart-mental and federal issues. Itcomprises the Prime Minister,Chief Ministers of States andUnion Territories with legisla-tors and Lieutenant Governorsof other UTs.

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy reiterated that theCentral Government wasobliged to grant SpecialCategory Status to AndhraPradesh as per the commit-ment given in Parliament as aprecondition to bifurcation.

Turn to Page 4

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The Delhi Government hasdirected schools in the

national Capital to grant a 30-day relaxation to students in theage criteria for nursery admis-sions.

“It is reiterated that agerelaxation of up to 30 days maybe granted at the level of theheads of the school in both theminimum and maximum agelimit. Therefore, any parentseeking age relaxation inrespect of their ward, mayapproach the school principalthrough a manual applicationfor his or her consideration,”the Directorate of Education(DOE) said in a letter toschools.

The age criterion has beenfixed by the DOE every yearsince 2018 and relaxations havebeen granted in previous ses-sions too.

For admissions in nursery,KG and class 1 there is anupper limit. The child cannotbe more than four years of agefor admission in nursery as onMarch 31, for KG it is five yearsand for class 1 it is six years.

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Amid an outcry over recordhigh petrol and diesel

prices, Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman onSaturday said the Centre andState Governments will have totogether work out a mechanismto bring retail rates to reason-able levels.

As much as 60 per cent ofthe retail price of petrol, whichshot above �100-mark in someplaces in Rajasthan andMadhya Pradesh and is at anall-time high elsewhere in thecountry, is made up of Centraland State taxes.

Taxes make up for about 56per cent of the record highdiesel rates. Sitharaman, whohad increased Central Exciseduty on petrol and diesel by arecord margin last year to mopup gains arising from interna-tional oil prices plunging totwo-decade low, remained non-committal on cutting taxes togive relief to consumers.

“This is a very vexatious

issue. An issue in which noanswer except reducing theprice (of fuel) will convinceanyone. I know I am treadingon an area and whatever I maysay, to bring in the reality intopicture, will only sound like Iam obfuscating. I am avoidingmy answer. I am shifting theblame,” she said addressing agathering at an event organisedby the Chennai Citizens’Forum here.

She went on to explain thetax structure and how produc-tion cuts by oil cartel OPECand its allies had led to a rallyin the international oil prices,leading to a hike in retail ratesin India. She, however, said theanswer may lie in bringingpetrol and diesel under theGoods and Services Tax (GST)regime, which will end thecascading impact of taxes andbring uniformity.

Currently, the CentralGovernment levies a fixed rateof excise duty while states levydifferent rates of VAT.

Turn to Page 4

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China, in a video releasedon social media as part of

psy-war, showcased the brav-ery of an Indian Army officerduring the Galwan Valleyclashes in Eastern Ladakh.

The officer of BiharRegiment, who hails from theSenapati district of Manipurand was commissioned in2018, was seen leading his menfrom the front in GalwanValley during the confronta-tion against the ChinesePeople’s Liberation Army(PLA). He is a Captain in theIndian Army.

The name of the Captainhas been withheld on requestfrom the Indian Army.

He received a Mention inDespatches during RepublicDay this year. He was seenwalking unarmed towards theChinese PLA to stop trans-gression into Indian territories.India lost 20 soldiers in theclash. China released thisvideo on Friday as part of itspsy-war to depict India’saggression during clashes inGalwan Valley. The video wentviral on all the platforms ofsocial media.

The video was releasedafter China for the first timeaccepted it lost four solidersduring the clash. The videocame a day ahead of militarycommanders meeting to de-escalate tensions at the LAC.

Turn to Page 4

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More than 40,000 youthfrom 10 districts of

Jammu division have so farenrolled themselves to become“proud” soldiers in order toserve the country.

Each day large number ofyouth hailing from frontierdistricts of Rajouri, Poonch andlandlocked districts of Doda,Kishtwar and Ramban, Reasi,Samba, Udhampur, Kathua andJammu have been lining upoutside Sunjwan Military sta-tion in Jammu to participate inthe first Army recruitmentrally in this region after a pro-longed lockdown and Covid-19restrictions.

Efforts made by theKashmir-based terrorist outfitsto radicalise the youth acrossJammu division have failed asthousands of youth from ter-rorism-infested districts arecoming out to join the IndianArmy.

Before participating in therally, the youth were providedtraining by the local Army

units in remote areas so as tobuild their stamina and preparethem mentally and psycho-logically to compete with theyouth from urban centres.

Far greater number ofyouths from rural pockets aretaking part in the drive com-pared to their counterpartsfrom urban centres.

In the absence of employ-ment opportunities in remoteareas, joining Indian Armyremains a dream job for themajority of the youth.

The Army recruitmentrally for various categories ofsoldiers is being organisedunder aegis of Tiger Division atSunjuwan Military Station

from February 15 to March 6.Major General Vijay B

Nair, General OfficerCommanding, Tiger Division,on Saturday reviewed the con-duct of the recruitment rally.

The GOC was briefed byBrigadier AP Singh,Commander Shivalik Brigade,and Director Recruiting,Jammu, about various arrange-ments including various secu-rity, anti-touting and Covid-19related measures.

Defence PRO Lt ColDevender Anand said, “This isthe first Army recruitment

rally in this region after pro-longed lockdown and Covid-19restrictions. An overwhelmingresponse from the exuberantyouth has been recorded andapproximately 40,000 candi-dates have registered online”.

Lt Col Anand said, “Therally is witnessing immenseparticipation from the wellprepared local youth of all 10districts of Jammu divisiontowards joining Indian Army.”Covid-19 protocol is being fol-lowed during the rally by allparticipants and recruitingstaff, he added.

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Forgetting Soham from Bani —Ishq Da Kalma is a nightmarefor the fans of Adhvik Mahajan.

Only if one would have saw that TVshow, one would understand thecraze of the character in the sweetbut short serial. But as they say, allgood things come to an end and sodid that show.

However, that doesn’t meanbetter things were not on their way.A case in point is Zee TV’s latest TeriMeri Ikk Jindri. The show has givenits fans a lot more than justentertainment — Soham but in adifferent avatar — Jogi.

Not only the fans, but Jogi akaAdhvik too is extremely excited toplay the character and be seen in achallenging but fun avatar.

“I got an offer for a film but sinceI had already given my commitmentto this show, I said no to it. I don’tknow about other actors, but for mesatisfaction of work is moreimportant than the medium. Andthis show, I knew, was what I wantedto do without any second thoughts,”Mahajan says with a confident voice.

What attracted Mahajan towardsthe character on the first place wasthe challenges that it offered. “I don’tshare any similarities with Jogidespite the fact that we both arePunjabi. He is a lively person. Heknows how to be happy in everysituation which is, of course, notpossible practically. He knows theway out of everything. To sum it up,he is full of life and everything nice.I knew it will be a task for me to playsuch a role and that’s why I made upmy mind that this role is mine,”Mahajan tells you with a smile.

Such was his curiosity orexcitement to play the role, thatMahajan decided to walk an extramile and send an audition clip thatis hard to be rejected. And for this,instead of recording in front of awhite wall, he shot in the fields, tobring in the authenticity of thecharacter. That was, of course, a door die situation for Mahajan. “Iknew no one can play that role butme. And I have to give an auditionthat speaks for itself and which getsselected at once. Hence, I gave it myall with full energy and enthusiasm.Fortunately, it got selected and theteam told me that nobody was ableto replicate my version. That did feelgreat to hear,” he explains.

Not that the excitement fadedonce he started shooting instead it

is growing even more. “I lookforward to going to the sets. Theatmosphere is so and comfortablethat it feels like my second home. Ishare a good rapport withAmandeep Sidhu (who plays Mahi)and it adds to our performance.When one enjoys the work he does,the output is definitely good. Thiscan be one of the reason why peopleare showering the show and us withtheir love,” he asserts.

The preparation part, he says,was tough too. He loves to spendtime with himself, unlike hischaracter, and during this me timehis focus was to improvise hischaracter. He took inspiration fromhis father, who is a Punjabi ofcourse, to add minute details to Jogi.“I also lost a few inches. That wasn’tso hard, but the only challenge wasto get into the skin of the characterso well that it becomes a part of me,”he says.

The journey from Soham toJogi, he says, is full of learnings.“After Soham, people told me thatmy life will change for the better andthat work will pour in from alldirections. However, the reality wasfar away from this. I had no work forabout two years after that show. Inthese seven years of my career, I haveshot for four years in totality and forthe rest three years I was out of work.To make ends meet, I stepped intoa lot of side businesses as well. Someof them worked, while others didnot. But there was never a momentwhen I felt like quitting. That’s notme. My father’s faith in me gave methe motivation to fight. I used towake up every day with a smile, dressup, go to auditions and get rejected.But never gave up. One always learnfrom their failures and so did I.Having said that, it’s a no-brainerthat God has been always kind tome,” he recalls.

Another learning, that many ofus have had in our life, Mahajan says,is that he learnt to unmask fakefriendships. “There were people whotook a step back from me when I wasout of work. But that didn’t botherme. I silently saw their actions.Some of them even turned back tome when I had work, but it is fine. Ihave my best people with me andthey have always supported me. Therest of the people are like puppets tome, I just observe what they have instore,” the actor who believes instaying grounded says.

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There are many out there who love watchingseries and wait for new ones to be releasedbecause they have watched the old ones

too many times. They love the whole concept ofbinge watching in order to find out how it allends. Most times the series comes in seasons andone has to wait for the next and the next and thenext before one finds how it all ends.

But sometimes one hits a jackpot and wecome across limited episodes season. The goodpart is that there aren’t many episodes six toeight and therefore easy to go through at onego even if they have 50 minutes per episode runtime.

The synopsis of Behind Her Eyes is goodenough to sink its teeth in you and one ishooked even though it is not fast paced.However, it doesn’t mean that the thrill,mystery and intrigue is missing here. In fact,all these are there in abundance and keeps theattention. How can one go wrong with a storywhere there is a psychiatrist who is married toa person who can do astral projection and hadundergone treatment where she befriends aman who has night terrors? Definitely asubject-story worth sitting down and watching.A bit convoluted but the end result — climax

is worth the gasp of surprise and do a doubletake with ‘what the hell’!

The best part is that before the climax twistreveals itself, one keeps wondering what is thepoint of this parallel story and how are the twolinked. But director Eric Richter Strand, thisBritish series which moves smoothly intohorror gad some fantastic performances by theleads.

Eve Hewson gives brilliant performancehere. Despite the fact that you hate her, sheendears herself such is the beauty with whichshe plays her part. Simona Brown is just as goodif not better. Playing a divorced mom of aneight-year-old, she plays Louise with excellence.Tom Bateman who okays the psychiatrist,David Ferguson, does his part rather brilliantly.As a trouble stressed husband, he plays his partconvincingly.

The horror here is mostly psychologicalrather than anything else. It is the events thatoccur that are extremely distressing. Also, thereare a few questions that remain unansweredwhich is a bit of a downer given that there maynot be another season since it does say limitedseries even though with the twist that comesat the end, one wished there was more to come.

So unless the makers decide to goindependent of the book, a 2017 novel by thesame name by Sarah Pinborough, the lastepisode ends where and how it does.

Do not miss this dark psychologicalthriller. — ��

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We saw her in GoneGirl — apsychological thriller

— where she played Amy thegirl/wife who goes missingand the husband is the primesuspect in her disappearanceand probable murder. Here, inI Care A Lot, Pike manages theaudience to root for her evenas she ruthlessly goes aboutdestroying lives of countlesssenior citizens by putting themin care homes while sheappoints herself as theirguardian and takes control oftheir money.

I Care A Lot is the kind ofmovie that makes you cringeand wonder what kind of asystem allows one person to ruleand control others and second

that moneys makes the world goround — corruption is universaland a few bucks thrown hereand there is enough to get awaywith almost anything.

Pike who plays Marla, apower hungry, greedy,manipulative sociopath whoalso happens to be gay essays therole rather well. Not caringabout how it affects the lives ofothers, she guts lives ruthlesslyand without a care or evenremorseful — her mantra thatshe hates to be not rich — andhence this scam that she hasgoing may sound ridiculousand the plot unrealistic, butPike, via her acting, keeps theinterest, a revisit of Gone Girldays.

It is refreshing to see a filmthat doesn’t have your typicalgood hero who wins in the end.A dark twisted thriller thatmakes for an interesting watch.But if you hate such subjectmovies, stay as far away aspossible.

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The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police hasarrested a 41-year-old man who had allegedly duped sev-

eral people by inducing them in his ponzy scheme to thetune of �8 crores.

The accused has been identified as Gopal Dalapati, whowas arrested by the EOW police team outside gate no 2 ofSaket Court Complex pon February 18.

According to Dr O P Mishra, the Joint Commissionerof Police, EOW, the First Information Report (FIR) was reg-istered on the complaint of Gopal Singh and other com-plainants in which they have alleged that they have beeninduced by alleged company Weird InfrastructureCorporation Ltd. and Weird Industries Limited through theirdirector and representatives to invest in their small savingsschemes for better return.

“It has been alleged that accused persons cheated thesmall investors in the name of doubling and tripling theinvested amount on maturity. The accused persons alsoissued Debenture Certificates and collected huge amountsabout 8 Crores. After collecting the huge amounts, the com-pany closed their offices and ran away,” said the Joint CP.

“During probe, it was revealed that the accused alongwith his associates launched schemes for high returns to vic-tims. Accused persons with his associates had operated theirillegal business from Kolkata and Delhi by opening theiroffices. After collecting around eight Crores from victims,the alleged companies closed their offices in Kolkata andDelhi and disappeared,” said the Joint CP.

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Saturday

embarked on the importance ofpromoting the manufacturingsector and start-ups for the eco-nomic progress of India.

Addressing the Niti AayogGoverning Council Meeting,he said that the Central andState Governments shouldcome together to build manu-facturing hubs across the coun-try, to provide facilities and givetax breaks to MSMEs, manu-facturers, and industrialists,for import substitutes andexports.

" India has never givenimportance to the manufac-turing sector in the last 70 yearsand it is lagging behind in thissector, which has made Chinacapture the markets. It is nec-essary to aggressively pursuemanufacturing for India's eco-nomic progress, creation ofjobs, and GDP growth, he

added. The Chief Minister also

said that the youth possessesthe potential and the energy tostart new businesses which iswhy India needs to aggressive-ly promote start-ups to createjobs in the country.

Kejriwal said, "I would liketo shift PM's focus to twoissues. In the last 70 years, ourcountry has never given impor-tance to the manufacturingsector, as a result of which peo-ple are leaving the manufac-turing sector and are movingtowards the trading and servicesectors. Our country is laggingbehind in the manufacturingsector."

"We witnessed that Indiahad to confront two issues inthe last year. First is COVID,which hugely affected the man-ufacturing sector and manyjobs were lost. Secondly, on onehand, we saw how China hasbeen challenging us on the bor-der, and on the other hand, it

has captured our markets andChinese products are replacingIndian products on a largescale. We should aggressivelypursue manufacturing," he said.

The chief minister said,"The youth of our countryneeds to come to the forefront.The youth possesses the poten-tial and the energy to start newbusinesses. If the Central andState governments cometogether and provide facilitiesto our youth, we will have ahuge contribution to theprogress of the nation."

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Delhi Police has registered a case against formerBahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), MP Akbar Ahmad

'Dumpy' after a complaint was recieved by Delhi BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) vice-president Shazia Ilmi accusing himof misbehaving with her at a private party.

According to a senior police official, Ilmi alleged thatAhmad allegedly started "misbehaving with her andpassed lewd remarks" at a dinner party in Delhi's VasantKunj area on February 5.

Ingit Pratap Singh, the DCP, Southwest district said thatthey received a complaint from Illmi, and based on it, thecase was registered against Akbar Ahmad 'Dumpy' onFebruary 7. The DCP said that an investigation is under-way. Ilmi on Saturday alleged Ahmad was "very much abu-sive and humiliating" towards her at the gathering. She saida complaint was filed by her with the police. Police said thecase was registered under sections 506 (threatening) and509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modestyof a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

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Delhi Police has arrested two brothers for allegedly killinga person who used to physically assault one of them

in north Delhi’s Sadar Bazar area.The accused have been identified as Ram (34) and

Kamal (40), residents of Basti Julhan, Sadar Bazar.According to Anto Alphonse, the Deputy Commissioner

of Police (DCP), North district, the complainant SureshKumar reported that on Friday around 9:30 pm, he was pre-sent in his house when he heard noise from street.

“He reached at Sarla Chowk, Basti Julahan, where hesaw that Ram was quarrelling with his brother-in-law JaiKishan alias Jacky (34). During quarrel, Ram went to hishouse and immediately returned with one knife along withhis elder brother Kamal. Kamal caught Jacky and Ramstabbed him on his stomach. Meanwhile, one local residentSaurav tried to save Jacky but Ram also assaulted him withknife,” said the DCP.

“Saurav got down and the knife hit him at the back-side of his neck and he ran away from the spot to save hislife. Jacky also tried to escape but the accused pushed himon road. They kicked him multiple times and then fled fromthe spot,” said the DCP. “Jacky was rushed to Hindu RaoHospital, where he was declared brought dead, while Souravis out of danger. During investigation, police apprehend-ed Ram and Kamal,” said the DCP.

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Leaders of Aam Aadmi Party,Bharatiya Janata Party and

Congress visited Chandni ChowkOld Hanuman Temple on Saturdayand chanted Hanuman Chalisa.

AAP senior leader and MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak prayed forworld peace at Lord Hanuman's tem-ple in along with the residents of the area.

Pathak said that the North DelhiMunicipal Corporation had demol-ished this temple of Lord Hanumanbut the people have re-built it withtheir faith. "People choose their gov-ernment with trust and expectations,we are doing everything possible tofulfill their expectations. The BJP inDelhi has crushed the trust and expec-tations of the people. The people ofDelhi are perturbed by the BJP's rulein the MCD, and they want to entrustthe AAP government with this respon-sibility," he added.

Reacting to this, Delhi BJPSpokesperson Praveen ShankarKapoor said that it is sad that AAPleader Durgesh Pathak has vitiated theatmosphere by giving a political state-ment after visiting the HanumanMandir rebuilt by local people at

Chandni Chowk.The original Mandir at Chandni

Chowk was demolished as a part ofDelhi Government's beautificationplan on Court's order, he said.

The day long chanting ritualswas also led by Delhi Congress VicePresident Mudit Aggarwal.

The ancient Hanuman templelocated in Chandni Chowk wasdemolished a few days ago the DelhiMunicipal Corporation. Talking tomedia, Aggarwal blamed chief min-ister Arvind Kejriwal terming him anoutsider and thus the Chief Ministerhas neither any knowledge of the cul-ture of Delhi nor of Chandni Chowkarea.

"Even though the people votedhim and made him CM, but the truthis that he has nothing to do with pub-lic emotions. Both the Delhi govern-ment and the BJP's MCD are engagedin manipulating the public by doingpolitics of mere allegation," Aggarwalsaid in a Press statement.

Aggarwal also said that the DelhiCongress has started a movement ,which led to demonstrations there,recited Hanuman Chalisa and creat-ed a mass movement. "The local peo-ple pitched in and now the temple hasbeen restored," he added.

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Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said that 5,534 new electric three-wheel-ers have been registered in the national Capital since the launch of 'Electric

Vehicle" (EV) policy in Delhi.Since the launch of the policy in August 2020, three wheelers emerge as the

highest selling EV segment in Delhi. 5534 new EV three-wheelers have been reg-istered, with more users coming forward to make the switch.

In the second week of the Delhi government's Switch Delhi campaign, manyusers, environmentalists, celebrities and industry leaders have come forward toexpress their support and applaud the campaign.

The campaign focused on generating awareness on the benefits of EV three-wheelers along with the benefits offered under the Delhi EV policy for those whowant to make the switch from ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles to elec-tric. "We are constantly receiving positive feedback from OEMs that a lot of peo-ple have expressed interest to make the switch from ICE to electric. Delhi gov-ernment has led the way in promoting e-rickshaws for the last few years by giv-ing a subsidy of Rs 30,000. After the EV policy, the same subsidy has been extend-ed to e carts/loaders and e-autos," he said.

“Subsidies provided by the Delhi government under Delhi’s EV policy on elec-tric three wheeler autos reduce the total cost of ownership of the electric three-wheeler by up to 26 per cent. By switching to electric three wheeler auto, an indi-vidual buyer can save approximately Rs 29,000 annually. Similarly, the subsidiesprovided on electric three wheeler e-rikshaw under the policy reduce the total costof ownership by up to 33 per cent,” Gahlot said.

Delhi’s EV policy and the Switch Delhi campaign have been well-applaudedby environmentalists, celebrities, and the industry. Switch Delhi is an eight-weekmass awareness campaign by the Delhi Government to sensitize each and everyDelhiite about the benefits of switching to EVs to the environment as well as tomake them aware of the incentives and infrastructure being developed under Delhi’sEV policy. The campaign aims at informing, encouraging, and motivating eachand every person in Delhi to switch from polluting vehicles to zero-emission elec-tric vehicles.

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Voting in the civic polls inSix major cities of Gujarat

will be held between 7am and5pm on Sunday amid tightsecurity and adherence toCOVID-19 norms, officialssaid.

The municipal corpora-tion elections in Ahmedabad,Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot,Bhavnagar and Jamnagar arebeing seen as a test for ChiefMinister Vijay Rupani as it mayset the tone for the Assembly polls slated for nextyear. Votes will be cast for atotal of 575 seats with eachward having four corporators,and 2,276 candidates, com-prising 577 from the BJP, 566from the Congress, 470 fromAAP, 91 from NCP, 353 fromother parties and 228Independents, are in the fray,officials informed.

“The total number of vot-ers in the six cities stands at

1.14 crore, comprising 60.60lakh men and 54.06 lakhwomen. Of the 11,121 pollingbooths, 2,255 are sensitive and1,188 have been designated asvery sensitive,” a poll officialsaid.

Votes will be counted onFebruary 23, following which,on February 28, polls to 31 dis-trict and 231 taluka panchay-ats, as well as 81 municipalitieswill be held, he added.

During the campaign, theBJP played the “development”card, while the Congress, whichhas been out of power in theselocal bodies for a long timenow, cited “lack of amenities”and the recent fuel price hiketo turn the tide.

The Aam Aadmi Party hasclaimed it would be an effectivealternative to the BJP andCongress, while AsaduddinOwaisi's AIMIM will make itslocal bodies poll debut havingfielded 21 candidates in sixwards in Ahmedabad.

Ayodhya: An 83-year-oldFaizabad resident, who is saidto have arranged last rites over25,000 unclaimed bodies in last25 years and was chosen for aPadma Shri last year, is suffer-ing from serious ailments butis unable to afford treatmentdue to poverty.

Mohammad Shareef, alsoknown as “messiah of lawaraislashen”, was found bed-riddenwhen this PTI correspondentvisited his home in MohallaKhirki Ali Beg on Thursday.

With Shareef Chacha,as he is fondly called in hisneighbourhood, lying virtual-ly unconscious on his bed, hisfamily members said they were

still hoping for some pension tohim against his award so thatthey could afford his treatment.

Mohammad Shareef 'sson Shageer said they had gota letter from the Union HomeMinistry last year informing hisfather that he was chosen forthe Padma Shri award.

The letter dated January31, 2020 from Union HomeSecretary Ajay Kumar Bhallafurther said the date for con-ferring the award upon himwould be shortly communi-cated, said Shageer.

He said his father was cho-sen for being conferred theaward on the recommendationof BJP MP Lallu Singh from

Faizabad.On being asked about the

status of the award, Singh tooexpressed surprise and asked,“Has he still not received theaward?”

“Ok, I will look into it,” hepromised.

Shageer said he worked asa private driver and earned Rs7,000 a month, while hisfather's treatment alone costsover Rs 4,000 a month.“We are having very difficulttimes. We are unable to meeteven household expenses. Dueto the lack of money, we are notable to afford even propertreatment for my father,” hesaid. PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralaon Saturday registered 4,650new Covid-19 cases and 13related deaths taking the totalnumber of those affected in thestate by the deadly virus to10.30 lakh.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan said thestate has test-ed 65,968 samples in the last 24hours and the test positivityrate was 7.06 per cent. Till now,1.09 crore samples have beentested by the state.

“Out of the total casesreported today, 76 reached thestate from outside while 4,253contracted the disease throughtheir contacts.

The sources of infection of295 are yet to be traced. Twentysix health workers are alsoamong the infected,” Vijayansaid in a press meet.

Meanwhile, 5,841 peoplerecuperated from the diseaseon Saturday taking the total

recoveries in the state to9,67,630. Currently, there are58,606 people are under treat-ment in the state.

There are 2,47,780 peopleunder observation in the stateout of which 8,989 are in iso-lation wards of various hospi-tals. PTI

Bengaluru: Urging people totake necessary precautions,while cautioning about the pos-sible second wave of Covid-19,Karnataka Health Minister KSudhakar on Saturday saidaccording to experts till Marchend it is crucial.

Also ruling out any COVIDcurbs like lockdown or curfewmeasures in Karnataka for now,

he said the state has not come tothat situation and all necessaryprecautions were being taken sothat the state does not reach sucha stage. The Minister also saidthe health departmentis seek-ingcooperation from Home andRevenue departments besidesdistrict administrations to con-trol COVID spread in districtsbordering Kerala andMaharashtra, states that haveseen a spike in cases in recentdays.

Karnataka has issued newguidelines mandating all thosecoming from Kerala andMaharashtra to the state tocarry a negative RT-PCR testreport not older than 72 hours.

“There are laws on one side,but civic senseis also required inprotecting our own health, sopeople of the state have tounderstand and make necessarychanges in their conduct by fol-lowing necessary precautions...Till March end is an importantstage according to the technical

advisory committee report,”Sudhakar said.

Speakingto reporters here,he said necessary precautionshave to be taken at least tillMarch end by compulsorilyfol-lowing things like wearingmasks, maintaining distance,and all those who have theopportunity should get vacci-nated. “The Union HealthMinistry has said vaccinationsare likely to be given to commoncitizens from March....Nowfrontline warriorsand healthworkersshould take vaccines,” hesaid.

Further stating that thereis no spike in the number ofcases in Karnataka and the mor-tality rate is 1.3 per cent, theMinister said, “we will have tostop the possible second wave inthe same way.”

“There is a senseabout thesecond wave coming inMaharashtra and Kerala.Itshould not come in our state, wehave to control it,” he said. PTI

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Thiruvananthapuram: Keralatook a major step forward in itsprogress towards a knowledgesociety with theinauguration ofthe country's first DigitalUniversity, based in Technocityat Mangalapuram near here onSaturday.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan presided overthe func-tion, where Governor ArifMohammed Khan, who is alsothe Chancellor of theKeralaUniversity of Digital Sciences,Innovation andTe c h n o l o g y ( K U D S I T ) ,unveiled the varsity plaque.

Both the Governor and theChief Minister addressed the

function through video con-ferencing.

In his inauguraladdress,Khan said the launch ofthe Digital University is part ofthe state'sresolve to embracenew technologies and desire touse them for bringing positivechanges in the life of peopleand become a global hub forhigher learning and technolo-gy.

Praising the state govern-ment for recent initiatives inhigher education including thelaunch of Sree Narayana GuruOpen University, the Governorsaid “In any aspect of life,knowledge brings courage,

understanding, acceptance,unity and also liberates usfrom the clutches of igno-rance.”

“Thesociety expects theDigital University to provideintellectual support to lap upthe new world of opportunitiesarising through artificial intel-ligence (AI), Blockchain, DataAnalytics and other digitaltransformation courses,” hesaid.

In his address, the CMsaid the launch of the firstDigital University in the coun-try would open tremendousopportunities for youngsters. PTI

Kanpur: The minor girl, whowas found along with her twocousins in an agriculture fieldin a village in Unnao district,was taken off ventilator supporton Saturday after showingimprovement, a senior policeofficial said.

The girl has shownimprovement and doctorsdecided to take her off the ven-tilator, Kanpur Deputy IGPreetinder Singh said.

The girl is still not in acondition to speak to the policeand narrate the incident, theDIG said.

The doctors are constant-ly monitoring the girl's condi-tion and taking care of her, hesaid.

Heavy deployment ofpolice force has been made atthe hospital to ensure the safe-ty and security of the girl.

On primary assessment,the girl was found in shock. Asa suspected case of poisoning,she was shifted to the IntensiveCare Unit (ICU) at the paedi-atric ward, the medical bulletinissued by the private hospital,where she is undergoing treat-ment, said.

The victim was admittedto the hospital in intubatedcondition and was on bag andtube ventilation. Later, she wasshifted to the ICU andtreatment was given to her, themedical bulletin further stated.

On Saturday, the third dayof treatment, the girl was putoff the ventilator and has beengoing through spontaneousrespiration, it added. PTI

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Gopeshwar (U'khand): AChamoli court has sentenced aman to 10 years in jail for rap-ing a minor girl.

Chamoli's District andSessions Judge R P Chauhan onFriday sentenced Girish Lal to 10years' rigorous imprisonmentbesides imposing upon him afine of Rs 10,000 for abductingand raping a minor girl in 2018,special public prosecutor MohanPant said. An FIR had beenlodged against Lal in the case in2018 and a trial against him wasconducted in a Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences(POCSO) court, he said. PTI

Bengaluru: Senior Congressleader Siddaramaiah onSaturday said he is having aRam temple constructed inhis village, as he urged thoseinvolved in collection of dona-tions for the Ram Mandir atAyodhya to be accountable tothe people of the country, as itis public money.

Accusing the BJP of play-ing with the emotions of peo-ple in the name of god, the for-mer Chief Minister said he toohas faith in god, but for himbeliefs are personal issues andshould not be used as a politi-cal tool.

“.. There is nothingthatonly those who have given the

money should ask for accounts.What I have said is, in the pasttoo money and bricks were col-lected for Ram Mandir duringAyodhya agitation... did theyaccount for it?” Siddaramaiahsaid.

Speaking to reporters inMysuru, he said, it is said thatRs 1,500 crore has been col-lected so far, an account shouldbe given, all 135 crore peoplemight not have given, but it ispublic money.

“I'm not mentioning aboutany corruption, but an accounthas to be given.. They areaccountable... If they don't givean account, doesn't it give riseto suspicion about misuse?” he

asked, adding that those col-lecting donations are account-able to the people of the coun-try.

He was responding to aBJP leaders' statements ques-tioning who Siddaramaiah wasto seek an account, when he has

not given any donations.Siddaramaiah had earlier in theweek said that he will not givea donation to build RamMandir in Ayodhya since it willbe built in a disputed place.

The Leader of Oppositionin the state assembly accusedtheBJP of trying to gain sym-pathy as partof its propagandainthe name of God.

People are giving moneyfor Sri Rama and his temple,not for BJP, he said adding that“there are Ram Mandirs every-where, also in villages, notonly in Ayodhya.. I also have aRamtemple constructed in myvillage..The public have con-tributed to it.”

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Patna: Bihar police have pulledup their socks in the aftermathof the death of five people dueto the consumption of spuriousliquor in Muzaffarpur.

The five deaths were report-ed in Dargah village under theKatra police station onThursday. Amit Kumar, ADG,(law and order), said the victimsare suspected to have consumedsome poisonous country-madeliquor which resulted in theirdeaths. However, the actual rea-son will be clear only after theautopsy and viscera reports areout. IANS

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Dehradun: Rescuers onSaturday continued clearing atunnel of the disaster hitTapovan project in Chamolidistrict in Uttarakhand andalso searched other places tofind more bodies.

Due to heavy water andsludge, excavation work isgoing on at a slow pace insidethe tunnel where 13 bodies outof the 25-35 buried peoplehave been recovered so far, toppolice officials said.

The tunnel has alreadybeen dug at a level of 166mdeep and 6m in slope. Water iscontinuously being pumpedout of the tunnel, officials said.

Rescuers had recoveredone body at Helang area nearJoshimath on Friday even asthey used dog squads, binocu-lars, rafts and other equip-ment in their search operationfor 142 missing persons. Nearly204 persons went missing afterthe February 7 deluge in theRishiganga river.

A total of 62 bodies havebeen recovered so far after therecovery of two bodies insidethe tunnel on Thursday. Due tothe presence of water andsludge inside the tunnel, theexcavation work is being ham-pered. The operation is goingon at a slow pace due to thepresence of heavy sludge andalso as a precautionary measureto bring out the bodies withmaximum care.

During the excavationwork inside the tunnel, 13bodies have been found so far.The rescuers are working ontwo major places - one insidethe tunnel and other at theremains of the Rishiganga pro-ject in Reni. Sniffer dogs arealso being used in the rescueoperation near Reni village.

A total of 12 teams ofSDRF are searching for bodiesusing binoculars, sniffer dogsand rafts from Reni village todownstream Srinagar townarea. IANS

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From Page 1“Rapid industrialization of

the State is possible only if SCSis accorded,” he asserted in hisspeech during the virtual meet-ing. He also sought quickapproval of revised estimates ofPolavaram project.

Punjab Chief Ministerskipped the meeting as he wasreportedly indisposed.

The agenda of the meetingincluded deliberations on agri-culture, infrastructure, manu-facturing, human resourcedevelopment, service deliveryat grassroots level, health andnutrition.

The sixth meeting wit-nessed the entry of Ladakh forthe first time, in addition to theparticipation of Jammu and

Kashmir as a Union Territory.Prime Minister said India

has made up its mind toprogress rapidly and doesn’twant to lose time.

He said the positiveresponse received for this year’sBudget has expressed the moodof the nation and the youth isplaying a pivotal role in settingthe mood.

“AatmaNirbhar Bharatcampaign is the way to build anIndia that produces not only forits own needs but also for theworld. He said, country’s pri-vate sector is also coming for-ward with energy”, said Modi.

He said the fund allocatedfor infrastructure in the currentBudget is highly appreciatedand it will generate employ-ment for thousands.

Modi said, since 2014, over2.4 crore houses have been built

in rural and urban India. Hesaid, another innovative ini-tiative is going on in whichhouses are being built by mod-ern technology in six cities.

In the last 18 months sinceJal Jeevan Mission came intoexistence over 3.5 crore ruralhouseholds have been con-nected with piped water con-nections.

He said, ‘BharatNetscheme’ has also become amajor game changing feature togive internet connectivity toremote villages across thenation.

Prime Minister said theCentral Government has intro-duced Production LinkedIncentive, PLI schemes for var-ious sectors. He said, this is anexcellent opportunity toincrease manufacturing in thecountry and States should also

take full advantage of thisscheme and attract more andmore investment. He said pol-icy framework and cooperationbetween Centre and state is alsovery important.

Modi said a holisticapproach has been adoptedover the years, from agricultureto animal husbandry to fish-eries. He said, as a result, thecountry’s agricultural exportshave increased significantlyeven during Corona.

Prime Minister said ease ofliving and ease of doing busi-ness will go hand in hand. Lawsand regulations have to beamended for brighter future ofthe nation.

He made a strong pitch forrepealing archaic laws andmaking it easier to do businessin India stating that the centreand states need to work close-

ly to boost economic growth.Prime Minister stressed

on the need to promote inno-vation and use technology asmuch as possible. He said everyState and every district in thecountry has a speciality andpotential and government isshortlisting and value-addingto these thousands of productshailing from different districtsthrough marketing for exports.

Modi said in past few yearsopening of bank accounts,increase in vaccination andhealth facilities, free electrici-ty connection, free gas con-nection to empower the poorhas reflected a phenomenalchange in their lives. The PrimeMinister expressed happinessthat during the COVID periodpeople saw how Centre andStates worked together.

From Page 1Given the smooth with-

drawal of troops from Pangong,sources said India was hopefulthat pullback could take placesoon from the other frictionpoints too.

On February 11, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singhannounced in Parliament thatIndia and China reached anagreement on disengagementin the North and South banksof Pangong lake that mandatesboth sides to “cease” forwarddeployment of troops in a“phased, coordinated and ver-ifiable” manner.

Under the agreement, hesaid, China will pull back itstroops to the east of Finger 8areas in the northern bank ofPangong lake while the Indianpersonnel will be based at theirpermanent base at Dhan SinghThapa Post near Finger 3 in theregion. Similar action wouldtake place on the south bank ofthe lake as well, he said.

In his statement inParliament, the DefenceMinister also said it was agreedto convene the next meeting ofsenior commanders of bothsides within 48 hours of com-pletion of the disengagement inthe Pangong lake areas so as toresolve all other remainingissues.

At present, more than onelakh troops besides tanks andheavy artillery guns from bothsides are deployed in forwardareas near the LAC in Ladakhsince the face-offs began inMay last year. Incidentally, thefirst stand-off took place at thePangong Lake. It saw the sol-diers from two sides exchang-ing blows and some of themreceived injuries.

From Page 1Under GST, the two would

merge and bring uniformity, solv-ing the problem of fuel rates beinghigher in states with higher VAT.

“What I am saying is that thisis a vexatious issue and no Ministercan ever convince anybody becauseIndians being Indians and I am oneof them, (will not be convinced),”she said.

“It is a matter of fact that bothCentre and States will have totalk.” Stating that the states levyad valorem rates of sales tax or VATwhich help them get more revenuewhenever prices go up, she said itwon’t serve any purpose if theCentre were to take the moral highground and bring down excise dutyto zero. “I can do that (cut taxes)if I have a certain guarantee that myrevenue foregone will not be anopportunity for somebody else toget into this space and gain that,”she said.

“If all of us are talking aboutconsumer prices (on fuel to) comedown (and the) tax raised by theCentre, tax raised by the states arenot holier than one another.” The

taxes by centre and states equal, shesaid.

Fuel retailers, who were givenpricing freedom over the years,daily decide on retail rates depend-ing on benchmark internationalprices and foreign exchange rates.

“Technically, the oil priceshave been freed and the govern-ment has no control over it,” shesaid hoping international oil priceswill come down. India is 85 percent dependent on imports tomeet its oil needs and so retail ratesare linked to international prices.“So long and short of it is (that) thestates and the Centre have to sittogether and see whether there isa way in which the retail price offuel is at a reasonable level,” shesaid.

Sitharaman said as a financeminister she cannot be one minis-ter in the Union government to sayhow much the price can bedecreased and whether that wouldnot guarantee the States to earnmore money. “Because everygovernment needs more money,needs revenue and at the same timeI can see a relief that not one addi-

tional paisa is being demandedfrom the taxpayers (from the bud-get),” she said.

Asked whether bringing thefuel prices under Goods andService Tax would lead to ananswer, she said, “it can be.” “Butto get it (fuel prices) under GSTneeds to be a thorough discussionin the GST Council (comprisingCentre and the states),” she said.

The finance minister said ifthe GST Council agrees on one ratethen all over the country there canbe one fuel price rather thanChennai being more expensivethan New Delhi or New Delhi moreexpensive than Mumbai.

“That anomaly can beaddressed if it is under GST. Andthat can be just one tax which canbe shared by both Centre andState,” she said. Petrol and dieselprices have been increased for 12straight days, taking them to an alltime high of Rs 97 per litre forpetrol in Mumbai and over Rs 88mark for diesel. Retail pump pricesdiffer from state-to-state depend-ing on the local taxes (VAT) andfreight. PTI

From Page 1The tenth Corps commander meeting between

India and China, began at 10 am on Saturday.The Indian Army didn’t react to the video of the

clash released by China and maintained silence overthe issue. India and China have been engaged in aten-month-long standoff at the Line of ActualControl. The confrontations began on the north bankof Pangong Lake, both in the waters and the bankas Chinese incursions increased in early May last year.On February 10, disengagement began at thenorthen and southern banks of Pangong Lake.

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The EnforcementDirectorate has filed a pros-

ecution complaint(chargesheet) against Punjab-based Kudos Chemie Ltd. andits directors for forging docu-ments to seek loan from a con-sortium of banks and divertingthe funds to the tune of about�350 crore.

The agency said it has filedthe Prosecution Complaintagainst Kudos Chemie Ltd.,Kudos Holdings Pvt Ltd. and itsdirectors, Jitendra Singh andGurmeet Sodhi before theSpecial Court (PMLA),Chandigarh under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act.

The ED initiated the inves-tigation on the basis of a CBIFIR dated April 7, 2017 underthe Indian Penal Code (IPC)Sections relating to cheating,forgery and criminal conspira-cy for bank fraud with the con-sortium of banks led by PunjabNational Bank.

“The ED investigationrevealed that

Jitendra Singh andGurmeet Sodhi, directors ofKudos Chemie Ltd, prepared

forged export bills and gotthem discounted with the banksfraudulently. They also divert-ed loan funds to the relatedconcern Kudos Holdings Pvt.Ltd. being a shell company andthrough round-tripping showedthe diverted funds as their owncapital and took more loansfrom the banks. Directors of thecompany alsoused companyloan funds for buying proper-ties in individual names. In

thiscase, the immovable prop-erties amounting to �343 crorestand attached by ED,”it said.

Further investigation, inthis case, is in progress, itadded.

Meanwhile, in a separatecase, the ED has filed aSupplementary ProsecutionComplaint before the SpecialCourt of Bharat Parashar,Special Judge (PC Act), NewDelhi under PMLA in a case ofillegal allocation of coal blockin Jharkhand against DomcoPvt. Ltd. and its directors BinayPrakash, Rita Prakash and theirtwo other firms.

The agency initiated inves-tigation on the basis of a CBIFIR under IPC sections relatingto criminal conspiracy andcheating against Domco Pvt.Ltd. and its promoters/directorsand other unknown persons forsubmitting false informationwith dishonest intention to theauthorities while applying for acaptive coal block and securingallocation of “Lalgarh (North)”coal block in West BokaroCoalfield, Jharkhand. The irreg-ular allocation led to a pecu-

niary benefit of �7 crores to theaccused Binay Prakash whooffered to sell the shares of thecompany on premium, afteral-location of the coal block to theRanchi-based firm.

Further investigationrevealed that the accused BinayPrakash placed the Proceeds ofCrime in the banking systemand subsequently the amountwas siphoned off/routed/invested through theentities of Binay Prakash groupowned/controlled by him.Identified assets in form ofimmovable properties held inthe name of Binay Prakashgroup amounting to �3.96crores and movable propertiesamounting to �3.04 crores wereprovisionally attached. TheAdjudicating Authority underPMLA has already

confirmed attached prop-erties worth �6.88 crores andproperties worth �12 lakhs areunder the process of confir-mation, it said.

Earlier, a ProsecutionComplaint under PMLA wasfiled before the court here onDecember 13, 2018.

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Acombination of robust vac-cination programmes and

strict physical distancing rulescould avoid recurring peaks ofCovid-19 without the need torely on stay-at-home restric-tions. This is the suggestion byepidemiologists and demogra-phers from WorldPop at theUniversity of Southampton, incollaboration with The ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong. Thefindings are published in thejournal Nature HumanBehaviour.

In their study, they usedanonymised mobile phonegeolocation data with epi-demiological and coronaviruscase data from China to modelthe potential impact of vacci-nation and physical distancingon virus transmission.

They predicted the effect ofdifferent combinations of inter-ventions on low, medium andhigh density cities in the coun-try.

The impact of physical dis-tancing in containing futureresurgences of Covid-19depends greatly on the intensi-ty of measures, population den-sity, and the availability of vac-cines across geographical areasand time. The researchers setout to gain a greater under-standing of the relationshipbetween these factors.

The team predicts that inmost cities, vaccination pro-grammes and physical distanc-ing combined will be enough tocontain virus resurgence with-out the need to greatly restrictpopulation mobility.Containment in this study wasdefined as maintaining a lowtransmission rate, or ‘R’ belowone.

The researchers report cities

with medium and high densitypopulations will need both vac-cination and distancing to pre-vent future intense waves ofCovid-19, until herd immuni-ty is reached. However, theysuggest cities with low popula-tions and effective vaccinationcould fully interrupt transmis-sion without the need for phys-ical distancing. In all cities, full‘stay-at-home’ lockdowns wouldno longer be necessary.

The team’s results also sug-gest strong physical distancinginterventions implemented forshort periods of time may bemore effective than mild, longerterm ones.

The author and spatial epi-demiologist, Dr Shengjie Lai,Senior Research Fellow inGeography and EnvironmentalSciences at the University ofSouthampton said, “Ourresearch provides a frameworkand set of outputs that can beused by policy-makers and pub-lic health authorities to identi-fy appropriate levels of inter-vention to keep Covid-19 out-breaks in check over time.

“Although our study wasbased on data from China, ourmethods and findings areapplicable to cities worldwidewith similar levels of populationdensity and social contact pat-terns.”

Director of WorldPop,Professor Andy Tatem, added:“Previous studies have assumedthat when people reduce mobil-ity, they proportionately reducetheir social contacts, but thisisn’t necessarily the case and asmore SARS-CoV-2 vaccinescome online, there is an urgentneed to understand the rela-tionship between these factors,so we can adjust and tailor inter-ventions and open up sectionsof society in a safer way.”

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Like ‘one nation, one rationcard’, the Government is

working to have ‘one nation,one standard’ in order toensure quality products inthe country. Reviewing thework of Bureau of IndianStandards (BIS), ConsumerAffairs, Food and PublicDistribution Minister PiyushGoyal on Saturday said, it’stime to embark on Missionone nation one standard andmake India the leader in set-

ting global benchmarks insetting standards. Goyal said,no one should feel the need togo abroad to get quality certification. Saying lab test-ing in India should be ofworld standards, Goyal said,modern equipment and latesttechnologies should be usedthere.

The Minister stressed thatstrength and character ofnation is often exemplified bythe standards it sets for thequality of its products andservices.

Currently, the Bureau ofIndian Standard (BIS) is theonly national body thatframes standards. It has comeout with over 20,000 stan-dards for various productsand services so far. There arealso about 50-odd agenciesthat have framed about 400standards in the country.

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In an order aimed at sendinga message to private sector

companies ignoring the rightsof their disabled employees, theCourt of Chief Commissionerfor Persons with Disabilities(CCPD), under the UnionSocial Justice andEmpowerment Ministry, hasasked a Ghaziabad-based pri-vate firm to restore the job ofa worker who was terminatedfrom the service after he metwith a mishap, causing him 60per cent locomotor disability.

The case pertains to oneTusarkanta Pattanayak, whoworked with a private firm,BioMed Pvt Ltd, since 2006.On December 30, 2016, whilein the office when he was notfeeling well, his companymanager advised him to getmedicine from the nearbydispensary and take rest. Butas his fate would have it,Pattanayak met with a seriousaccident on his way to the dis-pensary. It made him perma-nently disabled (locomotordisability at 60 per cent).

However, instead ofempathising with Pattanayak’scondition, his company pres-sured him to quit the job. In2019, the company handedhim a termination letter, thecomplainant alleged in his

petition before the CCPDwhich he had moved for jus-tice.

The Employee StateInsurance (ESI) too rejectedhis application seeking pen-sion as it contended that hiscase does not fall within thepurview of the existing rules.

Commissioner forPersons with Disability UpmaSrivastava after hearing boththe sides on January 12, 2021observed that the employer ofPattanayak violated employ-ment rights of the latter asguaranteed under the Rightsof Persons with DisabilitiesAct, 2016.

“Section 20(4) of the Actlays down that if any employ-ee acquires disability duringcourse of his employment, heshall not be dispensed with hisservices; further, such employ-ee cannot be even reduced inrank or pay scale. Though,Section 20(4) lays down man-date for government estab-lishments. Yet, this court, con-sidering the objectives ofRPwD Act 2016, concludesthat effect of this provisionmust also be extended to non-government establishments.“

In her order she furthersaid that “Objective of this Actis to assimilate theDivyangjans into main stream

society so that they can spendtheir life with dignity andenjoy their basic fundamentalrights equally with others. Ifprivate establishments shall beleft out of scope of Section20(4) it may amount to creat-ing hinderance in path ofachieving aims and objectivessought to be achieved byRPwD Act, 2016.”

Therefore, said Srivastava,this court by exercising its suomotu powers to investigate,vested in it by virtue of Section75(b) of RPwD Act, 2016,decides to take cognisance ofthe complaint against theemployer of the complainant,i.e.Bio-Med Private Limitedand recommends it to cancelthe termination letter and re-employ him on any such postwhich is suitable for aDivyangjan. Further this courtrecommends that the employ-er shall not reduce the payscale of the complainant.

However, the Court wassilent on the ESI contentionthat “after conducting detailedinvestigation it was found thatat the time the complainantmet with the accident, he wasnot commuting for employ-ment purpose, rather he wascommuting from one place toanother for personal reasonstherefore, he could not begranted pension. “

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At least 25,000 CentralArmed Police Force

(CAPF) personnel have beenearmarked to be deployed forthe forthcoming assembly pollsin four states and the UnionTerritory of Puducherry, offi-cials said on Saturday.

They said the Union homeministry has directed that atotal of 250 companies of theCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF), Border Security Force(BSF), Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice (ITBP), Central

Industrial Security Force(CISF) and the Sashastra SeemaBal (SSB) will be utilised forconduct of the upcoming elec-tions.

A CAPF company has anoperational strength of about100 personnel.

These forces work underthe command of the Ministryof Home Affairs (MHA).

Assembly polls in WestBengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu,Kerala and Puducherry aredue in April-May this year.

Officials said while 125companies are being moved to

West Bengal, 45 are earmarkedfor Tamil Nadu, 40 for Assam,30 for Kerala and 10 forPuducherry.

“These numbers are basedon the preliminary assessmentthat was undertaken by theElection Commission after itsmeeting with senior homeministry officials sometimeback.

“Some addition in num-bers many take place once theEC announces the final datesfor polls and the number ofphases,” a senior officer privyto the development told PTI.

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Arjuna awardee and TokyoOlympics medal prospect

Manu Bhaker has demandedaction against two Air Indiaemployees for allegedly“harassing” and “insulting” thepistol shooter while she tried toboard a flight to Bhopal fromDelhi. Air India, however,rebutted her claims.

After being stopped at theIndira Gandhi Airport, 19-year-old Manu tweeted her‘problem’, tagging SportsMinister Kiren Rijiju and CivilAviation Minister HardeepSingh Puri, among others.

After Rijiju’s intervention,Bhaker eventually boarded theAI 437 flight. She thanked thesports minister in her lasttweet: “Thank you@KirenRijiju sir. Got boardedafter strong support from all ofyou. Thank you India. jai

hind.” Rijiju responded bytweeting: “You are India’spride.”

The 19-year-old Olympicsshooter made a sensationalcharge against Air India, say-ing that employees of thenational airline treated her“like a criminal” for carryingguns on board the aircraft.Taking to Twitter, Bhaker washeaded to Bhopal ShootingAcademy for training allegedthat the national carrier didnot allow her, in the firstinstance, to board her sched-uled flight from Delhi toBhopal, citing no permissionto carry her guns and shoot-ing equipment.

Bhaker further claimedthat the airline employees evendemanded a bride from her.Lashing out at Air India, theCommonwealth Games andYouth Olympics gold medalliststated that she had to go

through the “ordeal” despitecarrying all valid documentsand clearance from theDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) for travel-ling with her weapons andammunition.

“Not allowing me to boardflight AI 437 at IGI Delhi andasking now 10200rs despite allvalid documentation andDGCA permit . Top of thatManoj Gupta Air Indiaincharge doesn’t recogniseDGCA @narendramodi@HardeepSPuri @AmitShah@VasundharaBJP shall I paythis Bribes or!!!!” the aceshooter tweeted.

“Think this type of behav-iour is not acceptable. ManojGupta is not even human. Heis treating me like I am a crim-inal. Also his security incharge. Such people need basictraining of behaviour hope-fully Aviation ministry will

find out and will send him tothe right place,” she said inanother tweet.

The 19-year-old pistolshooter also demanded actionagainst two Air India employ-ees for allegedly “harassing”and “insulting” her.

Denying Bhaker’s charges,Air India, in its reply toBhaker, tweeted, “Our DelhiAirport team has confirmedthat the official at our counterhad only sought for valid doc-uments as per rules for the car-riage of your weapon onboard. In absence of the same,legitimate specified chargesfor the arms were conveyed toyou”.

The airline further addedthat no one sought a ‘bribe’and that “you were issuedboarding pass on your assur-ance of furnishing valid doc-uments before boarding.Immediately after the officialvalid documents were shownby you at the boarding point,you were allowed to board”.Air India also tendered anapology and added that theairline has always encouragedand respected sportspersons.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will visit the poll-

bound States of Assam andWest Bengal on Monday tolaunch and lay the foundationstones of several projects.

The PMO said he will ded-icate to the nation importantprojects of the oil and gas sec-tor in an event organised atSilapathar in Assam, and alsoinaugurate and lay the founda-tion stones of engineering col-leges during the event.

Later in the day, he willinaugurate several railway pro-jects at Hooghly in West Bengal.

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The Vijay RupaniGovernment in Gujarat

has added 30 lakh beneficia-ries under the food law in therecent past and it is in theprocess of identifying morepeople for coverage under thisAct. The State Governmentinformed this in a reviewmeeting of the implementa-tion of the National FoodSecurity Act (NFSA), underwhich 5 kg of wheat and riceare being provided per personper month at a highly sub-sidised rate of �2-3 per kg.Over 80 crore people are cov-ered under this Act.

Union Food SecretarySudhanshu Pandey reviewedthe NFSA implementationand other allied matters withthe Gujarat Government atGandhinagar, an official state-ment said. During the meet-ing, he said there is possibil-ity of including more benefi-ciaries under the NFSA.

“State Governmentinformed that 30 lakh bene-ficiaries have been added inthe recent past and they are inprocess of identifying morebeneficiaries through con-vergence with other central

programmes like NationalSocial Assistance programme,etc,” the statement said.

As production of bothwheat and paddy is higherthan annual requirement offoodgrains of Gujarat Stateunder the NFSA, it wasobserved that there is poten-tial of augmenting procure-ment.

“It was emphasised thatState Government should tar-get procuring to the extent ofannual requirement whichwould not only benefit localfarmers but also save thetransportation cost which isincurred in bringing foodgrains from other States,” thestatement said, adding thatthe acceptance of locally cul-tivated food grains wouldalso be higher among localpopulation.

Pandey informed thatautomatic grain dispensingmachines are being tested infive cities on pilot basis thatenable beneficiaries to obtainsubsidized food grains with-out having to visit FPS to pro-vide freedom to the benefi-ciaries.

The Gujarat Governmentexpressed its willingness toinstall such machines inAhmedabad city on a trialbasis.

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Guwahati: With State elections round the cor-ner, the Assam cabinet on Saturday approveda proposal to increase the daily wage of tea gar-den workers in the state to Rs 318, includingRs 101 for ration.

Tea estate labourers in the state will get a daily wage of Rs 217, a hike from Rs 167,and also receive Rs 101 for ration, ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary toldreporters after the cabinet meeting.

The wage revision of tea garden workers hasbecome a political issue in the state with theopposition Congress accusing the BJP-led gov-ernment of failing to increase daily income ofthe plantation workers.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hadpromised to increase their daily wage to Rs 365

if voted to power.Assam has over 10 lakh tea labour-

ers in the organised sector, working inaround 800 estates, and the northeastern state contributes about 52per cent of the country's annual pro-duction. PTI

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Assam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal on

Saturday announced that stepswould be taken to increase themonthly pension of freedomfighters in the state to Rs25,000 and provide them withfree healthcare.

At present, freedom fight-ers of the northeastern state getRs 21,000 as pension everymonth.

Sonowal made theannouncement during a meet-ing with representatives ofAsom State Freedom FightersAssociation, a governmentrelease said.

The chief minister alsoassured them that an initiativewould be made for providingRs five lakh each to the fami-lies of 19 freedom fighters of the state, the releasesaid.

He also directed officials tourge deputy commissioners toensure that last rites of the free-dom fighters are conducted ina dignified manner.

Srinagar :Jammu and Kashmirrecorded 68 new COVID-19cases on Saturday, taking theinfection tally to 1,25,783, evenas no fresh death due to thevirus was reported in the past24 hours, officials said.

Of the 68 fresh cases, 18were from the Jammu divisionand 50 from the Kashmir divi-sion of the Union Territory,they said.

The officials said Srinagardistrict recorded the highest of24 cases, including six trav-ellers.

While eight districts didnot report any fresh cases, 10districts had cases in single dig-its.

Jammu was the only otherdistrict to register double digitpositive cases with 10 freshcases. The number of activecases was 700 in the UnionTerritory, while 1,23,129patients have recovered so far,the officials said.

The death toll in the UTdue to the infection is 1,954 asno fresh fatality was reported inthe past 24 hours, they added. PTI

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Jaipur: Rajasthan Housing Commissioner Pawan Arora onFriday visited and inspected various projects under construc-tion of the Mandal at Jaipur. He directed the concerned offi-cials to complete the ongoing works in a quality manner andin time.

The Commissioner while inspecting the City Park atMansarovar gave instructions to complete its work in a timelyand quality manner. The Commissioner looked at the plantsplanted here and gave necessary instructions in relation to them.He directed the officials that the plants planted here should be40 to 45 feet in height and fully healthy. He inspected the workof the running jogging track here and gave instructions to mod-ify its design.

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister AshokGehlot said despite all the adverse cir-cumstances and challenges, the StateGovernment did not allow developmentwork to come down. Within about twoyears of our tenure, we have put morethan 55 percent of the declarations ofpublic manifestoon the ground. It is ourendeavor that there is overall develop-ment in every assembly constituency ofthe state without any political discrim-ination. In this direction, today we haveinaugurated andlaid the foundationstone for 178 development works cost-ing Rs. 158 crores forVallabhnagar,Sahada, Rajsamand andSujangarh assembly constituencies.

Gehlot was addressing the layingceremony of 52 development workscosting Rs 33 crore 87lakh and foun-dation stone for 126 development worksworth Rs 124 crore through VC atChiefMinister's residence onFriday.

New Delhi: A workshop onEase of Doing Business wasorganised in New Delhi by theDepartment of LandResources, Govt of India, inassociation of RevenueDepartment GNCT ofDelhi. Ajay Tirki, Secretary(Department of LandResources) Govt of India,Sanjeev Khirwar, PrincipalSecretary Cum DivisionalCommissioner, RevenueDepartment, GNCT of Delhi,Hukum Singh Meena,Additional Secretary,Department of LandResources, were present inthe workshop. All Sub-

Registrars of Delhi alongwithstakeholders and lawyers alsoattended the workshop.

While addressing theworkshop the PrincipalSecretary Cum DivisionalCommissioner apprised allthe participants of all reformsfor the registration of proper-ty that have been undertakenby the Revenue DepartmentGNCT of Delhi.

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Cracking whip against theillegal encroachment of

state land, the district admin-istration in Jammu on Saturdayclosed down around 29 struc-tures, which prima facie appearto have been constructed onState Land (NH from Narwalto Sidhra). Majority of thesestructures were famous eater-ies, coffee parlours, snackbarsand restaurants which hadcome up along the zigzag roadto serve the commuters on the

highway.After hue and cry was

raised by these developers thedistrict administration issued aclarification claiming com-mercial establishments on thesame road, which are not cur-rently believed to be on stateland are operating normally.Further proceedings will be ini-tiated by Revenue Officialsimmediately and in case theowners have any legal andvalid claim, that shall be dulyconsidered before any measureis taken.

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Chennai: Tamil superstar andMakkal Needhi Maiam supre-mo Kamal Haasan held talkswith Rajinikanth on Saturdayfor over 30 minutes, amidspeculation over extension ofpolitical support ahead of theTamil Nadu Assembly elec-tions due in April this year.

Haasan’s three-year-oldMNM party will organise aninaugural function on Sunday.Haasan has announced a full-fledged election campaign andearlier said that he would seekthe Thalaiva’s support.

In a U-turn, superstarRajinikanth had on December29, 2020 announced he will nottake the political plunge andlaunch a party as declared ear-lier. However, Rajinikanth'sassociate and Gandhiya MakkalIyakkam founder Tamilaruvi

Manian said that the actordidn't say he would never enterpolitics, he said he would notjump into poll fray now andthat he has also not disbandedthe Rajini Makkal Mandram(RMM).

“If tomorrow Rajinikanthsays he is entering politics,Gandhiya Makkal Iyakkam willassociate itself with him on hisjourney. If Rajinikanth does notenter politics also, it will con-tinue to function as a sisterorganization,” Manian had said.

Meanwhile, the actor-turned-politician, Haasan,recently announced that theMNM will begin acceptingonline applications from partymembers as it selects candi-dates for the elections.

In an official announce-

ment made on Monday, theparty officials said that appli-cations will open from Sunday,February 21, and potentialcandidates must pay Rs 25,000to be considered. They alsoadded that non-party memberscould also apply or be nomi-nated.

The party's permanentpresident Kamal Haasan is setto decide on electoral strategiesfor the forthcoming electionswhich include electoral allianceand selection of candidates.

Last month, Kamal Haasansaid his party had been allottedthe 'battery torch' symbol, thesame symbol the party hadused when it contested the2019 Lok Sabha election, theactor's electoral debut andpicked up a vote share of 3.77percent. Agencies

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Hours after the Santa Cruz policesent him an e-challan for riding a

motorbike on Valentine's Day withouta helmet, Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoisuffered a double whammy onSaturday, as the neighbouring Juhupolice registered an FIR against himunder IPC and for violation of the pro-visions of the Maharashtra COVID -19Precautionary Measures Act 2020, fornot wearing the mask.

However, the actor sought to put upa brave face by seeking to turn his acuteembarrassment into humour througha tweet where he regretted his faux pasand sang “Be safe, wear a helmet & amask” tune. Vivek’s is a classic husband-wife romantic story turning sour. Avideo-post proudly shared by him onFebruary 14 in which he is enjoying aride with his wife Priyanka Alva Oberoion his electric-blue Harley Davidsonbike with a message: “What a start ofthis lovely Valentine’s Day, with Main,Meri Patni aur Woh! A refreshingjoyride indeed!” landed him in trouble.

The actor would have gotten awaywith the crime but for the fact thatsocial activist Binu Varghese tooknotice of the video and tweeted: “ActorVivek Oberoi flouts traffic safety rulesas well as health safety rules by ridinga bike without helmet and not wearinga (face) mask. This sends a wrong mes-sage to the youth… hence he should befined for the same”.

Varghese tagged along MaharashtraHome Minister Anil Deshmukh,Mumbai Police, BrihanMumbaiMunicipal Corporation and otherswhich led to the e-challan being issuedto him under the Motor Vehicle Act byAssistant Police Inspector Nandkishor

Jadhav of Mumbai Traffic PoliceSantacruz Division late on Fridayevening. The actor was fined Rs 500 fornot wearing a helmet while riding hisHarley Davidson.

That was not all. The Juhu policeon Saturday registered an FIR againstthe actor, who featured in the protag-onist’s role in the 2019 biopic “PMNarendra Modi” for flouting publichealth safety rules framed under theMaharashtra COVID -19 PrecautionaryMeasures 2020 Act which mandated allcitizens to wear a face-mask as a pre-cautionary measure to control the out-break of COVID-19.

Vivek has been booked by thepolice under several sections of section188 (Disobedience to order duly pro-mulgated by public servant) of IPC.The section 3 of the Epidemic DiseasesAct, 1897, provides penalties for dis-obeying any regulation or order madeunder the Act which can be invokedthrough section 188 of IPC.

The Juhu police have also invokedagainst Vivek the provisions of theMaharashtra COVID -19 PrecautionaryMeasures 2020 Act, which make itmandatory for the citizens to wearmasks, as a precautionary measure tocontrol the outbreak of COVID-19.

Hours after he landed in an embar-rassing situation, the actor sought toreduce the impact of the twin crimesby putting out a humorous tweet whichread: “Pyaar humein kis mod pe le aaya!Nikle they nayi bike par hum aurhamari jaan, bina helmet ke kat gayachalaan!Riding without ahelmet?Mumbai police will do a check-mate!Thank u @mumbaipolice formaking me realise that safety is alwaysmost important. Be safe,Wear a helmet& a mask.”

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The Samyukta Kisan Morcha(SKM) had a shaky start in

Maharashtra on Saturday, as itheld its first Kisan MahaPanchayat at Wardha inMaharashtra but it had to can-cel a similar farmers’ gatheringat Yavatmal on Saturday owingto Covid-19 restrictionsimposed there.

An estimated 5,000 farm-ers owing allegiance to 40-oddpeasant organisations turnedout for the Kisan MahaPanchayat convened at Wardhain eastern Maharashtra to cre-ate awareness among the peo-ple about the three controver-sial farm laws and the demandfor repeal for these legisla-tions.

High-profile SKM leaderRakesh Tikait was conspicuousby his absence. SKM memberGuramneet Singh Mangat saidthat Tikait could not reach

Nagpur by flight from Delhi onFriday night owing to certainissues. “However, we decided togo ahead with MahaPanchayats at Wardha andYavatmal,” Mangat said.

A team of farmer leaders,who reached Wardha by roadfrom the national capital byroad, addressed the farmers atthe Kisan Maha Panchayat.The Panchayat passed peace-fully.

Among those whoaddressed the Kisan Panchayatat Wardha were Tejveer Singh,Spokesperson of BharatiyaKisan Union (Cheduni) andAmandeep Singh Ghuman andGeneral Secretary of PagdiSambhal Jatta Leher in Punjab.

After the event at Wardha,the SKM leaders left Wardhafor Yavatmal where prohibito-ry orders have been in forcesince Friday. As a consequence,the police denied permission tothe SKM at the last minute to

hold its Kisan Maha Panchayatthere.

At the Yavatmal border, theSKM leaders were welcomed byVasantrao Naik ShetiSwavalamban Mission(VNSSM) President KishoreTiwari, who has been accord-ed a Minister of State status bythe Maharashtra government.

“I received them on behalfof our Chief Minister UddhavThackerayji. I conveyed theCM’s message that the MahaPanchayat cannot be allowed inview of the deteriorated Covid-19 situation in the state.However, Maharashtra wouldlook forward to a fresh MahaPanchayat after the situationimproves here,” Tiwari said.

Tiwari thanked Mangat,other SKM leaders and 7 otherrepresentatives from Nagpur,for honouring the CM’s requestand postponing the KisanMaha Panchayat for a laterdate.

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Karnataka has been able to maintain“one of the lowest” unemployment

rates in the country at 3.6 per cent, ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa told PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

The Chief Minister also request-ed the Prime Minister to declare UpperBhadra Project and Upper KrishnaProject as national projects.

Speaking during the virtual meet-ing of the NITI Aayog chaired byModi,he said despite the coronaviruspandemic all the fiscal indicators of thestate have been contained within thelimits of the Karnataka FiscalResponsibility Act, 2002.

“The Prime Minister was briefedabout the initiatives taken by the Statefor Industrial development such asNew Industrial Policy 2020-2024,Affidavit based clearance system, stepstaken to promote exports, MoUs madewith e-commerce players like Amazonand Flipkart to boost marketing of localproducts etc,” the CMO said in a state-ment.

The Chief Minister also listed var-ious farmer and farm sector related ini-tiatives like setting up of a task force topromote integrated farming system,making Farmers Contact Centresas asingle point of contact for region spe-cific input supplies and advisories andalso regarding conserving local breedsof cattle.

According to the statement,thegovernment intends to set up a scien-tific marketing intelligence cell in order

to shift focus on income based policyto increase farmers income.

It is also intended to create anonline marketing platform for surplusfruits and vegetables supported byinfrastructure facilities under theAtmanirbhar scheme.

The state government plans to fol-low NITI Aayog's 49 aspirational indi-cators to monitor the progress of 114backward taluks, Yediyurappa said.

“Under Pradhan Mantri JanArogya Yojana, 3,409 hospitals haveenrolled, which is the maximum in thecountry.”

“Under Atmanirbhar Scheme, wehave proposed to create super-special-ity treatment facilities in governmenthospitals in district centres,”Yediyurappa said.

The government will focus onimproving nutritional status in 67taluks in 16 districts, he added.

During the meeting, the ChiefMinister also requested the Centre toapprove 6 proposals worth Rs 6,673crore under modernisation of canalsproject and additional grants were also sought for river diversion pro-jects.

It was also requested to set up amechanism to fast track disposal of lit-igation in courts as infrastructure pro-jects are hampered due to litigation andenvironmental protests, the statementsaid.

The Centre was also requested toprovide Rs 4,300 crore to create opticalfibre network to provide network con-nectivity to all government offices.

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Amaravati(AP): AndhraPradesh recorded 54 newCOVID-19 cases, 70 recoveriesand no deaths in 24 hours end-ing 9 am on Saturday, even asthe active caseload came downto 604.

According to the latest bul-letin, the cumulative coron-avirus positives in the statetouched 8.89 lakh after close to1.37 crore sample tests.

The total recoveriesincreased to 8,81,439 and theoverall toll to 7,167, the bulletinsaid. PTI

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President Joe Biden used hisfirst address before a glob-

al audience Saturday to declarethat “America is back, thetransatlantic alliance is back,”after four years of a Trumpadministration that flaunted itsforeign policy through an“America First” lens.

Speaking to the annualMunich Security Conferencevirtually, Biden ticked througha daunting to-do list — sal-vaging the Iran nuclear deal,meeting economic and securi-ty challenges posed by Chinaand Russia and repairing thedamage caused by the coron-avirus pandemic — that he saidwould require close coopera-tion between the US and itsWestern allies.

Without mentioningDonald Trump’s name once inhis speech, Biden mixed talk ofa reinvigorated democraticalliance with a rebuke of hispredecessor’s approach, a mes-sage warmly received byWestern allies.

‘I know the past few yearshave strained and tested thetransatlantic relationship,”

Biden said. “The United Statesis determined to reengage withEurope, to consult with you, toearn back our position of trust-ed leadership.”

The president also partic-ipated Friday in a virtual meet-ing of the Group of Sevenindustrialized nations, whereleaders managed to workBiden’s campaign theme intotheir closing joint statement,vowing to “work together tobeat Covid-19 and build backbetter.”

“Welcome back, America,”said European CouncilPresident Charles Michel, effec-tively summing up the mood ofthe Munich conference.

But while such happy talkconveyed the palpable sense ofrelief among allies at Biden’sfull-throated commitment tomending frayed US-Europerelations, plenty has changedover the past four years in wayscreating new challenges.

China has cemented itsplace as a fierce economiccompetitor on the continent asthe US has reconsidered long-held national security and eco-nomic priorities embedded inthe transatlantic alliance.

Populism has grown throughmuch of Europe. And otherWestern countries have, atmoments, sought to fill the vac-uum left as America steppedback from the world stage.

German Chancellor

Angela Merkel noted that somedifferences between the U.S.And Europe remain “compli-cated.” Europe sees China’seconomic ambitions as less ofan existential threat than theUS does and has its own strate-

gic and economic concernsthat are not always in sync withBiden on Russia as well.

Still, Merkel, who had astrained relationship withTrump, didn’t hide her prefer-ence for an American foreign

policy informed by Biden’sworld view.

“Things are looking a greatdeal better for multilateralismthis year than two years ago,and that has a lot to with JoeBiden having become the pres-ident of the United States ofAmerica,” Merkel said.

“His speech just now, butalso his administration’s firstannouncements, have con-vinced us that this is not justtalk but action.”

Biden made his address toa global audience as his admin-istration this week took steps toreverse key Trump adminis-tration policies.

He said that the U.S. Standsready to rejoin talks aboutreentering the 2015 multilateralIran nuclear deal abandoned bythe Trump administration. TheBiden administrationannounced Thursday its desireto reengage Iran, and it tookaction at the United Nationsaimed at restoring policy towhat it was before Trump withdrew from the dealin 2018.

Biden also spoke out aboutthe two-decade war inAfghanistan, where he faces a

May 1 deadline to remove theremaining 2,500 US troopsunder a Trump administrationnegotiated peace agreementwith the Taliban. He also calledfor cooperation in addressingeconomic and national securi-ty challenges posed by Russiaand China and identifiedcyberspace, artificial intelli-gence and biotechnology asareas of growing competition.

“We must prepare togeth-er for long-term strategic com-petition with China,” Bidendeclared.

His message was girded byan underlying argument thatdemocracies — not autocracies— are models of governancethat can best meet the chal-lenges of the moment. Thepresident urged fellow worldleaders to show together that “democracies can stilldeliver.”

At the G-7, administrationofficials said, Biden focused onwhat lies ahead for the inter-national community as it triesto extinguish the public healthand economic crises created bythe coronavirus pandemic. Heannounced the US will soonbegin releasing $4 billion for an

international effort to bolsterthe purchase and distributionof vaccine to poor nations, aprogram that Trump refused tosupport.

Biden’s turn on the worldstage came as the US officiallyrejoined the Paris climateagreement, the largest interna-tional effort to curb globalwarming. Trump announced inJune 2017 that he was pullingthe US Out of the landmarkaccord, arguing that the pactwould undermine theAmerican economy.

Biden announced the U.S.Intention of rejoining on thefirst day of his presidency, buthe had to wait 30 days for themove to go into effect. He hassaid that he will bake consid-erations about climate changeinto every major domestic andforeign policy decision hisadministration faces.

“This is a global existentialcrisis,” Biden said.

Biden also encouraged G-7 partners to make good ontheir pledges to COVAX, aninitiative by the World HealthOrganization to improve accessto vaccines, even as he reopensthe US Spigot.

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Two anti-coup protesterswere shot dead by riot

police who fired live roundsSaturday in Mandalay,Myanmar’s second-largest city,local media reported.

One of the victims was shotin the head and died at thescene, according to FrontierMyanmar, a news and businessmagazine based in Yangon,the country’s largest city.Another was shot in the chestand died en route to the hos-pital.

Several other seriousinjuries were also reported.The shootings occurred nearMandalay’s Yadanabon dock,where tear gas and rubber bul-lets were used on protestersearlier in the day.

The Irrawaddy news web-site also confirmed the deathson social media.

Security forces had beenincreasing their pressureagainst anti-coup protestersearlier Saturday, using watercannons, tear gas, slingshotsand rubber bullets againstdemonstrators and strikingdock workers in Mandalay.

At least five people wereinjured by rubber bullets andhad to be carried away inambulances, according to anAssociated Press journalist who

witnessed the violence.Some 500 police and sol-

diers descended on the areanear Yadanabon dock afterdock workers joined thenational civil disobediencemovement, refusing to workuntil the military junta thatseized power in a Feb. 1 coupreinstates the democraticallyelected government.

Protesters and residentswere forced to flee the neigh-borhood amid the violence, assecurity forces chased afterthem. There were reports ofsounds that resembled gunfire.A group of journalists wasforced to flee after being hitwith tear gas and slingshotprojectiles.

Earlier in the week inMandalay, security forcescracked down on state railwayworkers in a similar fashionafter they joined the civil dis-obedience movement.

Less than an hour after the8 pm curfew started onWednesday, gunshots wereheard as more than two dozenpolice officers with shields andhelmets marched past railwayworkers’ housing. Numerousvideos posted on social mediashowed muzzle flashes as shotswere heard, and some policeshot slingshots and threw rocksat the buildings. Marchingchants of “left, right, left, right”could be heard along withshouts of “shoot, shoot.”

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AMoscow court on Saturdayrejected Russian opposi-

tion leader Alexei Navalny’sappeal against his prison sen-tence, even as the countryfaced a top European rightscourt’s order to free theKremlin’s most prominent foe.

Speaking before the ver-dict, Navalny urged Russians tostand up to the Kremlin in afiery speech mixing referencesto the Bible and “Harry Potter.”

A lower court sentencedNavalny earlier this month totwo years and eight months inprison for violating terms of hisprobation while recuperating inGermany from a nerve agentpoisoning that he blames on theKremlin. Russian authoritieshave rejected the accusation.

Navalny, 44, an anti-cor-ruption crusader and PresidentVladimir Putin’s most vocalcritic, appealed the prison sen-tence and asked to be released.The Moscow City Court’s judgeon Saturday only slightlyreduced his sentence to justover 2 1/2 years in prison, rul-ing that a month-and-halfNavalny spent under housearrest in early 2015 will bededucted from his sentence.

His arrest and imprison-ment have fueled a huge waveof protests across Russia.

Authorities responded with

a sweeping crackdown, detain-ing about 11,000 people, manyof whom were fined or givenjail terms ranging from sevento 15 days.

Speaking before the ver-dict, Navalny referenced theBible as well as “Harry Potter”and the animated sitcom “Rickand Morty” as he urgedRussians to resist pressure fromthe authorities and challengethe Kremlin to build a fairerand more prosperous country.

“The government’s task isto scare you and then persuadeyou that you are alone,” he said.“Our Voldemort in his palacealso wants me to feel cut off,” headded, in a reference to Putin.

“To live is to risk it all,” hecontinued. “Otherwise, you’rejust an inert chunk of randomlyassembled molecules drifting

wherever the universe blowsyou.”

Navalny also addressed thejudge and the prosecutor, argu-ing that they could have amuch better life in a newRussia.

“Just imagine how won-derful life would be withoutconstant lying,” he said.

“Imagine how great itwould be to work as a judgewhen no one would be able tocall you and give you directionswhat verdicts to issue.”

He insisted that he wasunable to report to the author-ities in line with his probationrequirements while he wasconvalescing in Germany afterhis poisoning, emphasizingthat he returned to Russiaimmediately after his healthallowed.

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The US has voiced concernover China’s recently enact-

ed Coast Guard law, which itsaid may escalate the ongoingterritorial and maritime dis-putes in the region and can beinvoked to assert unlawfulclaims.

China passed a law lastmonth which for the first timeexplicitly allows its coast guardto fire on foreign vessels.

“The United States joinsthe Philippines, Vietnam,Indonesia, Japan and othercountries in expressing concernwith China’s recently enactedCoast Guard law, which mayescalate the ongoing territori-al and maritime disputes,” StateDepartment Spokesperson NedPrice told reporters during aconference call.

China is engaged in hotlycontested territorial disputes inboth the South China Sea andthe East China Sea. Beijing hasbuilt up and militarised manyof the islands and reefs it con-trols in the region.

Both areas are stated to berich in minerals, oil and othernatural resources and are vitalto global trade.

China claims almost all ofthe South China Sea. Vietnam,the Philippines, Malaysia,

Brunei and Taiwan have coun-terclaims over the area.

The new law could makethe contested waters aroundChina more choppy.

“We are specifically con-cerned by language in the lawthat expressly ties the potentialuse of force, including armedforce by the China CoastGuard, to the enforcement ofChina’s claims in ongoing ter-ritorial and maritime disputesin the East and South ChinaSeas,” he said.

Language in that law,including text allowing thecoast guard to destroy othercountries’ economic structuresand to use force in defendingChina’s maritime claims in dis-puted areas, strongly impliesthis law could be used to intim-idate the maritime neighboursof China, Price said.

“We are further concernedthat China may invoke this newlaw to assert its unlawful mar-itime claims in the South ChinaSea,” he said.

The United States remindsChina of its obligations underthe United Nations Charter torefrain from the threat or useof force and to conform itsmaritime claims to theInternational Law of the Sea, asreflected in the 1982 Law of theSea Convention.

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As the United States offi-cially joined the Paris

Agreement on Climate Change,US Special Envoy on ClimateCrisis, John Kerry assertedthat all 17 major emittingcountries including India needto step up and begin loweringemissions.

“Everything has to be donewith greater sense of urgency,with a determination that wehave to win this fight... And weneed the United States andevery country to determinethey will get on a path towardnet zero emissions by 2050,” hesaid on Friday.

A major achievement ofthe Obama administration, theprevious TrumpAdministration had withdrawnfrom the Paris Agreement.President Joe Biden, whoserved as the Vice Presidentduring the Obama adminis-tration, issued orders to join theParis Agreement on day one ofhis presidency.

“… what steps will we takein the next 10 years? And thetruth is that everybody has todo that. China, which is thelargest emitter in the worldneeds to be part of the 2020 to2030 effort.

“India needs to be part ofit. Russia needs to be part of it.

So is Japan… the major emit-ters, 17 nations, need to reallystep up and begin to lowerthose emissions,” Kerry said.

This challenge, he asserted,means that all countries settingbold and achievable targetshave to do so here at home andin the course of their declara-tion of their national deter-mined contributions (NDCs).

“We have to drive invest-ment toward climate solutionsand innovations and resilience.We need to get the entire worldon a path towards net zeroemissions, and we need toabsolutely make certain thathappens no later than 2050 andsooner if possible,” he said.

Washington: President JoeBiden has said that he believesthe US will be approachingnormalcy by the end of thisyear as the country races todeliver coronavirus vaccinesto millions of Americans.

Biden on Friday toured amanufacturing facility of Pfizerin Kalamazoo, Michigan, seek-ing to highlight efforts to massproduce a coronavirus vaccineas his administration looks forways to increase supply andstreamline distribution.

“I believe we’ ll beapproaching normalcy by theend of this year. And God will-ing, this Christmas will be dif-ferent than the last,” Bidensaid responding to a questionat the site in Michigan.

At the same time, herefused to make any commit-ment.

“I can’t make that com-mitment to you. There areother strains of the virus. Wedon’t know what could happenin terms of production rates.Things can change. But we’redoing everything the sciencehas indicated we should do,and people are stepping up toget everything done that has tobe done,” he said.

Biden said that getting thevaccine and having it availableis not the same as putting it insomeone’s arms. This is goingto be a continuous rolling effort.

“We will have ordered, muchof which will have been distrib-uted, over 600 million doses bythe end of July. July 29th is theexpected date. That couldchange. Look at what’s happen-ing with the weather now, forexample: It’s slowing up the dis-tribution right now,” he said.PTI

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Britain has circulated a draftresolution to the UN

Security Council demandingthat all warring parties imme-diately institute a “sustainedhumanitarian pause” to enablepeople in conflict areas to bevaccinated against Covid-19.

The proposed resolutionreiterates the council’s demandlast July 1 for “a general andimmediate cessation of hostil-ities” in major conflicts fromSyria and Yemen to CentralAfrican Republic, Mali andSudan and Somalia, an appealfirst made by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres onMarch 23, 2020, to tackle thecoronavirus pandemic.

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Washington: Indian-AmericanNeera Tanden, US PresidentJoe Biden’s nominee for theposition of Director of WhiteHouse Office of Managementand Budget, is facing a chal-lenge to her confirmation afterDemocratic Senator JoeManchin announced that hewould vote against her over“overtly partisan statements”.

Manchin’s announcementmeans that unless a Republicansenator comes forward to sup-port her nomination, it isunlikely that Tanden, 50, will beconfirmed for the job.

Manchin, a moderateDemocrat from West Virginia,said: “I believe her overtly par-tisan statements will have atoxic and detrimental impact

on the important working rela-tionship between members ofCongress and the next directorof the Office of Managementand Budget.”

“For this reason, I cannotsupport her nomination. As Ihave said before, we must takemeaningful steps to end thepolitical division and dysfunc-tion that pervades our politics,”he said. The 100-memberSenate is evenly split betweenthe Republicans and theDemocrats. The vote of Vice-President Kamala Harris will tiltthe balance in favour of theDemocrats. As such the vote ofManchin gains significance,given that a majority of theRepublicans are likely to opposethe nomination of Tanden. PTI

Washington: Add MotherNature to the pile of crises onPresident Joe Biden’s plate.

A month into the job andfocused on the coronavirus,Biden is seeing his disastermanagement skills tested afterwinter storms plunged Texas,Oklahoma and neighbouringstates into an unusual deepfreeze that left millions shiver-ing in homes that lost heat andpower, and in many homes,water. At least 59 deaths acrossthe US have been blamed onthe blast of unseasonableweather. AP

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Food and Consumer AffairsMinister Piyush Goyal on

Saturday stressed on the needfor ‘One Nation One Standard’to bring uniformity and saidlabs testing in India should beof global standards.

The minister said thiswhile reviewing the work ofBureau of Indian Standards(BIS).

“It’s time to embark onMission ‘One Nation OneStandard’ and make India theleader in setting global bench-marks in setting standards,”Goyal was quoted as saying inan official statement.

While all areas of produc-tion and services should beincluded in this national mis-sion, bringing a national uni-formity and standardization

in all kinds of public procure-ment and tendering can be animmediate deliverable, Goyalsaid.

The minister said thatstrength and character ofnation is often exemplified bythe standards it sets for thequality of its products and ser-vices. “Its time for India to set-tle for nothing less than thebest,” the statement said.

Goyal asked the BIS toexplore international partner-ships and associations toachieve synergy in the field.

The minister said that labtesting in India should be ofworld standards and addedthat modern equipment andlatest technologies should beused there.

He asked for gap analysisof BIS and government labs tobe taken up on priority basis.

Referring to the issueof different institutions andPSUs having variety of non-uniform standards, he saideffort should be made to mergedifferent standards under onestandard as much as possible.

The minister said thatindustry should be invited formore dialogue, participationand collaboration in this mis-sion of “one nation one stan-dard”.

Process of granting certi-fication should be kept as sim-ple as possible and duplicationof work should be avoided, hesaid.

Goyal said, “We shouldaim to be the world leader inhaving maximum industrialproducts under IndianStandards and no one shouldfeel the need to go abroad to getquality certification.”

The meeting was attend-ed by senior officials ofDepartment of ConsumerAffairs and BIS besides others.Detailed presentation wasmade by BIS about variousareas of the progress beingmade, the statement said.

� �� 7�8�,�9:�

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday

exhorted the private sector totake advantage of corporate taxrate cut and other initiatives ofthe Government, and unleash‘animal spirits’ by enhancinginvestments to make India oneof the fastest growingeconomies of the world.

The government has beenwaiting for the expansion bythe private sector, she saidwhile reminding India Inc ofvarious measures includingcorporate tax rate cut, policyconsistency, ease of doing busi-ness, among others to facilitateinvestment.

“We need capacities to beramped up, we need expansion,we need more production ofmany such items which are

required for the economy. Iwould invite business lead-ers...Post the corporate tax ratereduction I’ve been waiting tosee expansion happening,” shesaid.

In the biggest reduction in28 years, the government inSeptember 2019 slashed cor-porate tax rates by up to 10 per-centage points to attract privateinvestment and reinvigoratethe sagging economy. The taxbreak resulted in financialimplication of Rs 1.45 lakhcrore on the exchequer.

Base corporate tax rate forexisting companies wasreduced to 22 per cent from 30per cent, and to 15 per centfrom 25 per cent for manufac-turing firms incorporated afterOctober 1, 2019, and startingoperations before March 31,2023.

“So I would like to see nowthat the policy is clear, tax rateshave been brought down, pol-icy consistency has been under-lined and ease of doing busi-ness is still going further. Iwould now like to see privateinvestors and private indus-try...Coming forward with theso called ‘animal spirits’ toshow that it is possible to pullIndia up and keep it high as oneof the fastest growingeconomies. It is now on yourshoulder entirely,” she said.

Addressing industry lead-ers at an All India ManagementAssociation (AIMA) virtualevent, the Finance Ministersaid the recent Budget hasaddressed several issues whichwere so critical for India to havea clearer path for the nextdecade or more.

The Budget 2021-22

comes against the backdrop ofthe pandemic and contractionof the economy to give a senseof certainty to businesses thatpolicies will remain predictableand therefore businesses cancontinue to concentrate ontheir core activities, she said.

With regard to disinvest-ment, the Finance Ministersaid the government has iden-tified the core sector where itwill have bare minimum pres-ence and the rest will beallowed for public-private part-nership.

The past strategy of disin-vestment in trickles has notreally been so successful inspreading the ownership pat-tern, she said, adding, it was notenthusiastically received.

“So, I want to have an effi-cient, more meaningful, pur-pose serving way in which our

taxpayers’ money should bespent...The disinvestment ofunits or privatisation of units isnot because we want them tobe closed down,” she said.

The government wantsthese units to be running, to bekept up and running profes-sionally as the economy hasvery high demand for many ofthese items of production suchas steel, coal or copper, ormany such things in whichPSUs are there for decadesnow. She urged the industry tomake best of the disinvestmentpolicy announced in theBudget.

Earlier this month, theFinance Minister presented aRs 34.8 lakh crore-Budget for2021-22.

The Budget has laidemphasis on increasing capitalexpenditure, raising allocation

for healthcare capacity buildingand development of agricultureinfrastructure, among others,which are expected to have amultiplier effect on the econo-my. Sitharaman said spendingis required this year as well asnext year for sustaining growth.

Therefore, the governmenthas committed to spend oninfrastructure and capitalexpenditure over the next sev-eral years which will give themultiplier effect, she added.

About 7,000 projects havebeen identified under theNational InfrastructurePipeline (NIP) with projectedinvestment of a whopping Rs111 lakh crore during 2020-25.

On the fiscal deficit man-agement, she said, the govern-ment has given a glide path andasked the rating agencies to seethe Budget numbers in the light

of pandemic.Hit hard by the pandemic,

fiscal deficit — the excess ofgovernment expenditure overits revenues — is estimated tohit a record high of 9.5 per centof the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) in 2020-21.

For 2021-22, the deficithas been pegged at 6.8 per centof GDP, which will be furtherlowered to 4.5 per cent by thefiscal ending March 31, 2026.

“We are very clearly tellingeven the credit rating agenciesthat every country is goingthrough this pandemic, andevery country has to spend tokeep the stimulus going.

So every country’s ratingswill have to be in relativeterms..However, because we’vegiven the glide path, fiscaldeficit is something which we’llwatch, probably after the stim-

ulus has shown clear impact onthe ground,” she said.Speaking at the event KotakMahindra Bank ManagingDirector Uday Kotak said thegovernment in coordinationwith the RBI has played a roleto ensure that the interest ratesremain stable.

He also expressed hopethat rates would remain stableover the next 12-18 months.

“We need to ensure that asthe size of the borrowing goesup, we are able to keep thelong-term interest rates stable,on the basis of which businessand industry take the invest-ment decisions,” Kotak said.

Exuding confidence thatthe future of India is bright,Kotak said: “We now reallyneed to get our animal spiritsback... And the time has comefor us to walk the talk.”

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Goa State IndustriesAssociation (GSIA), in

their pre-budget memoran-dum, has urged the state gov-ernment to introduce PublicProcurement Policy for Microand Small Enterprises (MSEs)on lines with the central gov-ernments initiative.

GSIA led by itsPresident Damodar Kochkarpresented pre-Budget memo-randum to the chief ministerahead of the Budget AssemblySession scheduled to begin inMarch.

“We request that a PublicProcurement Policy for Microand Small Enterprises (MSEs)should be introduced in linewith Central GovernmentPolicy making it mandatory for

all GovernmentDepartments/Undertakings topurchase a minimum of 20 percent of their annual purchase ofproducts and services fromMSEs, the memorandum reads.

The GSIA has said that thisinitiative will help the govern-ment increase their revenue byway of higher collection ofSGST and will generate moreeconomic activity and employ-ment in the state.

All these years, mining wasthe major contributor to statesrevenue and other sectors werenot given the desired attentionby the state government.

After the closure of themining industry and thetourism sector not picking upas expected due to coronaviruspandemic, manufacturingindustry is the only sector

which can bring about overalldevelopment and create inclu-sive growth in the state, theAssociation has said.

Speaking about Ease ofDoing Business, theAssociation has said that theinitiatives taken to improveEase of Doing Business (EoDB)are not felt on the ground.For better implementation, theinitiatives should be properlymonitored and executed.

The GSIA has said thatstate government shouldensure that Single WindowSystem is properly implement-ed.

At present, online servicesare not very effective, processis cumbersome and the gov-ernment staff is not trained toprovide assistance.

The server infrastructure

of IT Department also needsimprovement, the Associationsaid. The industry body hasalso demanded that the gov-ernment should Stop arbitraryrevenue collection without giv-ing due consideration to prac-tical situation on the ground.

Stop insisting NOCsfrom certain departments andmarking routine files to theMinisters. Improve work cul-ture in the Departments so thatfiles are not held up with friv-olous queries, the Associationhas said.

� �� 7�8�,�9:�

The Centre has released �1lakh crore to states and UTs

in four months since October2020, to meet GST compensa-tion shortfall, the FinanceMinistry said on Saturday.

The ministry on Fridayreleased the 17th weekly instal-ment of �5,000 crore to 23states and 3 Union Territories(Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir &Puducherry), taking the totalamount released so far underthe special borrowing windowset up in October last year to Rs1 lakh crore.

The remaining 5 states,Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur,Mizoram, Nagaland andSikkim, do not have a gap inrevenue on account of Goodsand Services Tax (GST) imple-mentation.

The Centre had set up aspecial borrowing window inOctober 2020 to meet the esti-mated shortfall of �1.10 lakhcrore in revenue arising onaccount of implementation ofGST.

The borrowings are beingdone through this window bythe Centre on behalf of statesand UTs.

Under the special window,the Centre has been borrowingin government stock with tenorof 3 years and 5 years. The bor-rowing made under each tenoris equally divided among allstates as per their GST com-pensation shortfall.

With the current release,the proportionate pending GSTshortfall with respect to bor-rowing under 5 years tenor hasbeen concluded for 16 statesand 2 UTs.

Till now, 91 per cent of thetotal estimated GST compen-sation shortfall has beenreleased to states & UTs withLegislative Assembly (Delhi,Jammu & Kashmir &Puducherry), the statementsaid.

“An amount of Rs1,00,000 crore has been bor-rowed by the CentralGovernment through the spe-cial borrowing window at anaverage interest rate of 4.83 percent....Out of this, an amountof Rs 91,460.34 crore has beenreleased to states and anamount of Rs. 8,539.66 crorehas been released to the 3 UTswith Legislative Assembly,” itsaid.

Total 17 rounds of bor-rowings have been completedso far starting from October 23,2020.

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Civil Aviation MinisterHardeep Singh Puri on

Saturday said that the country’sair passenger traffic is “withintouching distance of pre-Covidnumbers”.

In a tweet, the ministersaid: “2,90,518 passengers on2,360 flights on 19 Feb is with-in touching distance of Pre-COVID numbers & marksrevival of the domestic sector.”

“From transporting essen-tial & medical supplies, tomovement of vaccines, civilaviation sector plays a key rolein efforts against COVID19.”

Since the resumption ofoperations on May 25, domes-tic air traffic continued tosequentially improve in January2021.

The domestic passengertraffic rose 5.55 per centsequentially in January to 77.34lakh passengers from 73.27lakh reported for December2020.

However, on a year-on-year basis the January numbersstood 39.50 per cent lowerthan 127.83 lakh reported forthe corresponding period of theprevious year.

At present, airlines canoperate up to 80 per cent oftheir pre-Covid capacity.

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China’s demand for India’scotton has pushed domes-

tic yarn prices higher, saidIndia Ratings and Research.

Accordingly, domestic yarnproduction increased inJanuary 2021, led by a strongexport and moderate domesticdemand during December2020.

“While yarn productionwas substantially lower on aYoY basis up to 8MFY21,exports increased by highersingle digits YoY due to ahealthy demand from neigh-bouring countries,”

“China’s demand for Indianyarn resumed to pre-Covidlevels during November-December 2020, as against avolume drop from Bangladeshand Vietnam during same peri-od.”

In January 2021, cottonyarn prices increased 15 percent MoM and 30 per cent YoY,resulting in higher gross mar-gins.

“The higher cotton yarndemand is attributed to theglobal supply curbs on Xinjiangregion (China) cotton, which isbenefitting Indian domesticspinners.”

“While exports are likely tomoderate during January-February 2021 with likely shut-down of mills ahead of Chinesenew year, demand resumptionis likely by March 2021.”

Consequently, cottonprices surged by 7-10 per centMoM during January 2021,led by a strong export demandfor cotton yarn.

“The international pricesrose by 13-17 per cent YoY, ledby the buoyant China demandfor US cotton, which is having

a rub-off effect on cheaperIndian cotton prices.”

However, apparel exportsdeclined in December 2020,after recovering overSeptember-November 2020 ona YoY basis due to the impactof a second wave of Covid-19in the US and Europe.

“This would also impactthe near-term order book posi-tion of ready-made garmentexporters for the upcomingfashion season.”

“During November 2020,knitted apparels volumesremained stagnant with reali-sations gaining by high singledigit yoy basis; on the contrary,woven apparels volumesincreased by 8.2 per cent andrealisations fell substantiallyyoy basis. During 2020, Indiaexports to the US fell 20-25 percent YoY in both volume andvalue terms.”

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To promote the use of elec-tric vehicles across India,

CSC e-Governance ServiceCommon Services India Ltdhas launched Rural e-MobilityProgramme whereby urgingpeople to switch to electricvehicles to preserve and con-serve the environment byreducing their carbon foot-print.

“We are focusing on ruralareas for which we have

launched Rural e-MobilityProgramme at our 100 CSCcentres that will be providing e-scooters and e-rickshaws topeople. The company has tiedup with various e-vehiclesmanufacturers and also finan-cial institutions for offeringattractive loans to people inrural areas. We are also settingup charging infrastructure atour CSCs for convenience ofour customers,” said CSCManaging Director DineshTyagi.

CSC is a Special PurposeVehicle (SPV) under theMinistry of Electronics andIT. “Our programme will notonly add environmental bene-fits but also create new modelsof inclusive development interms of connectivity in remotecorners of our country. We willorganize roadshows and bikerallies across India to promoteour Rural e-MobilityProgramme,” said Tyagi.Onesuch mega roadshow was orga-nized in New Delhi on Friday.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Saturday said that it has filed acharge sheet against KudosChemie Ltd., Kudos HoldingsPvt Ltd and its directors andJitendra Singh and GurmeetSodhi in connection with amoney laundering probe.

The ED filed the chargesheet at the Special PMLACourt in Chandigarh under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act on February18.

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� Goyal asked the BIS toexplore internationalpartnerships andassociations to achievesynergy in the field

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Ki mai gumshudgi mein khud ko dhake hui hoonkuch is tarah; Ki jo rab ne diya tha, Tezab meinjala diya, usne mera; Sab kuch, sare aam; Koinahin aya bachane mujhe; Mai cheekhti chilatirahi; Ghanto, kai roz; Ki, koi to, de de mujhe wapasmeri tasveer vo, purani; Mehfooz nahin hoon mai;Mera Jism jala diya; Sirf rooh hi to, hoon Mai ab;Sirf ek rooh.

These lines by women rights activist andadvocate Pooja Sareen echoes thetremendous pain that every girl goesthrough acid attack. The rising num-ber of acid attack cases in India is

making every girl tremble with fear when goingout of the safe environs of home. It is makingthem arrest their mind to think or decide freelyas they never know who will throw acid on themonly because someone out there might not beable to digest their freedom.

The danger is not only from the young andless mature men, but also from the so-calledmature individuals. The general perceptionwas that the perpetrators of horrendous acidattacks are young frustrated individuals, butrecently a 50-year-old man was caught after hethrew acid on a woman in Assam’s Dibrugarh.The mute question now is that even the maturemen are showing the immature side when itcomes to dealing with rejections by women.

The man in his 50s was arrested last week;though the intention of the man is not yet out,it still falls in a category where women are beingdisfigured or robbed of their natural beautybecause someone could not tolerate a womanstanding up for what is right according to her.Figures released by the National Crime RecordsBureau (NCRB) found that between 2018 and2020 there have been nearly 1, 600 victims of acidattacks in the country. At least one acid attackis perpetrated every day. However, the countrywith the highest number of acid attacks has thelowest number of convictions — less than fiveper cent — according to activists who work close-ly with victims. Women have been at the receiv-ing end of men’s ire, and the trend is not stop-ping.

No doubt, women are being heard andmovies like Chhapaak are being made, therespect that women deserve is far from theirreach. Chhapaak was inspired by the story ofLaxmi Agarwal, who was burnt with acid inDelhi in 2005 when she was barely 15 years ofage. She protests banning the sale of acid in Indiaand supporting acid attack survivors. Many otheracid attack victims are working for this cause,to save other girls from such henious, heart ren-dering incidents. “Question is why and who dowe have to save our girls from? We need to savethem from the males who undergo rejection, of

their friendship, marriage, dating and sexual pro-posals. Why is male ego so poisonously danger-ous that it cannot stand a no and take thevengeance and revenge from innocent girls, bythrowing acid on their face. The ideology or thethought remains that, ‘what can’t be mine, can’tbe anyone else’s either’. It only shows their dis-turbed and harmful psyche,” says Sareen.

The low conviction rate is also not helpingthe cause. The Section 326 A in the Indian PenalCode lays down the punishment for acid attacks.The minimum punishment is 10 years' impris-onment. It can extend up to life imprisonmentwith fine. A separate law to punish offenders insuch cases was passed along with amendment oflaw on sexual offences, in 2013, after the PIL filedby Laxmi Agarwal a victim of acid attacks.“These perpetrators should be punished vehe-mently, and stricter laws and penalties should beimposed on such wrong doers, who destruct anddevastate the lives attacking them with acids,”adds Sareen.

A case in point is Rakshima (name changed)who was attacked with acid by a man much olderto her for, yes you got it right, rejecting his mar-riage proposal.

“I was in my late 20s when that man, whoused to live somewhere nearby, threw acid onmy face and body because I rejected his marriageproposal. He was not only twice my age, but wasalso a divorcee. He stalked me for a while andone day told me that he wants to marry me. Infact, it was not a proposal but an order. I haterecalling that day, but unfortunately it has beenetched in my memory and on my face. Every day,I am reminded of how that day has completelychanged my life,” she says.

The sad part of Rakshima’s story is that afterthe incident the man was left without even theslightest feeling of guilt. “I can recall the expres-sions on his face after the incident. He was sat-isfied that he did what he wanted, that he ruinedan innocent life and that he successfully fed hisfalse ego. Within seconds, I fell unconscious andwoke up only to see my disfigured face. I didn’tcry or shout. I was numb. I started thinking aboutwhat it takes for people to become so coward andgo so down in life that they don’t shy away fromruining lives. I was devastated, but was deter-mined to never cry over the cowardness of a manwho has nothing to do in his life. My beauty liesinside me,” she tells you.

However, Rakshima is not an exception,another girl in her early 20s faced the same sit-uation. Her dreams shattered along with that acidbottle. “Revenge, the sense of not taking no asan answer for anything and looking down uponwomen are a few reasons why these horrendouscrimes take place. There have been so manydebates around the topics, but I want to ask what

has really changed? No one might have theanswer to this. The society, which on one handencourages movies like Chhapaak on the otherhand still turn their back towards acid attack sur-vivors. We still fight to get our place. Some peo-ple even don’t hesitate in saying that we shouldhave married that person in the first case. Andif we would have did, things would have beenbetter. However, it is not their fault actually. Itis their upbringing and their thoughts is a win-dow to their personality. It is because of thismindset that girls fear to walk on the streetsalone. They tremble when a boy follows them.A shadow behind them even on a busy streetsend shivers down their spine. You ask why?Because no one knows what that shadow can doto them,” she says without disclosing her iden-tity.

Psychologists feel that low conviction rate isalso behind increasing cases as criminals knowthat they can get away with the heinous crimesor at least they will get a window where the vic-tims will drop the cases after tiresome roundsof courts. “I have had the experience of inter-acting with many people with criminal bent ofmind, and the sheer disrespect to the law comesdirectly from the delays in such proceedings.Though courts cannot be blamed entirely whenwe see the huge number of cases as against minis-cule number of judges in India. A mechanismhas to be put in place; the Government also hasto step up the efforts to arm the courts with ade-quate number of judges,” says Pulkit Sharma, aclinical psychologist.

“India the nation of Goddesses, chat poojan,Durga Pooja, Maa Saraswati, a nation whichchants jai mata di as soon as a voyage or a jour-ney commences, a nation which believes that ourGoddesses are most powerful, how ironic is itthat the same nation tragically tops the global

charts when it comes to acid attacks targetingwomen. India, hamari Bharat Mata tops whenit comes to rape cases,” wonders Sareen. Thequestion arises, why to throw acid and take crim-inality to a level where it not only falls in the para-meters of crimes that leave you trembling in fear,but also shows disrespect towards a gender thatis compared to Goddess in the country.

Many experts feel that frustration with lifeor life matters is also behind the perpetration ofsuch crimes. “These criminals are, generally, thepeople who are rejected or less accepted by thesociety. There are cases where the accused per-son reaches a level of aggression because of theserejections, and vents his frustration on the eas-iest of victims. The intensity of the actiondepends on the mindset at that moment or theavailability of the tools of crime to the accused.This is the reason that every sane person in Indiafavours ban on open sale of acid. I am not say-ing that it will put a full stop to the crime, butit will be a step towards curtailing the atrociousact,” says Sharma.

Experts feel that fast track courts should beconstituted to adjudicating, these matters ,India’s population is humungous and so are thenumber of cases, more fast track courts shouldadjudicate these matters, so that punishmentscould be imposed and justice should prevail.“Section 326 A & 326 B should be imposed perthe prevailing law, and Indian Penal Code. Alsothere should be awareness workshops conduct-ed by NGO and on social media, awareness ses-sions should be conducted to cease and controlthe increasing aggression and frustrated instinctsin the males, they should be educated to accepta rejection, a no. Human values need to beimbibed in them, they need to be properlytrained that females are not their property.Human life is precious,” suggests Sareen.

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ACID TESTOF WOMEN’S PATIENCE

ACID TESTOF WOMEN’S PATIENCE

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Japan’s Naomi Osaka dismissedJennifer Brady in straight sets towin her fourth Grand Slam title

at the Australian Open on Saturdayand underline her new status as thedominant force in women’s tennis.

Osaka, 23, swept past America’sBrady 6-4, 6-3 in 77 minutes to winher second straight major crown andextend a 21-match winning streakthat stretches back more than a year.

The world number three, whowill rise to second in the rankings,becomes only the third player afterMonica Seles and Roger Federer towin her first four major finals.

By clinching back-to-backmajors for the second time, thereigning US Open champion haswon half of the Slams she has con-tested since her breakthrough 2018US Open victory against SerenaWilliams.

After a tight first set, Osaka con-

trolled the second to win 6-4, 6-3 in77 minutes in front of 7,381 fans atRod Laver Arena, operating at half-capacity over coronavirus concerns.

“During my pre-season I wouldlook at the Australian Open trophyfrom the time before and I wouldreally feel inspired to try to winanother one,” she revealed.

Osaka, who did not play lastyear’s French Open, saved matchpoints against Garbine Muguruza inthe fourth round and beat her idolSerena Williams in straight sets inthe semi-finals.

But Osaka, a third-round loserin Melbourne last year, said she did-n’t expect her charmed run to go onforever.

“I don’t expect to win all mymatches this year,” she said.“Somebody can give me a medal ifI win all my matches this year, butI don’t think it’s possible.

After subduing 22nd seedBrady, a fellow big-hitter, Osaka lift-ed her racquet above her head in a

muted celebration as the crowdroared.

“We played in the semis of theUS Open a couple of months agoand I told everyone that you’re goingto be a problem,” Osaka told Bradyat the trophy presentation.“And I was right.”

US OPEN REMATCHThe Japanese survived

a seesaw start to gaincontrol, reeling offsix straightgames enroute tothe title.

It wasa rematchof last year’sepic, three-setUS Open semi-final, described bysome as the best match of2020, but Osaka triumphedfar more comfortably onthis occasion.

Despite the defeat,Brady will rise to a career-high 13th in the WTArankings.

Asked what makesOsaka special, she said:“She’s just brings out herbest in the big moments.

“But I don’t think,you know, she’s God,”added Brady. “I thinkmaybe Serena is. Maybeshe’ll get there, I don’tknow.”

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Not long ago, Jennifer Bradythought reaching a Grand Slam

final was as far-fetched as “going toMars” — but she said a major win nolonger seems impossible after finish-ing runner-up at the AustralianOpen.

The American 22nd seed said aGrand Slam victory now felt “totallyachievable” after her maiden majorfinal, despite falling in straight sets toNaomi Osaka.

“I think I belong at this level. Ithink winning a Grand Slam is total-ly achievable. It’s within reach,” saidBrady after her first Slam decider.

“Obviously I was nervous, didn’tgo my way, but at the same time com-ing off court, I was like, OK, that feelsa little bit normal.”

“If you were to ask me maybe ayear ago, I wouldn’t think it’s possi-ble or it would feel like it’s, like, goingto Mars,” she added.

Brady has had the best run of hercareer since tennis returned from itscoronavirus shutdown, winning herfirst WTA title and reaching the USOpen semi-finals — where she alsolost to Osaka.

She reached the Melbourne finaldespite undergoing 14 days’ hardquarantine in Australia, forced to stayin her room while other players wereallowed out every day to train.

“I made my first Grand Slamfinal, so maybe if I wasn’t in quaran-tine I would have won,” she smiled,adding that she had “mixed feelings”about the match.

“I’m pretty proud of myself, myteam, for what we achieved here. Wecame here and I reached my firstGrand Slam final,” she said.

“But also I’m walking away withthe runner-up trophy, not the win-ner’s trophy, so that’s a little bit sad.”

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Novak Djokovic says goingunbeaten in eight

Australian Open finals willgive him confidence inSunday’s decider, but he’ll needmore than that to overcome“the man to beat” — red-hotRussian Daniil Medvedev.

The Serbian world numberone is into his ninth decider atMelbourne Park as he targetsan 18th Slam title to close thegap on Roger Federer andRafael Nadal, who have 20each.

It has been a rollercoasterride to get there, with Djokovicuncharacteristically droppingfive sets as he battled anabdominal injury that nearlyforced him to pull out.

But after his semi-final,Djokovic said he was feelingbetter than at any time duringthe past fortnight as he pre-pares to defend his crownagainst a man on a 20-matchunbeaten streak.

The Serb heads into theshowpiece on Sunday eveningwith the phenomenal record ofnever losing a final onMelbourne’s famous bluecourts in eight attempts span-ning 13 years.

Djokovic will also be play-ing his 28th Grand Slam final,in contrast to the Russian’ssecond.

But the 33-year-old, whoswept past qualifier AslanKaratsev in the semi-finals,said while experience was

clearly an advantage, Medvedevwas also in electric form.

“Of course it contributes tomore confidence, prior to com-ing into the finals knowing thatI never lost in the finals orsemi-finals just makes me feelmore comfortable being onthe court,” he said.

“But each year is different,although it does have a mentaleffect on me. Maybe on myopponents, I don’t know, but on

me it does definitely have apositive effect.

“But it’s not a decisive fac-tor in the way the match isgoing to go forward, becauseeach year is different.”

Medvedev is unbeatensince last November, includinga straight-sets drubbing of theSerb at the ATP Finals inLondon, with Djokovic deem-ing him “the man to beat”.

“He's just so solid. Also, I

heard (commentator) JimCourier calling him a masterchess player because of the wayhe tactically positions himselfon the court, and it’s true,” hesaid.

“You know, he’s definitely avery smart tennis player.”

‘HE’S THE FAVOURITE’Medvedev, who has

dropped just two sets so far,insisted that despite having all

the momentum he was still theunderdog.

“He’s the favourite becausehe didn’t lose. On eight occa-sions that he was here in thesemis he won the tournament,”said the 25-year-old.

“Me, I’m... the challenger,the guy that challenges theguy who was eight times in thefinal and won eight times. AndI’m happy about it.

“I know that to beat himyou need to just show your besttennis, be at your best physical-ly maybe four or five hours, andbe at your best mentally maybefor five hours,” he added.

Despite playing down hischances, Medvedev, who alsoreached the 2019 US Openfinal, losing to Nadal, has theweapons to trouble Djokovic,with a big serve, unrelentingreturns and exceptional move-ment as he targets a maidenGrand Slam title.

Twelve of his 20 straightwins have been against top-10players and he has won three ofhis last four against the 17-timeGrand Slam-winning Serb.

“Playing Novak seventimes already is just a hugeexperience,” he said.

“(But) I think when he’s inthe zone he doesn’t miss. Hegoes down the line, cross, fore-hand, backhand, he doesn’tmiss. That’s what is the tough-est part of playing against him.”

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Japan’s Naomi Osaka promised onSaturday not to be weighed down

by “pressure and expectation” afterher latest Grand Slam victorys p a r k e d

t a l ks h ec ou l d

end upwinning 10

majors.She becomes only

the third player afterMonica Seles andRoger Federer to win

their first four majorfinals, and will now rise to

second in the world rank-ings.

The 23-year-old won herfourth Slam from the last eight

she’s contested and is now seen asthe dominant force in women’stennis, a view shared by seven-timeSlam-winner Mats Wilander, whobelieves Osaka can win 10 GrandSlams.

“I’m taking it in sections. Forright now, I’m trying to go for five,”Osaka said, when asked aboutWilander’s comment.

“After five I would think aboutmaybe dividing the 10, so maybeseven or eight.”

“I don’t like to take things big-picture,” Osaka added. “For me, Ilike to live in the moment.

“It’s an honour that he said that.But I don’t want to weigh myselfdown with pressure and expecta-tions.”

Osaka has proven to be irre-

sistible on hard courts after nowwinning twice at Melbourne Parkand Flushing Meadows.

But she’s struggled elsewhere,having never made it past the thirdround on the French Open’s clay or

Wimbledon’s grass courts.“I feel like I have to get comfort-

able on those surfaces,” she said. “Ididn’t grow up playing on grass atall.

“I honestly think I’d have bet-ter luck on clay, because I think lastyear I didn’t play bad at all.”

However, when asked whereshe was most likely to win her firstnon-hardcourt Grand Slam, Osakasaid: “Hopefully clay because it’s theone that’s sooner.”

As her achievements grow,Osaka said she simply hoped toinspire the next generation.

“Hopefully I play long enoughto play a girl that said that I was onceher favourite player,” she said.

“Unfortunately I didn’t get toplay (her favourite player) Li Na.

“I just think that’s how the sportmoves forward.”

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Barbora Krejcikova and RajeevRam won their second

Australian Open mixed doublestitle in three years on Saturday witha 6-1, 6-4 win over home pairingSam Stosur and Matthew Ebden.

For Krejcikova it was her thirdAustralian Open title in a row aftercombining with Nikola Mektic ofCroatia to win the mixed doubles ayear ago.

She had lost in the women’s dou-bles final with fellow Czech KaterinaSiniakova on Friday to Elise Mertens

and Aryna Sabalenka, but put herdisappointment behind her in just 59minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

“We had a year off as a team, butshe didn’t have a year off and wonthis thing last year,” Ram said ofKrejcikova at the presentation cer-emony.

“Three years running is anamazing job.”

Ram has a chance to pick upanother Australian Open title onSunday, when he and Britain’s JoeSalisbury defend their men’s doublestitle against Ivan Dodig and FilipPolasek.

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Naomi Osaka said she’s living her“dreams” on Saturday after

defeating Jennifer Brady to win theAustralian Open, adding that she’ll

celebrate with anime and pizza.Having grown up watching

the Australian Open at “crazyhours” in the United States,

Osaka said it felt “surreal” to tri-umph for the second time atMelbourne Park.

“I’m really just living my dreams,”she told Channel Nine.

“I’m always shaking a little bit (atthe end). Thank God I had threematch points.”

Reinforcing her reputation her-self as tennis’s leading light, havingwon four of her last eight Slams she’splayed, Osaka warned she was notsatisfied.

“I take every tournament serious-ly,” she said.

“I just want to be consistent andthat is my main goal this year.”

Amid an uncertain upcomingschedule, Osaka said she hoped toplay the Tokyo Olympics.

“Everyone knows I wanted toplay in the Olympics since I was a kidand hopefully it goes through,” shesaid. But after her triumph, Osakaplanned a low-key celebration.

“I’m probably going to watchsome anime... maybe (eat) pizza... andgo to sleep,” she said.

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Atletico Madrid gave renewedhope to their La Liga title

rivals on Saturday by losing 2-0at home to Levante and missingthe chance to extend their six-point lead at the top of the table.

The defeat is only Atletico’ssecond in the league this seasonand their first at the WandaMetropolitano in any competi-tion since Barcelona beat themthere in December 2019.

It means what could havebeen a commanding 11-pointadvantage at the top of the tableis now just six, with Real Madrid,the closest challengers, upagainst Real Valladolid later onSaturday.

Due to rearranged fixtures,Atletico were facing Levantefor the second time in four days,having already dropped twopoints against them in an away1-1 draw on Wednesday.

And Levante proved thatwas no fluke by going one bet-ter, their impressive victoryinflicting another setback onDiego Simeone’s side, who willhave to rediscover their rhythmfor Tuesday’s Champions Leaguelast 16 first leg at home toChelsea. Luis Suarez will be upagainst English opposition againin midweek and the Uruguayanwent closest to finding anequaliser, his bending free-kickin the second half coming backoff the post. Suarez has nowgone three league games with-out scoring for the first time thisseason.

Jose Luis Morales hadalready put Levante in front afterhalf an hour and while Atleticohuffed and puffed for most ofthe second half.

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Japan’s celebrations for NaomiOsaka’s fourth Grand Slam title

went into orbit on Saturday, withan astronaut tweeting congratula-tions from the International SpaceStation.

Osaka’s triumph over JenniferBrady in the Australian Open finalwas hailed in Japan, and beyond,as astronaut Soichi Noguchi wrotefrom space “Naomi Osaka, con-gratulations on the victory,” witha Gold-medal emoji.

Japan’s media said it broughtprospects of a Gold medal at thecoronavirus-delayed TokyoOlympics “a big step closer”.

Major broadcasters flashednews of the 23-year-old’s latestGrand Slam win, which added tovictories at the 2018 US Open, the2019 Australian Open and the2020 US Open.

“Osaka got a big step closer towinning the Gold medal at theTokyo Olympics,” the NikkanSports daily said of the player, whois a leading face of the Games inher home nation.

“The Australian victory is abarometer for the Gold medal” atthe Tokyo Games, where tennismatches are played on the sametype of court, the newspaper said— calling Osaka “the queen ofhard courts.”

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Bayern Munich crashed toa 2-1 defeat at Eintracht

Frankfurt on Saturday in theBundesliga as the worldchampions showed chinksin their armour before theyreturn to Champions Leagueaction next week.

Robert Lewandowskinetted his 26th league goalthis season for Bayern, butFrankfurt deserved the winthanks to first-half goals byJapan midfielder DaichiKamada and Amin Younes.

After their 3-3 leaguedraw at home to strugglersArmina Bielefeld lastMonday, Bayern again wob-bled ahead of Tuesday’s

Champions League first legtie at Lazio.

Frankfurt’s win giveshope to Bayern’s league rivalsas second-placed RB Leipzigcan cut Bayern’s lead to twopoints if they win at HerthaBerlin on Sunday.

It was Bayern’s thirdleague defeat.

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Ishan Kishan, SuryakumarYadav and Rahul Tewatia on

Saturday earned their maidenIndia call-up for next month’sfive-match T20 series againstEngland as the selectorsrewarded them for their stu-pendous performances in theIPL.

Wicket-keeper batsmanRishabh Pant, all-rounder AxarPatel and pacer BhuvneswarKumar also returned to a fresh-looking squad.

The selectors named a 19-man squad for the series start-ing March 12 in Ahmedabadwith an aim to try out newfaces such as Kishan, Yadav andTewatia in a World Cup year.

All three had a stellar IPLthough Yadav has formed thebackbone of Mumbai Indians’batting over the years.

Questions were raisedwhen Suryakumar Yadav didnot make the team for theseries in Australia but his longwait has finally ended.

Kishan too had a goodIPL and has been in red hotform in white ball cricket. Hegot the call-up on a day whenhe smashed 173 off 93 balls forJharkhand in the Vijay HazareTrophy.

Tewatia, who plays forRajasthan Royals and Haryana,had smashed West IndianSheldon Cottrell for five sixesin an over in the IPL last yearto pull off a stunning win forhis team.

Left-arm wrist spinnerKuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samsonand Manish Pandey have beendropped from the side whilepacer Jasprit Bumrah has been

rested.Mohammad Shami and

Ravindra Jadeja were notincluded as they they are stillrecovering from injuries theysuffered on the Australia tour.

Pant comes back into theteam following a stellar run inTests in Australia and hisgood form has continued in thehome series against England.Bhuvneshwar returns to theside having recovered from ahamstring injury he suffered inthe IPL.

Axar, who last played a T20in February 2018, is also backhaving performed consistentlyin the IPL. His selection comesafter he took a five-wicket haulin his maiden Test and is a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja.

Mystery spinner VarunChakravarthy, who missed theAustralia series due to aninjury, has also been named inthe team.

Left-arm pacer T Natarajanhas expectedly retained hisplace following an impressivedebut series in Australia.

Both Kishan and Pant havebeen named as wicketkeepers,so it remains to be seen if K LRahul will continue to keep thewickets.T20I squad: Virat Kohli(Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, ShikharDhawan, Shreyas Iyer,Suryakumar Yadav, HardikPandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal,Varun Chakravarthy, AxarPatel, Washington Sundar,Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, DeepakChahar, Navdeep Saini andShardul Thakur.

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The pink ball usuallymoves around a lot intwilight but India bats-

man Cheteshwar Pujara onSaturday said it is difficult topredict how much the SG ballwill swing in the first ever Testunder lights at the refurbishedMotera Stadium here.

India annihilated Englandby 317 runs in a rank-turner atChepauk to level the four-match series one-all and all eyesare now on the pitch here forthe third Test begins from feb-ruary 24.

India do not have a lot ofexperience with the pink-ball,having played just two games.

“We are not sure how muchthe ball is going to swingaround for this particular Test,”Pujara said in a virtual mediainteraction after the first netsession.

“Early on it might swing abit, but maybe going forward asthe match progresses, it mightnot be a lot of swing but wenever know with the pink ballit’s very difficult to predict.”

Pujara said the pitch lookeda decent one to him but “a lotcould change with three-fourdays left for the Test”.

“It’s a different ball gamewith the red ball. With the pinkball, it’s very difficult to judgeor assess anything before thematch begins because some-times you’re expecting some-thing but it turns out somethingelse with a pink ball.

“I would just try to keepthings very simple as a player,and not worry too much aboutthe pitch,” Pujara said.

“I’ve played so many Testmatches but with pink ball Ialso don’t have enough experi-ence. I don’t think experiencematters a lot when you are play-ing just one off game in a Testseries with the pink ball,” hesaid.

On the Motera stadium, hesaid: “It’s a new stadium, it’s anew pitch. Once we play moregames we’ll get to know aboutthe pitch. But it’s a beautiful sta-dium we all are enjoying here.We had a gym session yester-day.

“Personally, I’ve some fondmemories of the last time Iplayed in 2012 which was rightafter my engagement.”

“In the old stadium, it washelpful for the spinners. But ifyou bat well, there was value foryour shots. The ball would

reverse as well. I will alwaysremember the Test,” he saidrecalling his 206 not out againstEngland here in November2012.

India have so far hosted asolitary pink ball Test againstBangladesh on a green top atEden Gardens in November2019 as they bulldozed theirneighbours by an innings and46 runs inside three days.

But against England whoboast of a star-studded pace lineup in James Anderson, JofraArcher, Stuart Broad, such a

move could backfire.Pujara said they’re unsure

whether to keep a grass coveror not.

“To be honest it’s very dif-ficult to predict whether youcan keep the grass cover or cantake it off.

“We are in a stage where wedon’t have a lot of experience asplayers but we are trying to fig-ure out... We’ll see.

“It’s very difficult to sayanything about it because wehave played just one day-nightgame (in India) which waswith the SG ball. The domesticgames (Duleep Trophy), waswith Kookaburra balls.

“I feel it’s an importantgame for us to qualify for theWorld Test Championship sowe would try to focus on thethings what we want to do as a

team and make sure that wewin this Test,” he added.

India had a horror show intheir last pink ball Test, againstAustralia in Adelaide, wherethey crashed to their lowest-ever total of 36 to succumb toan eight-wicket defeat.

Pujara said playing a pink-ball game at home is a differ-ent challenge altogether.

“It was a different ball-game altogether, we were play-ing in Australia. The ball wasswinging around a lot and wehad a bad session, one and halfhours of poor batting that ledto the disaster.

“Here we are playing in ourown conditions, the ball is alsodifferent with the SG ball andthe guys have played a Test withthe SG ball so we are pretty con-fident that we will put up a

good show.”The India No 3 has not

been able to convert his startsand was dismissed by Englishleftarm spinner Jack Leach insuccessive Tests at Chepauk.

But Pujara said he’s confi-dent about his batting andpreparation and a three-figuremark is just “a matter of time”.

“I’ve got good starts butthere have been two unfortu-nate dismissals. I’m doing wellin preparation and confidentabout my batting. I’m sure athree-figure score will comesoon and it’s just a matter oftime,” he said.

Asked if Hardik can makethe eleven, he added: “It’s goodto see him back in his rhythm.He seems in good nick. I’m notallowed to say anything at thisstage”.

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Ready to re-enter the IPLbandwagon after seven

years, Cheteshwar Pujara sayscompeting in the T20 leaguewon’t hamper his prepara-tions for the away Test seriesagainst England since he willhave plenty of County gamesto play before the Test assign-ment.

Unsold for seven seasons,Pujara was finally picked byMS Dhoni-led Chennai SuperKings at his base price of �50lakh for this year IPL.

“I’m really glad to be partof the IPL. It’s good to be backagain, and I would like tothank CSK for taking me,” theIndia Test number three said

here during a virtual mediaconference.

“Talking about countycricket, I will still have enoughtime before we play theEngland Test series,” Pujara,who has earlier played forDerbyshire, Nottinghamshireand Yorkshire, said.

India will play five Testsagainst England later this year.

Pujara has a solid tech-nique but due to his slow bat-ting style he is not consideredfit for the slam-bang format.But he is looking forward tomake a mark in this formattoo.

“Once IPL gets over, therewill be a window where I canplay a few county games. Thatcall I will take once IPL it gets

over. But there will be enoughtime to play some Countygames. We also have a coupleof practice games before theTest series begins in August.

“There’s plenty of time toplay county cricket but it’salways good to be back inIPL.”

Asked whether he dis-cussed this with CSK, Pujarasaid: “Nothing on that part...But I always wanted to playshorter format of the game.”

“So my focus once this(ongoing) Test series gets overwill be on the IPL, and thenonce IPL gets over then I’llthink about county gamesand then there is a big seriescoming up against England inAugust...”

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KXIP is now Punjab Kings and its co-owner Ness Wadia onSaturday said the franchise needed to rebrand itself after

so many years of IPL and the name change was something itwanted since 2019.

Wadia feels Punjab Kings is a simpler name compared toKings XI Punjab and will connect more with their fan base.

“We just felt that we wanted to relook at things. We need-ed to rebrand and reinvent ourselves after so many years. Asthey say if something doesn’t work, change it and try and getit working,” Wadia told PTI, referring to the team’s title-lessrun in the IPL since the event’s inaugural edition in 2008.

“Kings XI Punjab had a reference to the playing XI. PunjabKings is more inclusive and will resonate better with the fans.

“We had been thinking of a name change for last coupleof years. COVID came in 2020 so we put it on hold. We thoughtif we could do it at the big auction next year or the smallerauction this season, so finally decided to do it this year.”

With the COVID caseload coming down drastically inIndia, the upcoming edition is set to be played in the coun-try. Wadia is excited about the IPL returning home.

“The UAE has had a huge amount of cases recently. Indiais safer at this point. We just need to make sure that strict pro-tocols are in place, like we had in the UAE.

“Hopefully, some part of the stadiums will be filled withspectators. I don't see full crowds being allowed for the games.I am the sure the right decision will be taken in due time. Weare still two months away from the tournament,” said Wadia.

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Skipper Ishan Kishansmashed a blistering 173 off

just 94 balls to lead Jharkhandto a massive 324-run victoryover Madhya Pradesh in anElite Group B game of theVijay Hazare Trophy, here onSaturday.

Invited to bat, Jharkhandposted a mammoth 422 fornine, shaped by Kishan’s whirl-wind knock, and then bundledout the opposition for a mea-gre 98 in 18.4 overs, withpacer Varun Aaron (6/37)doing the bulk of the damage.

The 22-year-old left-hand-ed Kishan single-handedlytore apart the MP attack, strik-ing 19 fours and 11 sixes in hisknock.

After Jharkhand lost open-er Utkarsh Singh (6) early,Kishan conjured up a 113-runsecond-wicket stand withKumar Kushagra (26) to laythe foundation for a big score.

Kishan, who opened theinnings, continued playing hisshots before being caught byShubham Sharma off GauravYadav.

Kishan reached his indi-vidual 50 in 42 balls, 100 in 74balls and 150 in 86 balls.

Courtesy Kishan’s hero-ics, Jharkhand posted thehighest total by an Indiandomestic side.

Virat Singh (68 off 49balls; 5x4, 3x6) and SumitKumar (52 off 58 balls, 5x4)also played their parts to per-fection as all the MP bowlershad an off day in the field.

However, there was moreaction in store as all-rounder

Anukul Roy smashed sevensixes and three fours in his 39-ball 72 and ensured that histeam went past the 400-runmark.

Aaron wreaked havoc toleave Madya Pradesh totteringat 21 for five.

It was just a matter of timeas they were eventually bun-dled out for 98 as their all top-order batsmen faltered.

Brief Scores:Jharkhand 422/9 (Ishan

Kishan 173, Anukul Roy 72;Virat Singh 68; Gourav Yadav4/73, Shubham Sharma 1/44)beat Madhya Pradesh 98 allout (Abhishek Bhandari 42;Venkatesh Iyer 23; VarunAaron 6/37, Bal Krishna 2/8)by 324 runs.

"��"�� Vishnu Solanki's stroke-

filled century and bowlers'splendid show set up Baroda'sfive wicket win over Goa in an

Elite Group A game as theykicked off their Vijay HazareTrophy campaign on a win-ning note here on Saturday.

Invited to bat at theKholdvad Gymkhana ground,Baroda bundled out Goa for263 and then chased the tar-get with nine balls to spare asthey rode on Solanki's 108 off132 balls and half centuriesfrom skipper Krunal Pandya(71 off 77 balls) and openerSmit Patel (58 off 64 balls).

For Goa, SnehalKauthankar top scored with a100-ball 81, hammering sixfours and two sixes after theylost openers Ishaan Gadekar(7) and Aditya Kaushik (7)early.

Baroda bowlers led bypacer Atit Sheth (3/50) andleft-arm spinner KrunalPandya (3/62) kept making in-roads even as Kauthankar didnot get a steady partner.

Skipper Amit Verma (24),wicket-keeper KD Eknath(43), Suyash Prabhudessai(39), Darshan Misal (20) andLakshay Garg (23) could notconvert their starts into bigscores.

Sheth and Krunal, werewell complimented by pacerLukman Meriwala (2/43), whowas recently picked up byDelhi Capitals and all-rounderBabashafi Pathan (1/43).

Baroda lost opener KedarDevdhar (0) early, but SmitPatel and Solanki rallied theinnings with their 95-runstand for the second wicket tobring them back into the con-test.

Solanki took on the Goabowlers with utmost ease and

hammered 12 fours and a six,and found an able ally in skip-per Krunal, as they stitched acrucial 138-run stand for thethird wicket.

Baroda lost Solanki andKrunal in quick succession,but Ninad Rathwa (10 notout) and AbhimanyusinghRajput (6 not out) took themhome in 48.3 overs.

Brief Scores:Goa 263 all out (Snehal

Kauthankar 81; K D Eknath43; Atit Sheth 3/50; KrunalPandya 3/62) lost to Baroda264/5 (Vishnu Solanki 108,Krunal Pandya 71; AmitVerma 2-39, AmulyaPandrekar 1-35) by five wick-ets.

At C K Pithwala Ground:Hyderabad 349/5 (TilakVerma 156 not out, TanmayAgarwal 86; R A Dey 2/45, AS Sarkar 1/42) beat Tripura 236(Milind Kumar 67, BikramKumar Das 65; C V Milind5/43, B Sandeep 2/37) by 113runs.

At Lalbhai ContractorStadium: Chhattisgarh 231 allout (Shashank Chandrakar 92,Ashutosh Singh 47; ArzanNagwaswalla 6/54, ChintanGaja 2/50) lost to Gujarat232/7 (Dhruv 38, B H Merai38; Veer Pratap Singh 2/38) bythree wickets.

��9&� ��&��Rinku Singh smashed an

unbeaten 62 as Uttar Pradeshstunned defending champi-ons Karnataka by nine runs viathe VJD Method in their rain-truncated Vijay Hazare TrophyGroup C opener here onSaturday.

Chasing 247 in the stipu-lated 50 overs, Uttar Pradeshhad a slow start and were150/4 in 32 overs, but then, theKolkata Knight Riders left-hander took charge of theproceedings, hitting sevenboundaries and one six in his61-ball knock.

Rain halted play at 45.2overs with UP placed at 215/4,which was nine runs morethan the par score of 207, atthe M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

UP’s opening duo ofAbhishek Goswami (54 off 67balls) and Karan Sharma (40off 74 balls) initially struggledto get going against theKarnataka new ball bowlers,Abhimanyu Mithun andPrasidh Krishna, managingonly nine runs in the first fiveovers.

The pair put on a centurystand but they lost three wick-ets for nine runs as the defend-ing champions looked to seizethe momentum, But Rinkuturned it around with his briskhalf-century.

Put in, a depletedKarnataka, who were missingthe services of K L Rahul,Mayank Agarwal, ManishPandey and K Gowtham, alsogot off to a slow start.

The promising DevduttPadikkal (52 from 84 balls;7x4) laid the foundation beforeNo. 6 Aniruddha Joshi’s blaz-ing 48-ball 68 (4x4, 6x4)propped up their total.

In the second match atAlur, Railways thrashed Biharby 10 wickets with openersMrunal Devdhar (105 not out)and Pratham taking 29 oversto cruise to a 190-run target.

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Getting picked for Rs.9.2crore by Chennai Super

Kings (CSK) as the mostexpensive Indian player in IPLmini-auction left off-spinbowling all-rounderKrishnappa Gowtham shiver-ing, but he was also happy andbrought tears to his entirefamily as it was a “very emo-tional moment”.

Having played just twogames for Kings XI Punjab inlast year’s IPL and done verylittle in the 2019 edition inseven matches, Gowtham, 32,has little to show in terms ofperformance from the T20tournament.

But of his knocks, from2018, has stuck in the minds ofCSK management. Gowthamhammered two sixes in thepenultimate over as he and JosButtler scored the required 28runs in the last two overs towin Rajasthan Royals a leaguegame against the MS Dhoni-led CSK.

“I never had any kind ofnumbers in my mind. I neverbelieved even when the auc-tion was happening that thiswould actually happen. Whenit all got over, I was literallyshivering but at the same timeI was very happy. My familywas also very happy. I was con-stantly talking to my wife; a lotof emotions were running

through. I enjoyed every bit ofit,” Gowtham told IANS fromAhmedabad, where he asIndia's net bowler is helpingthe team prepare for the thirdTest against England, begin-ning on Wednesday.

Gowtham, however, hasplenty of experience in first-class cricket which gives himthe belief in his worth. He hastaken 166 wickets in 42 first-class matches and scored at astrike of close to 80 even inmulti days format.

The Rs.9.2 crore amount isthe last thing on his mind, hesays. “It doesn’t put any pres-sure on me. I have played somany domestic matches. It isall about the experience, about

domestic experience. It isabout how you turn it intoenergy. You can’t go out therewith a price tag on your mind.You can't really give it allwhen you are constantly think-ing about the price tag. I don’tthink you can ever perform orbe the way you want to be withprice tag [on your mind]. Youhave to go out there and playthe way you have to. That ishow I am going to think andapproach the game [IPL],” heexplained.

Gowtham made his debutin Ranji Trophy debut forKarnataka in 2012 but was leftout of team for three years,from 2014 to 2016, due to poorperformance.

Pujara not sure about SG pink ball swing

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� What is keeping you busythese days?

I am busy with FTC, a talentapp of mine and trying to get peo-

ple from all over the coun-try to get job oppor-

tunities in themovie business.

I have a fewweb seriesand filmsin thep i p e l i n etoo. Sojust busywith get-ting back

to work andthe normal

routine andalso at the same

time valuing time

that I get to spend with my fami-ly.

� A lesson that you learnt dur-ing the lockdown?

We can’t take anything forgranted. We need to value what wehave and at the same time under-stand how much do we need —whether it is clothes or any otherthing. I realised the value of realthings in life as compared to theother things.

� You are still as fit as one canbe. Tell us about your fitnessregime?

Fitness for me is all about themind and to be involved in thatprocess every day. Eating right,training right and regularly, beingpositive, laughing and proudly

looking at everything in a posi-tive way — glass half ful ratherthan half empty. I train six daysa week on weights. I have a verybalanced diet. Also I don’t missyoga. Pranayams are importantfor me.

� What is your biggest take-away from the industry?

It is what life has given me inall these years. Thanks to theindustry for all the name, fame,love, affection and a passport toanybody’s heart. All that will beworth it as long as I can use it tocreate a positive impact and beresponsible.

� You have recently associatedwith O2 Cure? What is it about?

My association with the

brand is all about health, wellnessand COVID. We are urging peo-ple to live a healthier life. Theproducts from the brand withAmerican technology will help usmake the working environment asafer place and also help us getback to work.

Also, team O2 Cure’s motiva-tion and commitment towards pro-viding the society with a solution tofight the deadly virus, was inspiring.Their special expertise and focus onR&D has today enabled them tooffer solutions such as these,designed to offer us the muchneeded sense of security as our livesmove back to normalcy. I am hope-ful that this collaboration will leadto changing people’s life for goodand bringing a sense of safetyaround their environment.

�How did you get interested in music?It began in school. My teacher, back then, one day made me

sing in the class. He loved the way I sang. I developed a love forsinging from there. My mother is a great singer. We grew up lis-tening to her sing. Hamare galey mein sur-tal shuru se thha.�When and how did you get your first break?

I got my first break through a reality show Coke (V) Popstars.It was a show done by Channel V, it was a nationwide talent huntshow where five women who would form a band; I was one ofthe winners. That is how I began my musical journey.�What are the three songs, that you released recently, about?

All the three songs that I have released in the last three-fourmonths have a different flavour to it. They showcase me as a per-son and as an artist in different light — versatile and the mul-tiple personalities that I may have. The song Kehnde Rehnde comesfrom a deep place of anger, disappointment and rejection for beinga certain kind of person; a woman in the world who doesn’t fol-low the norms. And not just cyberbullied but bullied by the soci-ety and put in a corner and shamed for being myself.Cyberbullying is another evil aspect of that. This song, I felt wasnecessary to put out. I wanted to tell people, through the song,why they keep blabbering since nobody is interested. Tu Ki Jane,is a mature song about heartbreak and yet the woman has a senseof empowerment and shows the man an aspect of what he willlose if he leaves me. The video is very empowering. Tara is a beau-tiful love song of yesteryears — the subtlety that one saw via poet-ry where the woman says that she would have been just an ordi-nary star in the galaxy but after meeting you I have become whole-some like the moon and now have a place because of you.�How did Tara get featured in Lahore Confidential?

We were working on the song when somebody I knew in Zee5was looking for a folk song. I made him listen to Tara; we werestill working on it. He loved the rough track and asked if he couldfeature it in Lahore Confidential. I told him that I was workingon my own version of the song and if I could do that, I can licenseyou the song. I am glad that it happened.�Do you think songs have the power to change mindset?

Songs, films and art have the power to change mindset andartists have been gifted the divine power by God and hence I feelthis is the responsibility that we have on our shoulders ratherthan the morality of bondage that the society wants to put onme because I am a woman who behaves in a certain way. I wouldrather take the responsibility of changing the mindset and pro-gressing the society into being more fluid and more acceptingof people.�What kind of music do you love making?

My taste in music is varied. I make music that comes fromwithin — from my heart. As an artist I love the idea of express-ing myself and not just selling music. I love acoustic music, bal-lads, pop, rock. I love listening to dance music. I listen to reg-gae, good hip-hop tracks as well. I just want the music to be goodthat comes from the heart. The lyrics should be good nd evenif the music is hardcore, as long as it is fun and well-produced,I would love it. The songs should have a special something tothem.�A song that you loved doing?

I have loved and enjoyed doing songs that I have put outwhether it was in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil or Telugu. There is alwaysa back story to each song. But yes, there are a few favourites. DilDiyan Gallan is one of the most favourite songs that I have sung.Tara is yet another song that I loved doing.�You acted as well. Why not pursue that?

I would love to pursue acting if it was a Broadway likeChicago.�What next?

There is plenty in the kitty. I have two more songs lined up.I am almost set to release my first English song. I am workingon it. I am also the captain of the Delhi team on Indian Pro MusicLeague.

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He is as fit as he was in early 2000s.Shetty shares with Musba Hashmi his

fitness regime, a lesson that he learntduring the lockdown and his

association with O2 Cure

What comes to your mindwhen you hear the wordpotteries? Is it those big

heavy pots? What if we tell you thatyour naked eye won’t be enough to seethe potteries made by Rajasthan-based artisan Om Prakash Galav andthat you would need a magnifyingglass to see the beauty? Interestingenough? However, it was not until2011 when the craft came into thelimelight and people started recog-nising Galav for his work.

“Before 2011, there were very fewpeople practising this craft. Although,small pottery was popular. When Istarted making miniature pottery,they were so tiny that it required peo-ple a magnifying glass to see them. Butonly the size is small, otherwise theyare exactly a copy of the normal sizedartifacts, both fromthe outside andthe inside,” he tellsyou.

The world’ssmallest pot-tery was madein 2012 whichwas recorded inthe Unique Bookof World Records.

If you thinkthat it was enthusi-asm that led to the birth ofminiature pottery, you are

absolutely wrong. It was, instead,demotivation and frustration thatmade Galav introduce the craft.

“There was a time when I wasextremely demotivated and frustrat-ed with the Government officialsbecause our craft from the Ramgardregion was not getting any recogni-tion. I also tried for National level

c o m p e t i t i o n sabout five timesfor which I sentbigger artifactsthat were abouttwo to six feet tall.

Creating such apiece of work requiresimmense effort and

time. There was much

cost involved in creating and trans-portation. Even after putting so muchmoney, effort and time, I alwaysreturned empty handed. That’s when,out of frustration, I realised that Ishould instead make artifacts that aresmall and can be carried in a bag andcan save the money spend on thetransportation. This is how I starteddoing miniature pottery and fortu-nately also won an award the nextyear,” Galav says.

The craft is centuries-old and hasbeen passed down to Galav by hisancestors. The craft even earned hisfather the State Merit Award back in1989. He then tried for NationalLevel Competition but there was noluck or maybe something was amiss

to qualify. However, initially Galav was

apprehensive whether his craft willfind a place in the heart of people ornot. But when his artifacts wereselected in the first round of the com-petition, he had that confidence thatit will get selected in the next roundsas well.

Till date, Galav has made around5000 miniatures. While most of themare difficult, the most challenging onewas a lantern. “I have made miniaturehookah, ear rings, miniature tea sets,buttons for shirts and lanters.However, the lantern was the tough-est because it was such a small pieceand to create its net required a lot offine work. Also, it all that has to be

done before it dries. It’s a delicate taskand requires a lot of concentration, butif there is passion and dedicationtowards things, then everything seemseasy,” he says.

It takes Galav about six hours onan average to make an artefact.However, the exact time depends onthe type of art he is creating. “If I ammaking a lantern, then it will take sixhours to make it without a break. Ifin these six hours my hand moves abit, then the whole hard work will goin vain and I will have to redo thepiece. There have been several inci-dents when I had to redo a piece. It isfrustrating obviously, but then it is apart and parcel of my job,” he tells you.

There are no high-end tools thatGalav uses. The magic lies in hishands. “I just use some wheel withouttoo many vibrations. I make potterywith my hands and nails. We can usea toothpick or a sharp blade for fur-ther details. But the biggest tool areyour thoughts and imagination andalso your control on the clay,” Galavexplains.

The USP of the artifacts made byGalav is that they are hand-crafted,hand-made and are 100 per cent bio-degradable, are made without the useof toxic chemicals and are complete-ly sustainable.

“The pieces are so strong that theycan be preserved for thousands ofyears and yet are so delicate that theyare extremely safe for nature,” Galavwho is showcasing his craft at theIndia Craft Week, mentions.

Galav adds that events like IndiaCraft Week gives artisans a platformto showcase their talent which other-wise would have gone unnoticed bymany.

However, he has a request to maketo the Government. “I want to requestthe Government to recognise our crafttoo, because otherwise it will disap-pear. More and more people are nowleaving this craft and taking to a sta-ble profession to make ends meet. Thereason being the losses associated withthe craft. There are few designs whereonly one out of a lot of five is good forselling. The rest go in vain. If it con-tinues to happen, the craft will van-ish from India. Hence, we want thatthere should be a separate board forus and the craft,” he says.

(��"��,How many of us knew what

a sanitiser really was beforethe pandemic? And even if wedid, it goes without saying notmany used it so frequently. Infact, for many, it was nothingbut a medical luxury.

However, COVID-19taught us the importance andnecessity of sanitation andhygiene. But long before thispeople like Vikas Bagaria havealready been working towardsimproving the sanitary condi-tions with innovative productsand campaigns such as PeeSafe.

“In 2013, my wife and nowthe co-founder of Pee Safe suf-fered from Urinary TractInfection because of using dirtypublic toilets while travelling. Itwas then that we realised theimportance of maintaining san-itary hygiene. That got us think-ing and we decided that the

need of that hour was for a toi-let seat sanitizer spray which iseasy to carry and cheap enoughto buy. After a lot of reasearch,it was in 2017 that we finallyventured into female hygieneand intimate hygiene for bothmen and women with an aim toimprove the conditions in thecountry regarding this issue,”says Bagaria.

Although feminine hygienehas been a taboo in the coun-try for generations and notmany people prefer to talkabout it in open, the recentyears has seen a change. Withthe youth talking and dis-cussing such issues to raiseawareness and create dialogue,the situation is definitelyimproving, if not more.

“Since the youth has alwaysbeen the drivers of change, ourtarget audience is also Gen Zand the millennials. They don’t

beat around the bush, they arevocal, bold, upfront and socialmedia friendly about issueslike sex, menstruation and inti-mate hygiene. This is exactlywhat we need. It is to targetthese people that we launch var-ious campaigns including, Own

the Red, in 2019, where for thefirst time we depicted the men-strual blood in advertisementsas red and not the standardblue. It is absolutely imperativeto acknowledge and work onthese little things to make big-ger changes,” he says.

Not only this, but the grow-ing demand of the youth insist-ed the husband-wife duo tolaunch their range of femalecondoms. “It was on thedemand of the consumers thatwe launched our female con-doms ‘Domina’. They are theones who encouraged us by say-ing that this is something theywant to talk about, we workedpurely on their demand,” hesays.

The credit of the success ofthe brand and its campaigns hasto be given to the young anddynamic team that Bagaria has.“The very reason behind suchdifferent ideas, campaigns andproducts is that our team con-sists of extremely young andenergetic people. Their averageage is around 23-25 and if theyare given the freedom to expressthemselves on social media,they make sure they make

every post worth it. All ourcampaigns are in house and allthe credit goes to the creativi-ty of the team,” Bagaria added.

The unfortunate part idthat the high of sanitation hasgone down again. “I believe weused to use more sanitiser sit-ting at home than we do now,but the good news is that thepandemic made people con-cerned about hygiene. I knowalthough awareness regardingfeminine hygiene has grownimmensely, it will still be sometime till it becomes a householdtopic. Even the budget hasgiven a concession to health andwellness, and anything thatemphasis awareness andincreases access is a good thing.I am positive it will also boostthe sector of feminine healthbecause as long as our womenare healthy, our nation willremain healthy,” he says.

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ENCOURAGING

GREENBusinesses need to go beyond the interests oftheir companies to the communities they serve.

— Ratan Tata

Very recently Mahindra&Mahindragot caught on the wrong foot. Apicture of M&M’s Board meetingwas shared on Twitter, where auser pointed out use of disposable

plastic bottles in the Board meeting of thecompany. This promptly led Mr. Mahindra totake ownership and banish plastic bottles frommeetings and replace them with environmentfriendly alternatives.

This simple narrative points out how theorganisers of the meeting had not thoughtabout the environmental implications of theiractions (using plastic bottles in the meeting),when the company is actively promoting envi-ronment and sustainability, and this may betrue for employees across organisations as well,who are neither aware nor committed to theenvironmental cause. Hence, employeeinvolvement becomes important for organisa-tions on its sustainability journey.

Smart organisations know how to ensurecore values of their organisation. This can hap-pen either by persuading their employees or bygiving them a clear message. Organisationsthat have made greening a priority for them-selves expect environment-centric behaviourfrom their people and this has resulted in judi-cious utilisation of resources. In addition, con-sistent assessment of environmental impactwhile taking business decisions, recycling andrepurposing of resources and adoption of sus-tainable forms of different resources are someother important parameters.

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Sustainability, greening the corporation,environment management are graduallybecoming a part of the corporate vocabulary.The way the natural resources are extractedand consumed from earth, it is going to bevery difficult to replenish them timely. It isoften discussed in various forums that for gen-erating the resources we spend in one year;earth takes around 1.5 years for the re-genera-tion. Hence, it can be assumed that there will arequirement of the capacity of almost twoEarths by 2030 to keep pace with the presentnatural resource consumption, and the require-ment will be of three planets by 2050.

Experts have always warned people aboutthe impacts of climate change, global warmingand the recent onset of a pandemic (Covid-19)can completely rewire people’s brains. All theseenvironmental changes will have far reachingimpact on humanity and life force on the plan-et. They would be designed in such a way thatthey work on People-Planet-Profit (PPP)

methodologies, thereby providing benefits toall the stakeholders. The architecture, building,resources employed would all be designed tofunction on the principles that promote sus-tainability.

The current requirement is towards devel-oping long-term, meaningful relationships, andself-discipline for attaining effective results.Thus, the design of the workplace is such thatsupports the basic and core idea in a moreaccommodating and comprehensive manner.When employees find the conviction amongtheir leaders, they tend to behave in the man-ner that supports green and sustainable way ofworking in an interrelated and interlinked way.

A Green workplace is an eco-friendly andfocused organisation and leans towards theadoption of business practices that are justifi-able in nature, energy efficient, and well suitedto the complex as well as the ever-changingworld of business. It advocates the model basedon 3Rs — reduce, reuse, recycle. It is not onlygreen building and green infrastructure, ratherit has a much broader scope. It encompassesgreen competencies, green attitude, and greenbehaviour, which is combined synergistically tohelp the organisation become green or sustain-able. Values are the essential characteristic thatboth employees and organisations uphold andoperate at multiple levels (societal, organisa-tional and personal), thus playing a fundamen-tal role in shaping the organisation’s culturewith regard to a shift towards greater sustain-ability.

��

A lot of changes were witnessed post pan-demic in the very year of 2020. Globally, workfrom office (if not completely zero) definitelywent on the downward slide. At the same time,thanks to availability of internet and onlineworking option availability, work was not com-pletely shut. Although, work from office wasvery less, we could experiment with new work-ing models in most of the industries and com-panies of all sizes. Though we were not meet-ing face-to-face, we were still connected. Thepandemic accelerated the adoption of technol-ogy and digital way of working tremendously.

Now, with the vaccine discussions, newexperiments are being made. These includemixing remote and office work with safety pro-tocols, remote management, making toughdecisions like giving furlough to some workersand growing the roles of others, engagement,learning, monitoring and evaluating so that thebusiness of the organisation can happen asusual.

Global industry analyst Josh aptly men-tioned at Perspectives 2020, “For us in HR, it isreally time to be the heroic leaders of theresponse.” Thus, the HR is experimenting and

finding opportunity the year of the pandemicand following year with huge expectations andthe big acceleration of the transformation HR.The enmeshment of all aspects has caused asea change in how people are working at home,trying to strike a balance among all thedomains. The clear segregation between homeand work has today blurred, integration, of an‘enforced’ kind is in place which is differentfrom the voluntary work from home whichcompanies used to give. Thus, in this processof transformation and management ofunprecedented situation, HR is gainingsmoothly greater importance.

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Although, work from home (WFH) wasalways advocated by HR fraternity (as it givesthe opportunity for work life integration), theactual decision to allow the employees to workfrom home was a difficult one. The principalrisk to firms when allowing employees to workfrom home is a potential inability to monitorthose employees to the same degree as wouldbe possible if he or she worked in a traditionaloffice setting.

During Covid-19, the situations are differ-ent. Everyone is worried about health and well-being related aspects. Supply chains are dis-rupted. Daily and essential works are takingmore time as no support is available at home.More than that, all the family members areavailable all the time at the same place withkids not going outside is an extra burden ofmanaging and engaging them with lots ofpatience. Along with that the individual differ-ence of managing stress and uncertainties alsoplay an important role when we talk aboutworking effectively in this uncertain times.

Working from home or working at homeduring the Covid-19 pandemic has given riseto realities which are reframing the very fabricof our social, occupational, and emotionallives. Not surprisingly, the nature of WFH haschanged in recent years. The cost to employeesof corresponding with employers and co-work-ers quickly and effectively from a distance hasfallen dramatically.

In addition, the positive aspect can be seenthat resource utilisation has gone down dramat-ically. Due to WFH and less commute required,there seem chances that less people need totravel daily to attend their office. The proposedhybrid model, where WFH and online learningwill be a part, lesser vehicles will be needed onthe road. That will definitely impact positivelyin terms of less polluted air and sound. Due todigital way of working, prevalence of electronicmail, video conferencing software, and mobilecommunication through ubiquitous cellularcommunications networks, the usage of electric-ity, paper will go down.

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The role of leadership is pivotal when itcomes to encouraging sustainability in organi-sations. CEOs across companies and nationali-ties are understanding the importance of com-mitting to sustainability and have placed sus-tainability on top of their agenda. The serious-ness of climate threat and the growing aware-ness around environmental issues is makingorganisations commit to reducing their contri-bution to pollution and depletion of naturalresources.

Indian organisations have become a part ofthe Carbon Disclosure Project thereby commit-ting to reduce emission of carbon but recentreports show that CDP has pulled up 20 Indianorganisations for their weak sustainability dis-closures. A recent CDP India Annual Reportalso discloses that Indian companies are notmuch concerned about deforestation and do notmake a realistic assessment of the impact oftheir business on deforestation. This indicatesthe lack of seriousness to take environmentalimpact of business into consideration.

This is where the role of leadership becomeshighly significant. Integrating sustainability andenvironmental issues into the strategy of busi-ness can only be accomplished at the highestlevel of the organisation. We need the businessleaders to step up and work towards becomingmore sustainable. There are examples of leaderswho have taken sustainability to be the mostimportant driver of their business. YvonChouinard of Patagonia is a shining example ofsustainable leadership. He not only made sus-tainability a part of his business but also workedwith his vendors to make their businesses sus-tainable. His contribution to the environmentextended to producing documentaries meant tosensitise people on environmental issues.

Late Y.C. Deveshwar, former Chairman ofITC Ltd. in an interview had stated that sustain-ability was a key to gain competitive advantage.The current CEO and MD of ITC, Sanjiv Purihas committed to stretch goals to improve itssustainability performance by 2030 by replacing50% of the company’s energy consumption withrenewable sources.

These examples demonstrate the leader’svision and commitment to sustainability areimperative to promote sustainability in organi-sations. The leader’s beliefs about environmentalconservation and a vision centered around sus-tainability can motivate employees to take upthe environmental cause. The leader canbecome a catalyst in enhancing awareness onsustainability by making it a part of the corpo-rate vocabulary and integrating sustainability asa value in the organisation’s culture.

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HR PRACTICES

ENCOURAGING

GREENHR PRACTICES

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What is Dharma? This question baffles many andthere is a considerable confusion that surroundsthe idea. This is why there are so many interpre-

tations of Dharma. Sometimes diametrically opposed to oneanother. But it is important to understand that Dharma isa universal construct deeply rooted in ethics. In fact, Dharmais another name for ethical conduct. People think thatDharma and religion are synonymous but this is erroneous.Dharma is universal, eternal and a guide to rightful conduct.That is why righteousness is the core of the idea of Dharma.Righteousness is the basis of rightful conduct and religionis a means to understand the nature of rightful conduct.Offering prayers in a place of worship is only a part ofDharma. However, Dharma is much more. The TaittreyaUpanishad brings out the essence of Dharma very succinct-ly in the Shikshavalli section. When the pupils complete theirlearning in the gurukul, the Guru delivers the final lesson,called Dikshant, like the convocation of present times. Thecrux of this final lesson lies in these two terms — Satyamvada, Dharmam char. That is adhere to the truth and fol-low the path of righteousness or Dharma. These two termsare also the essence of Dharma. It lies in action. Action thatis rightful, action that is ethical. But the issue is how to eval-uate this action. How to determine the rightfulness. This isthe question that is most difficult to answer. Individuals havetheir own interpretation of Dharma and every one believesthat he or she has followed the path of Dharma in the actiontaken. This is the reason why people tend to justify theiractions. It is an ego defense mechanism that leads to justi-fication. It is ego that is the reason for this mechanism calledrationalisation. Logic or reasoning is always resorted to inorder to justify one’s action. So even Hiranyakashyap orRavana or Duryodhana all had their reasons for their bla-tantly wrong deeds. Here, it is important to understand thatusually people do not commit a wrong act if they believe thatit is wrong. Their ego makes them believe that their actionsare just. The ego puts a veil on their reason and makes themfollow unreason. The Indian philosophy calls this Avidya.This does not allow them to see the truth and examine theiractions in right perspective. Even the most heinous acts donot give a feeling of remorse or guilt as it is believed to beright and excuses are found. The answer lies in removingthe veil of ego or Avidya and this can only happen by real-isation. Realisation leads to objective evaluation of one’sactions. This comes by awakening the conscience and look-ing within. The conscience is the guide to Dharma and isin every human. Only it is in different stages of awakening.Thus, some are more awake than others and can achieve real-isation easily. The purpose of Dharma is to show the right-eous path and this requires constant guidance from the con-science. Due to differences in levels of awakening, peoplediffer in their ability to attain realisation and discriminatebetween the right and the wrong. But it is to be understoodthat every human being has the potential for this realisationand experience the awakening. All that is required is the rightkind of training or learning. The degree of intervention mayvary but essence of Dharma can be understood by most.

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In the verse 18.65 of BhagavadGita, Lord gently states, “DevelopMy consciousness; become My

devotee; make scarifies for Me; andoffer obeisance to Me.” In the verse12.8, He is cajoles, “Fix your mind inMe only; engage your intelligence inMe.” In the verse 11.34, God instructsArjuna to do His bidding when Hestates, “You fight; kill; do not get dis-turbed; you will conquer.” Then, in theverse 18.62, He goes direct when Hestates, “In all respects take shelter ofHim, meaning Himself,” And in theverse 18.66, He leaves us no choicewhen He states, “Take My shelter only.”He couldn’t be more direct, leaving noambiguity.

Complete surrender is required forthe proper functioning of the system.Can any company survive for long ifits employees do not obey the employ-er? What does the employer do whenthey don’t obey? He fires them for thesake of the health of the company.Similarly, God or His system would nottolerate indiscipline for long; thedivine authorities will punish bydemoting the offenders to lowerspecies.

There are innumerable examplesof taking shelter of higher authoritiesin our daily lives. Then, why not do thesame in case of the Almighty, who iseverything vis-à-vis this creation?

Fortunately for us, many do. Thewhole system, that is, this creation can-not function unless there are good peo-ple and, more specifically, devotees ofGod. They are the bedrocks of the sys-tem. And such persons benefitimmensely by doing what the Lord orthe system expects them to do. TheLord realises that the small soul is verylimited. To be both good in the con-

ventional sense and do what Godexpects us to do is extremely difficult,because it goes against the deeplyingrained natures of us souls. Still, itcan be done and millions are able todo. However, the number of peoplewho are just good and are not God’sdevotees is much larger.

Obviously, benefits accruing todevotees will be much greater. Thesebenefits are duly delivered, otherwisewho will choose this difficult path. Ofcourse there are various degrees ofbeing good and the extent one is linkedwith God, and their rewards are alsolikewise graded.

Briefly, good people are mostlyrewarded in these ways. Their good‘karmas’ entitle them to many mater-ial benefits like sufficient resources,welcome attention and the mostimportant support of the system. As faras benefits to God’s devotes, these arevery wide in scope. God guides becausethis is crucial to stay on the right

course, and God, being omniscient,always knows perfectly. God protects;gets devotees out of trouble. God sup-ports; maintains and provides all theneeded resources for a satisfactory exis-tence. God helps in many other waysas well like He warns His devotes; givesthem mental strength; gives themintelligence — the ability to make theright decisions; the strength to toler-ate; the ability to transcend the diffi-cult to deal with ‘maya’ — the illuso-ry energy of the Lord; and helps themovercome ‘tomoguna’ — the darkmode. God empowers His devotes todo extraordinary feats, which benefitthe creation/mankind. God forgives; hegives peace — the only source who can.He forgives, i.e. releases from sins and,ultimately, liberates when a particularsoul has attained a certain degree ofenlightenment. Is God wrong in insist-ing that we take shelter in Him?4��

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The world is full of uncertain-ties and the fact is that onecan never change the con-dition of this universe.However, we can make

arrangements to change ourselves inorder to adjust with the environmentand learn to live harmoniously. Wemust as far as possible create an envi-ronment which is conducive to peace,prosperity and happiness among thepeople. Therefore, great Saints theworld over have propagated the needfor self-realisation among the people.

The question that haunts ourmind is how to bring about peace inthis world? Some people argue that wecan do so through religion. However,it is not so. In fact, most of the vio-lence which occurs in this world,today, has surfaced in the form of ‘ter-rorism’ which has sprung up from theissues of religion. The terroristswrongly surmise that by resorting toterrorism they can save their religion.However, this is far from the truth. Noreligion preaches violence but onlypropagates peace in the universe.Unfortunately, this has been misinter-preted by terrorists to suit theirInterests.

Take the case of the great

Mahabharata war which occurredmore than 5,000 years ago betweenKaurvas and Pandavas. The war wasbased on certain principles or ruleswhich were agreed upon by both thesides. There was no terrorism involvedin that Great War. Only men fought inthe war. Women, children and old peo-ple did not participate in the battle.The armies fought with equal strengthand with pride and honour with a firmconviction that whoever wins will getthe kingdom of Hastinapur to rule andwhoever dies shall go to heaven. Ascompared to this battle, terrorism,which has surfaced today, does notspare people even women, childrenand the old. This is the bitter truth thatwe are facing today.

Terrorism knows no religion.Terrorists, today, blow up airplanes;plant bombs in buses and publictransport vehicles, in cinema housesor shopping Malls — all this in thename of religion although the violencehas nothing to do with the religion.

Srimad Bhagavatam describes thatreligion is based on four principles.They are called the four pillars of reli-gion. They are Austerity, Cleanliness,Mercy, and Truthfulness. Whether youcall yourself a Hindu, a Muslim, a

Buddhist, a Christian it is not soimportant. The question is how we aredeveloping our love for God throughthe process of following these fourprinciples of religion? By followingthese four principles we can realise oureternal relationship with the Supremecreator and then we can look harmo-niously in any condition that theenvironment has placed before us andremain peaceful and contribute to thewellbeing of the society.

��Let us consider the first principle

of ‘Austerity’ which means to be will-ing to accept inconvenience for thepurification of one’s heart and in theservice of God and in the service ofhumanity.

Austerity means to be willing toaccept inconvenience, sacrifice andeven pain, for the purpose of purify-ing our consciousness and to rejectthings which are unfavorable for thepurification of our heart, whether welike it or not. Human life is meant forsacrifice.

Austerity means making priorityin your time. How much time are youdedicating to purify your heart forGod? How much time you are allocat-

ing to your business, to your family?You have to balance everything, soyour life is full both materially andspiritually, that has to be balanced.Sacrificing time everyday with a viewto purifying the heart, through med-itation, Yantra, and reading religiousscriptures is the greatest austerity.

��The second principle of religion is

Cleanliness. It is said that Cleanlinessis next to Godliness. Cleanlinessmeans for the body and the mind. Forcleanliness of the body, we shouldbathe at least once a day. Because whenthe body becomes dirty, the environ-ment also becomes dirty and it is verydifficult for the mind to remain clean.

��The next principle of religion is

‘Mercy’. How to be merciful within thissociety? Again every religion of theworld teaches us that we must be mer-ciful and show mercy to all. It is sac-rifice, it is Austerity. The non-violencemust be based on ‘faith in God’. Faithcan move mountains, We must havefaith.

��The fourth principle of religion is

truthfulness. What is the truth? Theanswer lies in simply not telling lies inour daily affairs. We should be hon-est and straight forward in all our deal-ings in this world That is calledMorality. Lord Krishna says inBhagavad Gita that the definition oftruth is to know that all living beingsare part of me and they are in me andthey are mine. The truth is that we arepart of God. That everything is theproperty of God. Unless we know thetruth, unless we understand the truthhow can we be truthful.

By understanding and pursuingTruth, we can see how everythingwithin our environment is perfect.How everything is the loving grace ofGod. Not simple to intellectual under-standing, but we can experience fromthe core of our heart the God’s expres-sion of love in every condition of life.This is the real peace. This is not intan-gible, it is not something impossible.It is as close as your own soul. We arerunning in every other direction tofind pleasure and peace. We simplyhave to redirect our priorities in lifetowards our soul and towards our ser-vice of the god. By associating withsaintly persons, by hearing the truth,we will learn how to practice these fourprinciples of religion, austerity, clean-liness, mercy, and truthfulness.

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Dedicating funds and otherresources for environmental pro-jects, instituting rewards and

recognition for contributions towardssustainability can also be initiated by theleader. The leader can walk the talk bydemonstrating environment friendlybehaviour by reducing wastage of elec-tricity, paper and other resources. Thesesavings may not amount to much but asactions speak louder than words they goon to show that the leader believes in sus-tainability and acts on it at a personallevel.

��

Employees can play an important rolein promoting sustainability at the work-place. It is seen that individuals may bevery conscious of sustainability and wastemanagement at home but this behaviourdoes not always translate into environ-ment-friendly behaviour at the place ofwork. At homes we have electricitymeters which help in monitoring con-sumption but in an office employees tonot receive individualized bills for energyand paper consumption thereby diffusingresponsibility towards resource usage.

The idea is to make all the employeesunderstand the environmental implica-tions of their work behaviour and impro-vise ways to reduce/ reuse/ recycleresources. The collective impact of sus-tainable behaviour can reap rich divi-dends for organisations in the form ofsavings and reduction in environmentalfootprints. Organisations are now tryingto collaborate with NGOs and other envi-ronment management organisations tosensitise employees on sustainability mat-ters. There are instances in whichemployees have initiated waste manage-ment, car-pooling and recycling ofresources on their own and this hasinspired peers to follow in their footsteps.Organisations can encourage sustainabili-

ty among employees by organising sus-tainability events, suggestion schemesand projects to help the employees seetheir contribution beyond the technicaldomain.

As the general awareness on sustain-ability is increasing, we find that sustain-ability is becoming an important contrib-utor to the employer brand and talent isnaturally choosing organisations thatvalue sustainability. Some employees mayhave a natural propensity towards envi-ronmental issues. Organisations canappoint them as sustainability championsin their organisations. They can act asrole models and also provide momentumto the sustainability movement inside theorganisation. The champions can helpcreate sustainability converts that isemployees who adopt sustainability byunderstanding its importance.

Sustainability is also being called asuper strategy for promoting employeeengagement. Organisations can get

employees to connect by making themsee how their contribution is significantby establishing a connection betweenwork behaviour and sustainability.

The year long struggle with Covid hasalready made us realise how importantthe harmony between the environmentand humanity is for us to survive as aspecies in times to come. The totalreliance on technology to work has led toconsiderable savings in commuting timeand costs. Though this situation wasforced upon us, it demonstrated that thissustainable form of work is definitely aviable alternative. Organisations shouldnow change their mindset of — “if I don’tsee you, you are not working” and makework from home (WFH) a practice. It isnot only going to cut on the costs ofoperations but would have a very positiveeffect on the environment in the longrun.

Organisations such as SalesForce,BitPay and Square are looking at the per-manent work from home as long termoptions. It may not be possible for all theorganisations to do so, but practicingWFH to the extent possible in going toincrease employee well-being as well asenvironmental wellbeing. Organisationcan also have innovative ways of makingemployees commit to sustainability byhaving a personal/departmental sustain-ability action plans in which employeeswould plan their sustainability activitiesvoluntarily. Institutionalising sustainabili-ty can help get employee ownership forsustainability. The idea is to making sus-tainability integral to daily work behav-iour rather than making it into an eventwhich is celebrated in the form of envi-ronmental day or week and forgotten assoon as it is over.

Soni Agrawal and Roma Puri recentlypublished Green HRM: A Climate

Conscious Route to Triple Bottom withSAGE Publications India

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� �� Although Donald Trump

left the White House onJanuary 20, some of his policieslike the crucial MigrantProtection Protocol (MPP)remain a “choke point” forthousands of migrants awaitingentry into the US.

The TrumpAdministration is formallygone, but the shadow ofTrumpism has perpetuated.Both critics and fans of Trumpagree on the fact that Joe Bidenhas inherited a largely “DividedAmerica”. Although the BidenAdministration has tried toreposition America at the heartof globality, the wounds of theTrump days would take longerthan what Biden and the lib-erals are expecting.

The MPP is a USGovernment action wherebycitizens and nationals of coun-tries other than Mexico arriv-ing in the US by land fromMexico, whether or not at aport of entry, may be returnedto Mexico, pursuant to Section235 (b) (2) (C) of theImmigration National Act(INA), while their US removalproceedings are pending underSection 240 of the INA. But theGovernment of Mexico hascommitted to providing aliensplace into MPP with appro-priate humanitarian protec-tions, including immigrationdocumentation and access toeducation, healthcare andemployment.

In fact, the Section 235 ofthe INA addresses the inspec-tion of the aliens seekingadmission into the US and pro-vides specific proceduresregarding the treatment ofthose not clearly entitled toadmission. Further Section 235(b) (C) (2) provides that “in thecase of an alien… who is arriv-ing on land, (whether or not ata designated port of arrival)from a foreign territory con-tiguous to the US, the Secretaryof Homeland Security mayreturn the alien to that territo-ry pending a removal pro-ceeding under Section 240 ofthe INA. But individuals insuch removal proceedings havethe ability to seek relief or pro-tection from removal, includ-ing asylum.

It has been regarded as oneof the most controversial piecesof legislation of the Trump era.But now the question is thathow does it work? The alienssubject to the MPP are placedinto removal proceedingsunder Section 240 of the INA

before an immigration judge,just like any other alien inremoval proceedings pursuantto Section 240 of the INA. Thealiens generally remain inMexico throughout the dura-tion of their removal proceed-ings. Only issue is that whilewaiting for the final decision ofthe immigration trial, theimmigrants, particularlywomen, children and agedpeople suffer a lot in the handsof the authority. Once theirremoval proceedings are com-pleted, the aliens who receivefinal orders of removal areturned over to the USImmigration and CustomsEnforcement authorities.

Further, the aliens whoare granted relief from removalincluding asylum will beallowed to remain in the US,consistent with the existinglaws and policies.

The origin of the MPPgoes back to December 2018.On that very month, theTrump Administrationannounced the creation of anew programme known as‘Migrant Protection Protocols’(MPP). It’s often referred to asthe “Remain in Mexico”. Under

the jurisdiction of the MPP,individuals who arrive at thesouthern border of the US i.e.US-Mexico Border and ask forasylum, (either at a port ofentry or after crossing the bor-ders between the port of entry)are given notices to appear inimmigration court or sent backto Mexico. Meanwhile theyare instructed to return to aspecific port of entry on a spe-cific date and time for theirnext court hearing.

However, the MPP is dif-ferent from another processregarded as “Metering”. UnderMetering, it takes months formigrants before they are evenallowed to approach US borderofficials to just start the processof asylum. The waitlist of thesemigrants are managed bythemselves and by local sheltersor Mexican authorities. Finallythe US Government onlydecides how many people areallowed to request asylum eachday. But the disheartening factis that on some particular days,the US officials do not call any-one for processing their appli-cations in certain locations.This uncertain wait today isprolonging and the migrants

have to experience the worst ofthe tragedies at times.

It is worth noting whyAmerica has introduced theMPP. During the Fiscal Year2019, America encountered asecurity and humanitarian cri-sis in its South West borderwhen nearly one millionmigrants who entered thecountry illegally or withoutproper documentation wereapprehended or encounteredby the US Customs and BorderProtection (CBP). Therefore, toaddress this imminent crisis,the Trump Administrationused all appropriate resources,and authorities to secure theborders, enforce immigrationand customs laws, facilitatelegal trade and travel, countertraffickers, smugglers andtransnational criminal organ-isations and finally to interdictdrugs and contraband. Thus torestore the normal process ofsafe and orderly immigration,and to reduce incentives foraliens to try illegal entry meth-ods and to make meritless casefor entry or removal from pro-tection, the legislation calledthe MPP was brought intopractice.

Migration, to be precise, isan unending process. Sincetime immemorial, people havemoved from one part to theother parts of the globe, eitherlooking for a better life or toescape adversities in life. Withglobalisation, the process ofmigration has become easier,better and transparent.

The first World MigrationReport was released by theInternational Organisation ofMigration (IOM), a UNagency, in the year 2017. A lothas happened since then acrossthe world. In the last two years,the world has witnessed his-toric changes at the interna-tional level: the member statesof the UN have come togetherto finalise two global compactson the international manifes-tations of migration and dis-placement, which are: a) GlobalCompact for Safe, Orderly andRegular Migration and b)Global Compact on Refugees.

The finalisation of thesetwo historic compacts is theresult of sustained effortsbrought by states, internation-al agencies, human rights bod-ies, civil society organisations,and even private actors to

improve how the process ofmigration is governed at theglobal level. All these actorsdemand a safe, humane andaffordable process of migration.

Today, what is happeningto the thousands of migrants atthe US-Mexico border is draw-ing the attention of the entireworld. Most of these migrantsare coming from the CentralAmerican countries such asHonduras, Guatemala, ElSalvador, etc. The steady flowof immigrants leaving theseNorth Central American coun-tries simply reflect the grimrealities of life for millions ofchildren and their families.The root causes of this perva-sive migration are manifold:crushing poverty, endemiccrime, environmental crises,gang-related violence, extor-tion, high rates of domestic vio-lence, sexual abuse of girlsand forced recruitment in var-ious street gangs. Besides, manyof the horrific tales of migra-tion are accompanied with therealities of scarce social servicesand very limited opportunitiesto learn or to earn a decent liv-ing. Hence millions of migrantsfrom these countries keep

migrating to the US each yearand they face insurmountablerisks to their lives on this longroad.

There is demand fromsome sections of liberals thatthe Biden Administrationshould immediately dismantlethis harsh piece of legislationintroduced by his predecessor.But, will he be able to do it? Atthe moment, Biden is trying toundo some of the critical deci-sions taken by the Trumpregime in the last four years.

However the MPP is avery sensitive legislation.January 29 marked the secondanniversary of the MPP. Theasylum seekers and advocatesof migration across Americaare using this occasion to callfor an end to this controversiallaw. To them, this MPP has pre-vented thousands of peoplefrom accessing a meaningfuland safe opportunity to seekasylum in America. They areblaming Trump’s poor visionand blaming him for destroy-ing the very image of a liberaland democratic America of theyesteryears built by the found-ing fathers of the AmericanConstitution. And these anti-MPP activists say that the leg-islation is a clear violation ofthe due process and violationof universal human rights.Since March 2020, the USAdministration has suspendedall MPP hearings because ofthe Covid-19 pandemic.

During the Trump era, hisadministration continued sub-jecting people to the pro-gramme without knowingwhen their cases could beheard in the court.

On Biden’s first day inoffice, the Department ofHomeland Security immedi-ately announced that it wouldstop placing new asylum seek-ers into the MPP. This may bea critical first step in thatdirection, but it simply fulfilshis election promise to end theprogramme. However, the lat-est report say that even Biden’sWhite House is indicating thatit is not the time to rush. Anorderly immigration protocolwould certainly take time. Todismantle Trump legislationsmay be easy, but the truthbehind many of these lawsand regulations reveal manyfault lines of 21st centuryAmerica. And Biden needs totread carefully.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

�D��D��)��'5(�'5��=��>�� (�5;��5,��5�� (�>'��>'��;5='�)�5��(�� :� 7�'�)�'��,�� >��'+ ��,�5;��5,��5�� 5�(

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��,��"The current Union Budget

has given a new lease of lifeto some vital sectors, includingaviation. Any policy whichaims at liberalising regulationis a good sign in upscaling skilland boosting job opportunities,helping India become a super-power by 2030.

In a bid to attract foreignaircraft lessors in the country,the Government has rolled outtax incentives for companiesthat are willing to set up shopat International FinancialServices Centre (IFSC). GujaratInternational Finance Tec-CityCompany Ltd (GIFT City) —which is being developed as thecountry’s first IFSC — is poisedto be the next hub of prosper-ity for businesses as soon asmost companies set up shop.

The current policy alsoproves beneficial for sale-lease-back (SLB) transactions where-in airlines sell aircraft to buythem back via lease, thus low-ering the aggregate enterprisedebt. This especially works incase of facilitating repayment oflong-term loans, bonds orworking capital requirement.

Indian companies rank atthe top of the global listing ofaircraft lease.

In addition to the taxincentives for foreign aircraftlessors willing to set up busi-ness in India, the Governmenthas offered additional incen-tives, including:

a) tax holiday for capi-

tal gains incomes from aircraftleasing

b) tax exemptions foraircraft lease rentals or royaltypaid to foreign lessor

c) tax incentive for re-location of foreign funds inIFSC, and

d) tax exemptions toinvestment division of the for-eign banks located in IFSC

These tax exemptions are a

major boon for lessors operat-ing from IFSC. Evidently, theGovernment is providing anavenue of business develop-ment by establishing a con-ducive aircraft leasing andfinancing environment inIndia. Additionally, it is alsooffering better terms to Indianand foreign carriers.

The best part of this Budgetis the abolishment of custom

duty i.e., reducing the tax ratefrom 2.5 per cent to zeroacross the entire MRO (main-tenance repair and overhaul)industry, a $1.5 billion indus-try in India. Setting up anMRO requires a high capitaland constitutes a long break-even time. India constitutes lessthan one per cent of the entireglobal industry which caters tocommercial travel, goods sup-

ply and defence. Reducingduties is a strategic movetowards ensuring that Indiacaptures a higher share of theglobal market.

This Budget also paves theway for flavoursome proposi-tion of PPP (public privatepartnership) players by encour-aging private players to offersupport to the aviation indus-try on areas such as infra-

structure building, airportoperations and construction.The Airport Authority of Indiais working on the next roundof privatisation of 10 airportsin the next three years.

Six airports have alreadybeen awarded to the successfulbidders and the concessionagreements have been signed.This step will help the Ministryof Civil Aviation to completethe goal of building 100 newairports by 2024 which showsthe airline industry has excel-lent growth prospects. Thebiggest transfer of power hap-pening in the airline sector isthe privatisation of Air Indiaand Pawan Hans, which willgenerate economic surplus andalso help reduce the �60,000crore compounding loan bookof Air India.

A new centrally sponsoredscheme, PM AtmanirbharSwasth Bharat Yojana will belaunched with an outlay of�64,160 crore over six years.Health is the primary concernin everyone’s minds in theCovid-19 pandemic era. Now32 airports are in develop-ment stage to create specialentry points for the healthcaresector, including pharma logis-tics, organ dispatch, patienttransport.

The agriculture industrywill also be receiving 50 percent open freight subsidy foragri-perishable products ofnorth-eastern States and four

Himalayan States/UTs. KrishiUdan will be launched by theMinistry of Civil Aviation oninternational and nationalroutes. This is intended to helpimprove value realisation (onagricultural products), espe-cially in the north-east and trib-al districts.

The Union Budget hasgreatly prioritised aviation. Ithas set the stage for an ambi-tious plan to monetise air-ports across tier 2 and tier 3cities in the country. What’sremarkable is that these citieshave seen a significant growthin demand for air travel byfirst-time flyers, especially afterthe relaxation in the Covid-19lockdown rules.

The Budget is a boon to theaviation sector as the alloca-tions and plans are made notonly to put the aviation indus-try on priority, but the rippleeffect will help boost all sectorsof business where airlines standas a factor in increasing theirefficiency.

Monetisation of airportswill prospectively accelerateinfrastructure development,particularly in the not-so-developed areas. This will alsostrengthen regional air con-nectivity.

(The writer is AssociateProfessor, Atal Bihari VajpayeeSchool of Management andEntrepreneurship, JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi)

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We have so far had insight into thefirst four steps of eightfold pathsuggested by sage Patanjali. That

prepares the ground to begin the Dhyanaprocess. The steps to follow need to beseen in a running sequence, as progres-sively succeeding stages of a singularprocess. For, the first step Pratyahara,which implies interiorising the mind, isthe mode in which the whole dhyanaprocess is carried on. Dharana, dhyana,and samadhi are progressively growingthree successive stages of dhyana. There isno exclusive process dedicated to either ofthem. One keeps graduating from onestage to the other. There is a very thin linedistinguishing one from the other.

Pratyahara: Pratyahara, in practicalterms means withdrawal of senses awayfrom the external objects, into the interiorof mind. Our attention is thus turnedinwards. Purposely so, because the finaldestination is to strike upon and tune upwith the element of consciousness, thecore of a being lying within all of us.Following which, wholesome powers ofmind become available.

It is pertinent to note that all happen-ings originate in the inner realms of mind.You first visualise, ideate, discriminate,

articulate, and then put them into action.And the nature of any action, be it a freshinitiative taken, or in response to externalstimuli, is influenced by how each mind isinherently framed. That makes it incum-bent upon us to explore what lies in storeof the inner realms of the mind. So is theneed to turn our attention inwards. Butbefore the final destination is struck upon,one has to pass through various layers ofmind. They have in store, impressions ofvaried memories picked up in the imme-diate and distant past.

As attention turns inward, first comesto sight thought crowd gathered up in theimmediate past. These impressions,although relating to past, keep repeatedlychasing us from within, engaging ourattention in immediate terms. Theimpressions that affect us the most arepersistent desires and those having nega-tive orientation. They keep alive in mindour sense of want, hurt feelings and emo-tions, as well as indwelling sense of fearand insecurity if any. They keep unnerv-ing us. But then, without becoming awareof them, it would not be possible toresolve and get disengaged from themeither. Denial does not help. Having thusdisengaged oneself from the indwelling

thought crowd, which otherwise keephounding us from within, one feelsunburdened and relaxed. Followingwhich, doors open to strike even stilldeeper layers of mind.

Further down the line, one’s truenature gets revealed — inherent vulnera-bilities and workable part of one’sindwelling potential, coming as they mayas reflection of the Karmic imprints car-ried over from the past. We, thus, becomeaware of our inherent tendencies — desiretrends, habits and attitudes, likes and dis-likes, prejudices and obsessions, virtuesand attributes, as well as indwellingpotential. Accordingly, one could takenecessary corrective initiatives to get overone’s limitations of mind through fresheducative inputs. Also, acknowledge theworkable part of one’s indwelling poten-tial, hone them further, and make themworthy of being applied in contemporaryterms. One could even expand one’spotential self through conscious effortsand amplify one’s creative abilities.

As one gets established in the process,step-by-step one could go deeper anddeeper, and unravel memory impressionslaid down even at unconscious level.Eventually, one may strike at the core of

one’s existence. One’s true self then getsrevealed, where after one realises the unityunderlying all diverse existences. Thatmakes one rise above the sense of dualityand thereby relative perception. One’s fullpotential of mind thus gets unfolded.

Dharana/Dhyana: The dhyanaprocess proper begins with dharana. Thecalling of this process is to train one’smind in a way that it remains focused towherever attention is paid. The processsuggested is to focus attention on someiconic figure or concept for a continuedstretch of time and remain steadfast to it.The icon has to be opted preferably assuggested by the Guru. It could be someknown symbol, concept, or some abstractfigure such as a dot. In the Indian tradi-tion, invariably symbolism, intuitivelyperceived by ancient India’s seers, eachreflecting valuable educative import, arepreferred. Reflecting on them helps addquality and value to one’s thought process.The process involves simultaneouslychanting a mantra dedicated to theimagery in focus.

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