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T he Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to put on hold the three con- troversial farm laws or the court itself will do so on the recommendation of a court- appointed committee which is to be constituted. Now all eyes will be on the court’s Tuesday order in the matter. Criticising the Government’s handling of the farmers’ protest, the court ques- tioned the Centre’s opposition to its suggestion that the implementation of three new farm laws be held back for the time being so as to help find an amicable solution to the ongo- ing farmers’ protest at Delhi borders. The Bench said that till date the Centre has not told it anything on its proposal to keep the implementation of these laws in abeyance for some time. “We are still thinking it is equally important that we stay the implementation of law without staying the laws,” the Bench said. On December 17, the SC had asked the Centre to con- sider putting on hold the implementation of the three laws. Disagreeing with the Centre’s contention that court cannot put on hold laws passed by Parliament, the court referred to its last year order staying the implementation of 2018 Maharashtra law granti- ng reservation to Marathas in education and jobs. “We don’t see why there is an insistence on implementa- tion of the law,” a Bench head- ed by Chief Justice SA Bobde said, adding, “We are not experts on economy and you (Centre) tell us whether you are going to hold on these laws or we will do this”. Attorney General KK Venugopal told the Bench, also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, that a law cannot be stayed unless the court finds it violates funda- mental rights or constitution- al schemes. “A law cannot be stayed by the Supreme Court unless the Lordships find that it violates the fundamental rights or con- stitutional schemes. Law has to be without the power to legislate, only then it can be stayed. No petitioners have raised any such issues,” Venugopal said. The Bench refuted his con- tention and said, “We are doing this because you have failed to solve the problem. The Union of India has to take the respon- sibility. The laws have resulted into a strike and now you have to solve the strike”. The top court said it may stay the implementation of these laws as talks between the Government and farmers are “breaking down” because the Centre wants to discuss these legislations point by point, while the farmers want them to be repealed. The SC said it will consti- tute a committee headed by a former Chief Justice of India to resolve the impasse. It sug- gested that stay on implemen- tation of these laws will help the committee in finding solution. F armer leaders sitting along the national Capital’s border mounting pressure on the Centre to repeal new farm laws on Monday said they would continue their agitation even if the Government or the Supreme Court stays the implementation of the new agriculture laws. The reaction came after the SC indicated that it may stay the implementation of the con- tentious farm laws and refused to grant more time to the Centre to explore the possibil- ity of an amicable solution saying it has already granted the Government a “long rope”. While sharing this online on Facebook, Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Haryana) leader, said they welcome the Supreme Court observation, but ending the protest is not an option. “Any stay is only for a fixed period of time... Till the issue is taken up by the court again,” he said. “The farmers want the laws to be repealed completely. The protest will continue even if the Government or the Supreme Court stays their implementa- tion,” he said. Bhog Singh Mansa, presi- dent of Indian Farmers Union (Mansa), said a stay on the laws is “no big deal”. “A stay is not a solution. We are here to get these laws scrapped completely...the Government has in a way already agreed to scrap the laws when it said it is willing to incorporate as many amend- ments as farmers want,” he said. “We appeal to the Supreme Court to terminate these laws as these are not valid constitu- tionally,” Mansa said, adding the protest will continue till the “the laws are repealed”. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Central Government will bear the expenses of vaccinating nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first round and asked political representatives and VIPs not to jump the queue for getting the first dose of vaccine. Interacting with Chief Ministers, Modi announced that over 30 crore citizens will get the jabs in the next few months in India against only 2.5 crore people who have received them in over 50 coun- tries in around a month so far. The countrywide vaccination drive will start from January 16. In the second phase, those above 50 years and those under 50 years with co-morbidity will be vaccinated, said Modi. The Prime Minister did not specify who will bear the vac- cination cost for subsequent rounds. The Prime Minister informed Chief Ministers that plans were afoot to vaccinate “30 crore people in next few months.” “We should be proud that both the vaccines are made in India ...four more vaccines are in progress so that we can plan for the future,” he told Chief Ministers through video-con- ferencing. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought in the meeting that the States should have greater role and involve- ment in the first phase of the vaccine rollout when the Centre would send vaccines to the States. The Jammu & Kashmir Government requested for offline registration of the ben- eficiaries in the State. States across the country have designated thousands of collection, storage and distrib- ution centres for the January 16 vaccination exercise, the largest in the world. Two dry runs have already been conducted. During the virtual meet, Modi told Chief Ministers, “I’m satisfied that we worked together by standing united in Covid crisis, quick decisions were taken with full sensitivi- ty. As a result, Covid has not spread in India on the scale, on which it spread anywhere else in the world.” W ith the presence of avian influenza in Delhi, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying on Monday said bird flu has been confirmed in 10 States and stressed on increased surveil- lance around water bodies, live bird markets, zoos and poultry farms. Meanwhile, fresh avian deaths continue to be reported in other States too. The Centre has urged States not to close mandis or restrict sale of poultry products as there are no scientific reports of transmission of bird flu to human beings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all State Governments to remain alert and ensure local administration keeps a constant vigil near places like water Zbodies, zoos and poultry farms. “Till January 11, 2021, avian influenza has been con- firmed in 10 States of the country,” the Ministry said. T he Indian Army on Monday handed back to the Chinese army one of their soldiers who was apprehended on Friday for transgressing LAC. He was returned to the Chinese army at 10.10 am the Chushul-Moldo meeting point. This was the second such incident since October last year when a Chinese soldier was nabbed after straying into India in Ladakh. In the latest incident, the Chinese soldier crossed the LAC in the south of Pangong Tso (lake) near Gurung Hill in Chushul sector. The two armies are in a stand- off in this region for the past nine months. Announcing the safe return, the Indian Army said here on Monday, "The People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldier, who had been apprehended on January 8, has been handed over to China at Chushul- Moldo at 10.10 am today." He was in Indian custody for more than two days. China Military Online, a news portal run by the military, last week said the soldier strayed across due to “darkness” and “complicated geography”. A s all eight samples sent to Bhopal lab tested positive, bird flu has been confirmed in Delhi, claimed officials on Monday. Following the develop- ment, the Delhi Government on Monday imposed a ban on sale of processed and packaged chicken brought from outside the city. Only samples of ducks from Sanjay Lake have tested positive for bird flu so far, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday, asking people not to panic as there is no cause for concern. All eight samples — four from a park in Mayur Vihar Phase 3, three from Sanjay Lake and one from Dwarka — have been found positive for avian influenza, said Dr Rakesh Singh of Delhi’s Animal Husbandry Unit. A fter announcing January 16 as the day for launching countrywide Covid-19 vacci- nation drive, the Government on Monday placed a purchase order with Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) for 11 million doses of Covishield — anti-Covid vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University — each costing 210, including GST of 10. The HLL Lifecare Limited, a public sector undertaking issued the supply order on behalf of the Union Health Ministry in the name of Prakash Kumar Singh, Additional Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Pune-based pharma company. The Covishield vaccine doses would be initially shipped to 60 consignment points from where they would be distributed further. The Ministry is also likely to soon sign a purchase order for another anti-coronavirus vaccine, Covaxin, which has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech. India top drug regulator DCGI had recently granted emer- gency use authorisation (EUA) to two vaccines, Oxford’s Covishield, and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. Both vaccines, according to a statement from the Health Ministry, have estab- lished safety and immuno- genicity. Coronavirus vaccine devel- oped by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford will be priced around 1,000 in private market once such sales open up, said Adar Poonawala, CEO of its Indian manufacturer on Monday.

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    The Supreme Court onMonday asked the Centreto put on hold the three con-troversial farm laws or thecourt itself will do so on therecommendation of a court-appointed committee which isto be constituted. Now all eyeswill be on the court’s Tuesdayorder in the matter.

    Criticising theGovernment’s handling of thefarmers’ protest, the court ques-tioned the Centre’s oppositionto its suggestion that theimplementation of three newfarm laws be held back for thetime being so as to help find anamicable solution to the ongo-ing farmers’ protest at Delhiborders.

    The Bench said that tilldate the Centre has not told itanything on its proposal tokeep the implementation of

    these laws in abeyance forsome time.

    “We are still thinking it isequally important that we staythe implementation of lawwithout staying the laws,” theBench said.

    On December 17, the SChad asked the Centre to con-sider putting on hold theimplementation of the threelaws.

    Disagreeing with theCentre’s contention that courtcannot put on hold laws passedby Parliament, the courtreferred to its last year orderstaying the implementation of2018 Maharashtra law granti-ng reservation to Marathas ineducation and jobs.

    “We don’t see why there isan insistence on implementa-tion of the law,” a Bench head-ed by Chief Justice SA Bobdesaid, adding, “We are notexperts on economy and you

    (Centre) tell us whether you aregoing to hold on these laws orwe will do this”.

    Attorney General KKVenugopal told the Bench, alsocomprising Justices ASBopanna and VRamasubramanian, that a lawcannot be stayed unless thecourt finds it violates funda-mental rights or constitution-al schemes.

    “A law cannot be stayed bythe Supreme Court unless theLordships find that it violatesthe fundamental rights or con-stitutional schemes.

    Law has to be without thepower to legislate, only then itcan be stayed. No petitionershave raised any such issues,”Venugopal said.

    The Bench refuted his con-tention and said, “We are doingthis because you have failed tosolve the problem. The Unionof India has to take the respon-sibility. The laws have resultedinto a strike and now you haveto solve the strike”.

    The top court said it maystay the implementation ofthese laws as talks between theGovernment and farmers are

    “breaking down” because theCentre wants to discuss theselegislations point by point,while the farmers want them tobe repealed.

    The SC said it will consti-tute a committee headed by aformer Chief Justice of India toresolve the impasse. It sug-gested that stay on implemen-tation of these laws will help thecommittee in finding solution.

    ����������� �40�45'/

    Farmer leaders sitting alongthe national Capital’s bordermounting pressure on theCentre to repeal new farmlaws on Monday said theywould continue their agitationeven if the Government or theSupreme Court stays theimplementation of the newagriculture laws.

    The reaction came after theSC indicated that it may staythe implementation of the con-tentious farm laws and refusedto grant more time to theCentre to explore the possibil-ity of an amicable solution

    saying it has already grantedthe Government a “long rope”.

    While sharing this onlineon Facebook, Gurnam SinghChaduni, Bharatiya KisanUnion (Haryana) leader, saidthey welcome the SupremeCourt observation, but endingthe protest is not an option.

    “Any stay is only for afixed period of time... Till theissue is taken up by the courtagain,” he said.

    “The farmers want the lawsto be repealed completely. Theprotest will continue even if theGovernment or the SupremeCourt stays their implementa-tion,” he said.

    Bhog Singh Mansa, presi-dent of Indian Farmers Union(Mansa), said a stay on the lawsis “no big deal”.

    “A stay is not a solution.We are here to get these lawsscrapped completely...theGovernment has in a wayalready agreed to scrap thelaws when it said it is willingto incorporate as many amend-ments as farmers want,” hesaid.

    “We appeal to the SupremeCourt to terminate these lawsas these are not valid constitu-tionally,” Mansa said, addingthe protest will continue till the“the laws are repealed”.

    ����� �40�45'/

    Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday said theCentral Government will bearthe expenses of vaccinatingnearly three crore healthcareand frontline workers in thefirst round and asked politicalrepresentatives and VIPs not tojump the queue for getting thefirst dose of vaccine.

    Interacting with ChiefMinisters, Modi announcedthat over 30 crore citizens willget the jabs in the next fewmonths in India against only2.5 crore people who havereceived them in over 50 coun-tries in around a month so far.The countrywide vaccinationdrive will start from January 16.

    In the second phase, thoseabove 50 years and those under50 years with co-morbiditywill be vaccinated, said Modi.

    The Prime Minister did notspecify who will bear the vac-cination cost for subsequentrounds.

    The Prime Ministerinformed Chief Ministers thatplans were afoot to vaccinate“30 crore people in next fewmonths.”

    “We should be proud thatboth the vaccines are made inIndia ...four more vaccines arein progress so that we can plan

    for the future,” he told ChiefMinisters through video-con-ferencing.

    West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee sought in themeeting that the States shouldhave greater role and involve-ment in the first phase of thevaccine rollout when theCentre would send vaccines tothe States.

    The Jammu & KashmirGovernment requested foroffline registration of the ben-eficiaries in the State.

    States across the countryhave designated thousands ofcollection, storage and distrib-ution centres for the January 16vaccination exercise, the largestin the world.

    Two dry runs have alreadybeen conducted.

    During the virtual meet,Modi told Chief Ministers,“I’m satisfied that we workedtogether by standing united inCovid crisis, quick decisionswere taken with full sensitivi-ty. As a result, Covid has notspread in India on the scale, onwhich it spread anywhere elsein the world.”

    �*����$����� �40�45'/

    With the presence of avianinfluenza in Delhi,Maharashtra and Uttarakhand,the Ministry of AnimalHusbandry and Dairying onMonday said bird flu has beenconfirmed in 10 States andstressed on increased surveil-lance around water bodies, livebird markets, zoos and poultryfarms. Meanwhile, fresh aviandeaths continue to be reportedin other States too.

    The Centre has urgedStates not to close mandis orrestrict sale of poultry productsas there are no scientific reportsof transmission of bird flu tohuman beings.

    Prime Minister NarendraModi has asked all StateGovernments to remain alertand ensure local administrationkeeps a constant vigil nearplaces like water Zbodies, zoosand poultry farms.

    “Till January 11, 2021,avian influenza has been con-firmed in 10 States of thecountry,” the Ministry said.

    ����� �40�45'/

    The Indian Army onMonday handed back tothe Chinese army one of theirsoldiers who was apprehendedon Friday for transgressingLAC. He was returned to theChinese army at 10.10 am theChushul-Moldo meeting point.

    This was the second suchincident since October lastyear when a Chinese soldierwas nabbed after straying intoIndia in Ladakh. In the latestincident, the Chinese soldiercrossed the LAC in the southof Pangong Tso (lake) nearGurung Hill in Chushul sector.The two armies are in a stand-off in this region for the pastnine months.

    Announcing the safereturn, the Indian Army saidhere on Monday, "The People'sLiberation Army (PLA) soldier,who had been apprehended onJanuary 8, has been handedover to China at Chushul-Moldo at 10.10 am today." Hewas in Indian custody for morethan two days.

    China Military Online, anews portal run by the military,last week said the soldierstrayed across due to “darkness”and “complicated geography”.

    ����������� �40�45'/

    As all eight samples sent toBhopal lab tested positive,bird flu has been confirmed inDelhi, claimed officials onMonday.

    Following the develop-ment, the Delhi Governmenton Monday imposed a ban onsale of processed and packagedchicken brought from outsidethe city.

    Only samples of ducks

    from Sanjay Lake have testedpositive for bird flu so far,Deputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia said on Monday, askingpeople not to panic as there isno cause for concern.

    All eight samples — fourfrom a park in Mayur ViharPhase 3, three from SanjayLake and one from Dwarka —have been found positive foravian influenza, said Dr RakeshSingh of Delhi’s AnimalHusbandry Unit.

    ����� �40�45'/

    After announcing January 16as the day for launchingcountrywide Covid-19 vacci-nation drive, the Governmenton Monday placed a purchaseorder with Pune-based SerumInstitute of India (SII) for 11million doses of Covishield —anti-Covid vaccine developedby AstraZeneca and OxfordUniversity — each costing�210, including GST of �10.

    The HLL Lifecare Limited,a public sector undertakingissued the supply order onbehalf of the Union HealthMinistry in the name ofPrakash Kumar Singh,Additional Director,Government and RegulatoryAffairs at Pune-based pharmacompany.

    The Covishield vaccinedoses would be initiallyshipped to 60 consignment

    points from where they wouldbe distributed further.

    The Ministry is also likelyto soon sign a purchase orderfor another anti-coronavirusvaccine, Covaxin, which hasbeen indigenously developedby Bharat Biotech. India topdrug regulator DCGI had recently granted emer-gency use authorisation (EUA)to two vaccines, Oxford’sCovishield, and BharatBiotech’s Covaxin.

    Both vaccines, accordingto a statement from theHealth Ministry, have estab-lished safety and immuno-genicity.

    Coronavirus vaccine devel-oped by AstraZeneca and theUniversity of Oxford will bepriced around �1,000 in privatemarket once such sales openup, said Adar Poonawala, CEOof its Indian manufacturer onMonday.

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    Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Mondaysaid that all the required for-malities regarding identifica-tion and transfer of land for set-ting up of NDRF BattalionHeadquarter at Balh in Mandidistrict would be expedited sothat the Battalion could startfunctioning smoothly.

    Thakur disclosed this whilepresiding over the meetingwith Commandant NDRFBaljinder Singh and othersenior officers of the StateGovernment.

    The Chief Minister direct-ed the Revenue Department totake all necessary steps in thisdirection and also asked the

    Forest Department for gettingFCA approval at the earliest.

    He said the Government ofIndia has sanctioned a newNDRF 14th Battalion for theState keeping in view the geo-graphical conditions and dis-aster vulnerability of the area.This would ensure promptresponse in case of naturalcalamities, he said.

    Thakur said that NDRFRegional Response Centres(Companies) would also beestablished in about six placesof the state.

    One company would beestablished at Baddi to dealwith any chemical hazard asthis area had maximum indus-trial factories, he added.

    Commandant NDRF

    Baljinder Singh apprised theChief Minister about variousactivities of the Force.

    The Chief Secretary AnilKhachi, Additional ChiefSecretary Revenue RDDhiman, Principal Secretary toChief Minister JC Sharma,Special Secretary RevenueSudesh Mokhta and othersenior officers were also presenton the occasion.

    ���������������������������������������������������������������Shimla:After the outbreak ofbird flu in the state, HimachalGovt has imposed a ban on

    import of poultry products fora week from other states.

    "A ban has been imposedin the state on import of poul-try products for a week from

    other states in order to ensurethat infection does not comefrom other states through poul-try products," the CM saidwhile presiding over a meetinghere to take stock of situationarisen due to outbreak of AvianInfluenza – H5N1 (bird

    flu).The CM said that empha-sis should be laid onInformation, Education andCommunication to sensitizethe people of the state regard-ing adopting safety measures tocheck further spread of bird flu.Thakur said that till date, about

    4357 migratory birds have diedof bird flu and these birdswere being buried as per theprotocol, to prevent the spreadof the virus.

    About 65 rapid responseteams of Animal Husbandryand Wildlife Departments are

    regularly monitoring the PongDam and adjoining areas.Keeping in view the intensity ofbird flu, samples of poultryhave been sent to RDDLJalandhar by AnimalHusbandry Department, hesaid. PNS

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    In a reprieve to the businesscommunity especially thesmall and medium business-men to sail through these try-ing times amid Covid-19, thePunjab Cabinet on Mondayapproved the ‘Punjab OneTime Settlement Scheme forRecovery of Outstanding Dues-2021’ to clear and settle theirpending arrears.

    With implementation ofOTS, the state exchequer wouldbear a financial burden of�121.06 crore.

    A spokesperson of theChief Minister’s Office saidthat the scheme would beimplemented from February 1,2021 across the state underwhich all the dealers whoseassessments have been framedupto December 31, 2020 couldapply under the scheme tillApril 30, 2021. The dealer caneven submit additional statu-tory forms like C-forms whichwere not produced at the timeof assessment, with the appli-cation form and will have tomake the self-assessment andsubmit the proof of paymentnet tax payable as the result ofsettlement. The concernedWard in-charge would issue an

    order of settlement whichwould not be reopened in anyproceeding by way of review orrevision.

    It may be recalled thatCovid-19 has resulted inunprecedented situation for allsections of the society. Businesscommunity, especially thesmall dealers have suffered a lotdue to lockdown and subse-quent decline in the businessactivity.

    Various trade associationsraised a concern that they arefacing difficulties in procuringstatutory forms prescribedunder the Central Sales TaxAct, 1956 for availing conces-sional/nil rate of tax on inter-state transactions. They alsourged the state governmentfor settling their outstandingdues by introduction of OneTime Settlement Scheme forthe clearance and settlement ofoutstanding arrears underPunjab Value Added tax Act,2005 and Central Sales taxAct, 1956.

    RESTRUCTURING OFINFORMATION & PUBLICRELATIONS DEPARTMENTWITH A THRUST ONRIGHT-SIZING TOENHANCE ITS EFFICIENCY

    To bring far more efficien-cy in the functioning of theInformation & Public Relationsdepartment in the changedscenario, the Punjab Cabinetled by Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Mondaygave approval to its restruc-turing plan.

    A spokesperson of theChief Minister’s Office saidthat the department prepareda comprehensive proposal toright-size its manpower to caterto the changing requirementsand to introduce a degree offlexibility in engaging man-power with fast changing skillsets by bringing in a compo-nent of outsourced manpower.Certain traditional posts areproposed to be abolished infavour of new posts whichwould help the department inimproving its overall efficien-cy and response. The desiredpyramidical structure in hier-archy has also been adequate-ly taken care of.

    It may be recalled that theInformation & Public Relationsdepartment is actively engagedin the dissemination of policiesand achievements of the stategovernment. Earlier, thedepartment used traditionalmethods such as exhibitions,

    song & drama, cinema, etc. topercolate the message at thegrassroots level. With the pas-sage of time, print journals andelectronic mediums like TVand radio became more sig-nificant. Of late, social mediahas emerged as a potent medi-um of communication.However, the sanctionedstrength of the departmentcontinues to have provisions toengage persons for the tradi-tional modes of communica-tions rather than the emergingones.

    APPROVES ACQUISITION& CONSERVATION OFMUBARIK MANZILPALACE AT MALERKOTLA

    In a bid to preserve the glo-rious heritage of the state, theCabinet gave approval foracquisition, conservation anduse of Mubarik Manzil Palace,Malerkotla in district Sangrur.

    To facilitate the acquisitionof the Mubarik Manzil Palace,the state government will pro-vide Rs.3 crore to BegumMunawwar-ul-Nisa, the ownerof the property as considerationto her for transferring proper-ty with all its rights to the stategovernment. The ChiefMinister said that this decision

    would be instrumental in pre-serving the rich legacy of thestate and to reconnect youngergenerations with our gloriouspast.

    According to a spokesper-son of the Chief Minister’sOffice, the expected financialliability as on today involved inpurchase of this proposed pro-tected monument and likelyfinancial implications arisingout of existing court cases isaround Rs.5 crore. The rate ofthe land has been evaluatedfrom Deputy Commissioner,Sangrur and the evaluation ofthe property has also beendone by the Tourism &Cultural Affairs departmentthrough its ConservationArchitect and Chief GeneralManager-cum-Chief Engineer.

    APPROVAL TO AMENDPOLICY OF APPOINT-MENTS OF HONOUR &GRATITUDE TO THE WARHEROES OR THEIRDEPENDENTS

    The Punjab Cabinet gavenod to amend the policy of“Appointments of Honour &Gratitude to the War Heroes ortheir Dependents” with a viewto mitigate the problems beingfaced by dependents of mar-

    tyred/disabled soldiers in get-ting the jobs in line with theexisting policy. Notably, thesaid policy was notified onAugust 19, 1999 to enable thestate government to provide agovernment job to one depen-dent family member of mar-tyr/disabled soldier in recog-nition of their supreme sacri-fice.

    A spokesperson said thatwith the passage of time urgent

    need was felt to amend the saidpolicy in view of the hardshipsbeing faced by dependents.

    The amendments in thepolicy will now allow the fam-ily of a martyr to reserve the jobfor a minor child in case thewidow of the soldier does notwish to take up the job herself.Another provision has beeninserted whereby widows ofmartyrs, who had been con-strained to take up Group D

    posts due to extreme financialhardship, would be allowed totake a fresh Group C appoint-ment provided they hadupgraded their educationalqualifications accordingly.

    These amendments, alongwith certain others, would pavethe way for the next of kin toavail the benefits being pro-vided to them in recognition ofthe valour and bravery shownby the martyr.

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    Haryana Police on Mondayregistered a case undervarious sections of IPC andDamaging Public Property Actagainst BKU (Charuni) leaderGurnam Singh Charuni among71 named people and about900 unidentified people overthe Karnal incident in whichprotesting farmers vandalisedthe ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’venue where State ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattarwas to speak on the farm lawson Sunday.

    The accused were bookedfor rioting, assault on publicservants, damaging publicproperty, criminal conspiracyand other charges, police said.

    Talking to ‘The Pioneer’over the phone, Gharaunda(Karnal) Police StationInspector Mohan Lal said thatthe police have taken actionagainst 900 people for obstruct-

    ing government work, causingdamage to public property. AnFIR has been lodged under sec-tions 147, 149, 153, 152, 427,109, 120 of IPC and under dif-ferent sections of DamagingPublic Property Act against 71people by name, includingGurnam Singh Charuni, while800-900 unnamed people havealso been booked. No arrest hasbeen made so far. Investigationis being done at Police Stationlevel, he added.

    He further said that thepolice are collecting evidenceincluding video clips in con-nection with the incident andwould take action against thosewho are found involved in it.

    Agitating farmers had onSunday ransacked the venue ofthe ‘’kisan mahapanchayat’’,forcing the cancellation ofKhattar’s programme duringwhich he was to address thegathering highlighting the“benefits” of the three con-

    tentious Central agriculturelaws.

    Khattar had accusedCharuni of instigating peopleto vandalise the programmevenue.

    The Haryana Police hadused water cannons and tear-gas shells to prevent farmersfrom marching towards Kaimlavillage, where the programmewas to be held. The farmers,however, had managed to reachthe venue and damage amakeshift helipad whereKhattar’s chopper was to landdespite elaborate securityarrangements made by police.

    A purported video ofBharatiya Kisan Union leaderCharuni, making an appeal to“end the arrogance of the CM”by not allowing him to addressthe mahapanchayat, was cir-culating on social media. OnJanuary 6, the BKU (Charuni)had threatened to oppose the‘’kisan mahapanchayat’’.

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    Indian National Lok Dal(INLD) legislator AbhaySingh Chautala on Mondaywrote to the Haryana Assemblyspeaker, saying if the Centredoes not withdraw the threerecent farm laws by January 26,then his letter may be consid-ered as his resignation as anMLA from the House.

    In a letter to Speaker GianChand Gupta, Chautala, INLDMLA from Ellenabad,slammed the Centre for impos-ing the “black laws” on farm-ers in an “undemocratic way”and said the farming commu-nity in the entire country isopposing these legislations.

    A farmers’ agitation againstthe laws has been going on forover a month and the protest-ing farmers have been campingat Delhi’s borders in the coldweather conditions, he point-ed out.

    More than 60 farmershave “attained martyrdom”

    because of the intense coldweather but the Centre has paidno heed to their demands,Chautala wrote in the letter.

    Despite holding eightrounds of talks with the farmerleaders, the government hasnot shown any sign of agree-ment on the withdrawal offarm laws, he said.

    The INLD leader said itdoes not seem that being aresponsible member of theHouse, he can play any role toprotect the rights of farmersunder the kind of conditionscreated by the government.

    “Considering all these sit-uations, if the government ofIndia does not withdraw thesethree ‘’black laws’’ by January26, then this letter should beconsidered as my resignation,”he wrote to the speaker.

    A couple of days ago,Chautala had said he wouldresign from the Assembly if thedemands of the farmers werenot accepted by the Centre byJanuary 26.

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    Haryana Government onMonday decided to devel-op Pipli in Kurukshetra as aworld class tourist hub.

    The tourist hub which willbe developed on Saraswati Setuin Pipli would attract touristsfrom within the country andabroad and also place Haryanaon the international touristmap, the meeting of HaryanaSarasvati HeritageDevelopment Board (HSHDB)held under the Chairmanshipof Chief Minister Manohar LalKhattar decided on Monday.

    The Tourist Hub in Pipliwould be developed byHaryana Sarasvati HeritageDevelopment Board (HSHDB).Apart from boating, it wouldalso offer a wide range of facil-ities like restaurants, parks,museums etc to the visitors.The State Government isalready developing Adi Badri inYamunangar as a tourist desti-nation.

    It was also decided in the

    meeting that five-six waterbodies would be developed inYamunangar and Kurukshetradistricts for the storage ofexcess water during the rainyseason so that the same couldbe utilized for irrigation andrelated purposes. This wouldnot only significantly boostthe tourism activities in thearea but also improve theunderground water level inKurukshetra, Pehowa, Ladwaand Radaur.

    Saraswati River project is aprestigious project of the StateGovernment as the water flow-ing in the River would not onlyhelp in overcoming the prob-lem of dark zones inYamunanagar, Karnal andKaithal districts but also theun-channelized water whichadversely affects the crops inthe fields could be effectivelyutilized for irrigating fieldsand beautification of ruralponds.

    It was also informed thatHaryana Sarasvati HeritageDevelopment Board (HSHDB)

    is going to organize 3-daysInternational SaraswatiMahotsav-2021 from February14 to February 16, 2021 at AdiBadri and Pehowa to showcasethe rich heritage and history ofthe sacred river Saraswatiwhere all of the ancient scrip-tures including the Vedas andUpanishads were written.

    The event would be opento the public and entry wouldbe free.

    During the InternationalSaraswati Mahotsav-2021, oneday International Seminar onSaraswati would be organizedon February 15, 2021 in whichChief Minister, Mr ManoharLal would be the Chief Guestand would digitally deliver hisaddress. Representatives of 16countries would participate inthis International Seminar. Itwas also informed that on thepattern of Maha Aarti onBrahma Sarovar, evening Aartiwould be performed in AdiBadri on February 14, 2021 andin Pehowa on February 16,2021.

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    As many as 4357 migratorybirds have died till nowdue to the bird flu at Pong wet-land in Himachal’s Kangra dis-trict.

    “With carcasses of 122more migratory birds found atPong wetland till afternoon, thedeath toll of birds reached4357 due to avian influenza-H5N1. There is a drasticdecline in the number of deadbirds found in the Pong DamWildlife Sanctuary now,” said asenior official of the Wildlifewing of Forest Department,Himachal while talking to ThePioneer.

    He said that the situation isbeing closely monitored andanalyzed. Most of the deadbirds stuck in the inaccessibleswampy areas at Pong havebeen retrieved and the area is

    cleared of carcasses, the officialsaid.

    He said that active surveil-lance of Avian Influenza isbeing done in the WildlifeSanctuary area by rapidresponse teams and monitoredfrom a control room at NagrotaSurian.

    The situation seems to beunder control. Recent mortal-ity numbers of migratory birdsare showing a declining trendcontinuously for the last twodays. The control and con-tainment measures to deal withthe bird flu outbreak in Pongwetland continued for the 15thday, the official added.

    It was on Monday lastweek when the bird flu wasconfirmed in carcasses ofmigratory birds found dead atPong Wetland.

    Not only migratory birds,but crows have also died in var-

    ious parts of the state. Till date,215 native birds have beenfound dead in various parts ofHimachal.

    1000 dead domestic poul-try birds were also founddumped in Dharampur subdivision of district Solan.

    It is for the first time thatbird flu has been reported atthe Pong wetland which hostsmore than one lakh wingedguests during winter season.

    All the wetlands includingRenuka wetland, which hostsmigratory birds every year,wildlife sanctuaries and zoos inthe state have been put on birdflu alert. Notably, humans canget infected by H5N1 onlyupon close interaction withinfected live or dead birds, orH5N1-contaminated environ-ments. If infected, humanstend to fall severely ill and alsorequire hospitalisation.

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    Punjab Cabinet led by ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh on Monday gave a goahead to levy SpecialInfrastructure Development(ID) Fee to be deposited in theDevelopment Fund of PunjabInfrastructure DevelopmentBoard (PIDB) by increasingthe prices of diesel and levy onregistration of property.

    According to a spokesper-son of the Chief Minister’s

    Office, the Special ID Feewould be imposed @ Rs.0.25per litre each on sale of Petroland Diesel within the state.Likewise, Special ID Fee @Rs.0.25 would also be leviedfor every one hundred rupeesof the value of purchase ofimmovable property withinthe state.

    The Special ID Feeimposed will lead to creationof additional revenue streamsof Rs.216.16 crores approxi-mately annually into the

    Punjab InfrastructureDevelopment Fund (PIDF).

    Likewise, the Cabinet alsogave approval for certainamendments in the PunjabInfrastructure (Developmentand Regulation) Act, 2002through promulgation of anOrdinance and thereafterintroducing a Bill viz. thePunjab Infrastructure(Development andRegulation) Amendment Bill,2021 in the Punjab VidhanSabha.

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    Chandigarh:Two more peoplesuccumbed to the novelCoronavirus in Punjab onMonday, pushing the state’sdeath toll to 5447. The mortal-ity rate stood at 3.21per cent inthe state. With 202 fresh Covid-19 cases reported in the past 24hours, the state’s infection countreached 169225, the state’s bul-letin stated. Of the total twodeaths, one each was reported inLudhiana and Hoshiarpur.

    Among the fresh cases, thehighest 32 were reported fromMohali followed by 31 inAmritsar, 19 in Hoshiarpur, 17each in Patiala and Jalandhar,15 in Ludhiana, 11 each inRopar and SBS Nagar, as perthe bulletin.In the last 24 hours,a total of 265 patients were dis-

    charged after recovering frominfection, taking the number ofcured persons to 160920 in thestate, at a rate of 95.09 percent.

    The state still has 2858active COVID-19 cases —accounting for 1.68 percent ofthe total confirmed cases in thestate till date. Of them, 8 crit-ical patients are on ventilatorsupport, while 109 are on oxy-gen support, the bulletin added.

    6 DEATHS, 244 CASES INHARYANA

    The Covid-19 death toll inHaryana rose to 2956 onMonday with six more fatali-ties, while 244 new casespushed the infection tally to2,65,199, a health departmentbulletin issued here said.

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    Atotal of 21,000 poultrybirds at Barwala culled inthe first-three days of theculling exercise in Barwala-Raipur Rani region after sam-ples of some birds in two poul-try farms at Kheri and Ganaulivillages in Panchkula districttested positive for the H5N8strain of avian flu on January8.

    Talking to ‘The Pioneer’over the phone, Haryana StateDepartment of AnimalHusbandry Joint director LCRanga on Monday said that theteam members of the DistrictTask Force along with officialsof Animal Husbandry havebeen working on a war footingfor the last third days to com-plete the culling exercise of 1.66lakh poultry birds as per theinstructions of the Governmentof India, Ministry of AnimalHusbandry. It will take at least

    a week or so to complete theculling of 1.66 lakh poultrybirds, he added.

    Ranga said that workersused to wear PPE kits beforecommencing the culling oper-ation. Birds are made uncon-scious through a medicine thatwas mixed in the farm’s watertank and supplied to the birds’enclosures. On Monday, theculling operation was carriedout at Nature Poultry Farm andSiddharth Poultry Farm.

    On the third day of theculling of poultry birds exer-cise, 7800 poultry birds wereculled at Siddharth PoultryFarm in Kheri village andNature Poultry Farm culled.

    On the first day, at least3,700 poultry birds were culledon the first day, including 1,000birds at Siddharth PoultryFarm and 2,700 birds at NaturePoultry Farm while on Secondday, 9300 poultry birds wereculled.

    He further said that theinstructions were issued to thelocal residents to not roamaround the affected poultryfarms, in which culling opera-tion is to be executed. The teammembers are not allowed to goto their homes till the comple-tion of the culling operation.They stay at their designatedquarantine centers located inRaipurrani-Barwala areas. Theoperation will continue until atleast 1.66 lakh poultry birds areculled in the area.

    Ranga further said that onMonday the officials werepressed to conduct a survey inthe affected areas. More sam-ples of the deceased birds,including their blood, foodgiven to them and carcasses,among others, were sent to theRegional Disease DiagnosticLaboratory (RDDL) inJalandhar and indian NationalInstitute of High SecurityAnimal Diseases, Bhopal of

    Madhya Pradesh andreports are awaited.

    The State Government onJanuary 8 had announcedcompensation to the owners ofthe affected farms on the basisof Rs 90 per poultry bird.There are around 110 poultryfarms in the Barwala belt inPanchkula. The mass mortali-ty of poultry birds was report-ed in about two dozen poultryfarms. The mortality amongthe birds has been reportedsince December 5, 2020.

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    Shimla/Chandigarh:Coldweather conditions persisted inmost parts of Punjab andHaryana on Monday.Haryana’sNarnaul was the coldest placewith a minimum temperatureof four degrees Celsius, a notchbelow normal.A thick blanketof fog enveloped several cities,including Chandigarh, Ambala,Hisar, Sirsa and Patiala, in themorning.Chandigarh, the jointcapital of both states, recordedits low at 9.5 degrees Celsius,four notches above normal, asper Chandigarh MeteorologicalDepartment.Among otherplaces in Punjab, Amritsar,Ludhiana and Patiala recordedminimum temperatures of 7.2,7.9 and 8 degrees Celsiusrespectively, up to four notch-es above normal.

    PNS

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    Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar onMonday directed the officersconcerned of Haryana ForeignCooperation Department toidentify potential investorsacross the world in order toestablish Haryana as a globalbrand through ‘Go-GlobalApproach’.

    The Chief Minister saidthis while presiding over thefirst review meeting of thenewly formed Haryana ForeignCooperation Department inChandigarh.

    During the meetingDirector General and Secretary,Foreign CooperationDepartment, Dr. Anant

    Prakash Pandey apprised theChief Minister through a pre-sentation regarding the activi-ties being conducted by theDepartment.

    He said that theDepartment is workingtowards promoting Haryana asa most preferred destination forinvestment from abroad aswell as developing strong tieswith academic institutions andHaryanvi diaspora for thesocio-economic welfare of theregion. He said that theDepartment aims to establishthe State as a hub for industries,education, skill developmentand tourism. He said that theDepartment has been holdingactive discussions with poten-tial investors from all conti-

    nents and is engaged in policyformulation and developmentof communication strategy forimproving the business envi-ronment in Haryana.

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    Punjab Minister forCooperation and JailsSukhjinder Singh Randhawaon Monday lashed out at theShiromani Akali Dal presidentSukhbir Singh Badal for play-ing politics over release ofBalwant Singh Rajoana, con-victed for the assassination offormer CM Beant Singh.

    Reacting to Sukhbir’sappeal to the President to par-don Rajoana and release him,Randhawa asked as to why he(Sukhbir) did not raise thisdemand when his party waspart of the NationalDemocratic Alliance govern-ment at the centre. He said,

    since the Akalis were now outof power they were trying toraise the Rajoana issue to makepolitical capital out of it.

    The Jails Minister saidPunjab government had par-doned prisoners to mark the550th birth anniversary of SriGuru Nanak Dev Ji, it had alsoproposed to the central gov-ernment that all those prison-ers who had already spent themaximum punishment periodof their sentence and were stilllanguishing in different jailsshould be released.

    “Why did not HarsimratKaur Badal, as she was a cen-tral minister then, take up thedemand with the governmentand help in their release?” he

    asked, while disclosing thatthe central government was stillsitting over the issue.

    Senior Congress leadersaid, this was so characteristicof the Akalis that while inpower they forget everythingincluding Punjab and the panthas they remain obsessed withtheir self interest and oncethey are out of power, they startremembering the panth andthe panthic issues just to takepolitical mileage. Randhawaasked Sukhbir Badal as why hedid not raise the matter in theparliament or during the PMand the President’s visit toPunjab during the 550thbirthcentenary celebrations of GuruNanak Dev.

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    Republic Day parade in 2022 will be at the newCentral Vista Avenue,” UnionHousing and Urban AffairsMinister Hardeep Singh Purion Monday said as he outlinedthat the development /rede-velopment of Central Vista isbeing undertaken with theobjective of upgradingParliament’s space, facilitiesand equipping it better.

    Work on redevelopmentof Rajpath will start soon afterthis year’s Republic Day parade.The work is expected to becompleted in the next 10months.

    As things stand, days afterthe Supreme Court’s go ahead,the Heritage ConservationCommittee (HCC) under theMinistry of Housing and UrbanAffairs, has cleared the pro-posal for the new Parliamentbuilding under the CentralVista Redevelopment Project.

    Responding to a queryduring a press conference,Ministry of Housing and UrbanAffairs’ Secretary DurgaShankar Mishra on Mondaysaid the committee discussedthe proposal of new parliamentbuilding and gave its approvaltoday (Monday). “The pro-

    posal was sent a few days ago,discussed and cleared after adetailed discussion,” he said.

    Additional secretary of theUnion Housing and UrbanAffairs Ministry is the chair-man of the 14-memberHeritage ConservationCommittee. The panel has ninegovernment officials and fouracademics from School ofPlanning and Architecture andDelhi University. “The com-mittee’s members are the oneswho look into what is provid-ed under unified buildingbylaws for preserving the her-itage based on which theyaccept, reject or suggest certainmodifications,” Mishra added.Notably, the HCC does nothold a public hearing. Askedwhether public hearing wasmandatory before granting

    approval, he answered, “No”.Last month, Prime

    Minister Narendra Modi hadlaid the foundation stone of thenew Parliament building wherethe Lok Sabha chamber willhave a seating capacity for 888members, while the RajyaSabha will have 384 seats formembers. The NationalEmblem will crown the newParliament building.

    The Central Vista revamp,announced in September, 2019envisages a new triangularParliament building, with aseating capacity for 900 to1,200 MPs, that is to be con-structed by August, 2022 whenthe country will be celebratingits 75th Independence Day.The common CentralSecretariat is likely to be builtby 2024 under the project.

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    Adeclining number of freshCovid-19 cases and a highrate of recovery have resultedin a continuous fall in thecountry’s active caseload, whichaccounts for only 2.13 per centof the total infections, theUnion Health Ministry said onMonday.

    The number of daily newfatalities has also declined sub-stantially in the country. OnMonday, less than 170 suchdeaths were recorded after 229days, the Ministry said. In fact,in the last 24 hours, Indiareported 16,311 new cases.

    India’s total active case-load has fallen to 2.25 lakh(2,22,526) on Monday with16,959 infected people recov-ered and discharged. This hasled to a net decline of 809 fromthe total active caseload.

    The total recovered casesstand at 10,092,909. The gapbetween recovered cases andactive cases, that is steadilyincreasing, is nearing 99 lakhsand presently stands at98,70,383.

    The recovery rate has alsoimproved to 96.43 per cent on

    Monday. This is amongst thehighest the world over. TheMinistry said that 78.56 percent of the new recovered casesare observed to be concentrat-ed in 10 States/UTs.

    Kerala has reported themaximum number of singleday recoveries with 4,659 newlyrecovered cases. 2,302 peoplerecovered in Maharashtra fol-lowed by 962 in Chhattisgarh.Similarly, 80.25 per cent of thenew cases are concentrated in9 States and UTs.

    Kerala has also reportedthe highest daily new cases at4,545 followed by Maharashtrawith 3,558new cases.

    Six States/UTs account for69.57 per cent of the dailydeaths with Maharashtra wit-nessing the maximum casual-ties (34). Kerala and WestBengal followed with 23 and 19daily deaths, respectively.

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    Researchers from IITMadras have found thatholding one’s breath canincrease the chances of aCovid-19 infection. They saidthat the process of virus-ladendroplets being transportedinto deep lung increases withdecreasing breathing fre-quency.

    The research team led byProf. Mahesh Panchagnula,Department of AppliedMechanics, IIT Madras, withhis research scholars ArnabKumar Mallik and SoumalyaMukherjee, IIT Madras mod-elled the breathing frequencyin a laboratory and foundthat low breathing frequencyincreases the time of resi-dence of the virus and there-fore it increases chances ofdeposition and consequentlythe infection.

    Also, the multiscale lungstructure has a significanteffect on a person’s suscepti-bility to Covid-19, said thestudy which is published inthe journal Physics of Fluids.

    Elaborating on the needfor such research, Prof.Panchagnula, said, “Covid-19(the disease caused byCoronavirus) has opened agap in our understanding of

    deep pulmonological systemicdiseases.”

    “Our study unravels themystery behind how particlesare transported and deposit-ed in the deep lung. The studydemonstrates the physicalprocess by which aerosol par-ticles are transported into thedeep generations of the lung,”he added.

    Prof. Panchagnula’s teamworked to gain a deeperunderstanding of how the rateof flow of droplet laden withvirus determines the deposi-tion of the virus in the lungs.

    In their research, the teamreported that holding thebreath and having low breath-ing rate can increase chancesof virus deposition in thelungs.

    The study was conductedto pave the way for develop-ing better therapies and drugsfor respiratory infections.

    Previous work from thegroup has also highlightedthe significant variability inaerosol uptake from individ-ual to individual, suggesting areason why some people aremore susceptible to airbornediseases than others.

    The IIT Madras researchteam imitated the dropletdynamics in the lung bystudying the movement of

    droplets in the small capillar-ies which were of a diametersimilar to bronchioles.

    They took water mixedwith fluorescent particles andgenerated aerosols from thisliquid using a nebulizer.

    These fluorescent aerosolswere used to track the move-ment and deposition of parti-cles in the capillaries.

    The researchers studiedthe movement of the fluores-cent aerosol particles in cap-illaries of size ranging from0.3 to 2 millimetres whichcovers the range of bronchiolediameters.

    They found that the depo-sition is inversely propor-tional to the aspect ratio ofcapillaries, which suggeststhat the droplets are likely todeposit in longer bronchi-oles.

    The scientists also studiedhow the ‘Reynolds Number,’ aparameter that quantifies thenature of flow - steady or tur-bulent, determines the depo-sition in the capillaries.

    They found that when theflow of aerosol movement issteady then the particlesdeposit via the process of dif-fusion, however, if the flow isturbulent then the particlesdeposit via the process ofimpaction

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    With the impasse continu-ing at the Line of ActualControl (LAC) for the last ninemonths, Chief of Defence StaffGeneral Bipin Rawat reviewedthe operational readiness of thearmed forces on Monday inLadakh. He is also likely to visitsome forward areas along theborder.

    Incidentally, the CDS hadan extensive tour of ArunachalPradesh some days back tocheck readiness. He interactedwith the Army and Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice(ITBP)troops on some ofthe posts maintained by air. Healso reviewed some air forcebases and advanced landinggrounds in the State facingChina in the east. The top brassbriefed him about the situationin the eastern sector.

    As regards the ongoing

    Ladakh tour, officials said hereon Monday he was apprised ofthe current situation on the1,700 km LAC in Ladakh by thecommanders of the Leh based‘Fire and Fury Corps’.

    He was also updated aboutthe army’s preparedness toremain fighting fit during theharsh winter months. The brief-ing included logistical situationof winter clothing and prefab-ricated heated huts to enable thetroops to withstand temperaturedipping to minus 30 degrees.

    As multiple rounds of talksat the military and diplomaticlevels have so far failed to breakthe logjam, the Indian army was

    all geared up for a long haul dur-ing the ongoing winter season.At present, more than one lakhtroops of India and China arefacing each other in Ladakhthereby heightening tension.

    During his tour of Ladakh,Rawat was also likely to inter-act with troops at some bases inan effort to boost their morale,officials said. He was also like-ly to review the readiness ofsome of the fighting formations.

    His visit came at a timewith all the three Services haveramped up their war fightingmachinery. The Army hasdeployed crack mountaintroops in Ladakh besides gear-ing up its formations all alongthe 4,000 km long LAC stretch-ing from Ladakh in the west toArunachal Pradesh in the east.The IAF has also increased itsalert on all the forwards basesfacing China and deployedmost of its frontline fighter jetsthere.

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    The NIA on Monday filedfirst supplementary charge-sheet before a Special Court,Ranchi under various IPCSections relating to criminalconspiracy and provisions ofUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act against fouraccused persons in the CPI(Maoist) case of Jharkhand.

    The four are Manoj Kumaralias Manoj Kumar Yadav(arrested), Krishna Da aliasKrishna Hansda (Absconding),Sunil Manjhi alias SunilMurmu (Arrested) and ManojKumar Choudhary (Arrested),all residents of district Giridih,Jharkhand.

    On January 22, 2018, aftercollection of levy amount,accused Manoj Kumar, whilehe was en-route to deliver theextorted funds to the cadres ofCPI (Maoist), was arrested byState Police and levy amount of

    �6 Lakh along with otherincriminating documents wereseized from his possession.

    The NIA took over theinvestigation of the case on July21, 2018 and re-registered it toprobe the case.

    “Investigation has estab-lished that arrested accusedManoj Kumar Yadav, wasworking as an associate/ OverGround Worker (OGW) ofthe CPI (Maoist), a proscribedterrorist organization, and wasthe conduit between the con-tractors and the banned orga-nization.

    With no clue available ini-tially, break-through in theinvestigation was achieved sub-sequently after extensive andmeticulous examination of sev-

    eral witnesses and rigoroustechnical analysis,” the NIAsaid in a statement here.

    Investigation has alsorevealed that arrested accusedSunil Manjhi, RegionalCommittee Member of CPI(Maoist), and abscondingaccused Krishna Da, RegionalCommittee Member andSecretary, North ChotanagpurZone of CPI (Maoist) wereinvolved in raising funds bycollecting levy through extor-tion for commission of terror-ist activities by way of attack-ing security forces, damagingpublic and private property,disrupting public peace andkilling innocent people.

    It was further establishedduring investigation that ManojKumar Choudhary was alsoCPI (Maoist) cadre who usedto collect the levy amounts andhand over the same to the othersenior members of the pro-scribed organisation, it added.

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    The Centre on Monday jus-tified in the Supreme Courtthe 2017 rules under thePrevention of Cruelty toAnimals (PCA) Act, 1960, andsaid that there is differencebetween “seizure” and “confis-cation” of animals and a pleacan be filed in the concernedcourt seeking release of seizedanimals.

    The top court said thatconfiscation of animals canonly happen after the convic-tion of a person under thePCA Act and it cannot bedone during the pendency oftrial.

    A bench of Chief JusticeSA Bobde and Justices ASBopanna and VRamasubramanian said that itis talking about the situationwhere the animals are takenaway from the protective cus-

    tody of the owners even dur-ing the proceedings.

    “There is a differencebetween sale and seizure.When sale is there, thenincome is generated. We areonly concerned with confis-cation of animals from therightful owner and thus keptlocked up and injured,” thebench said.

    During the hearing,Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for Centresaid that they have filed adetailed reply to the petitionand so far as seizure is con-cerned a plea can be filed inconcerned court for release ofseized animals.

    He said that the petition-er NGO has confusedbetween “seizure” and “con-fiscation” and an animal sub-jected to cruelty cannot beallowed to be maintained bythat person.

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    Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birlaon Monday urged youth towork for strengthening democ-racy and keeping the motto ofnation first.

    Addressing the participantsat National Youth Parliament2021, organised by the Ministryof Youth Affairs and Sports,and the Lok Sabha Secretariatin the Central Hall of theParliament House, the Speakersaid before Independence,Indian youth was at the fore-front of the struggle for free-dom. “In a similar way theyouth today must work cease-lessly towards taking India tothe path of prosperity andprogress,” he said.

    Birla also said that in ademocracy we share ourthoughts and experiences,

    debate and discuss and thenreach a conclusion after exten-sive discussion. This is thestrength of the democratic sys-tem that gives everyone theright to express their views. Hehoped that the YouthParliament would go a long

    way in strengthening the spir-it of democracy in keeping withthe motto of Nation First, hesaid. Sports Minister KirenRijiju and Secretary-General,Lok Sabha Utpal Kumar Singhwere also present on the occa-sion.

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    From this year onwards, tenbest national parks, 5coastal and marine parks andtop five zoos in the country willbe ranked and awarded annu-

    ally. This was announced byUnion Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar on Mondayat an event here after releasingManagement EffectivenessEvaluation (MEE) of 146national parks and WildlifeSanctuaries in the Country.

    At present, India has a net-work of 903 protected areasacross the States covering about5 per cent of the total geo-graphic area of the country. Inorder to assess the efficacy ofprotected areas, evaluation ofmanagement effectiveness isrequired, said the Minister.

    He said that what othercountries could not achieve,India has achieved and todayhas a thriving biodiversity. “70%of the global tiger population,70% of asiatic lions and morethan 60% of leopards popula-tion in India is a certificate of

    India’s thriving biodiversity ,asthese big cats sit at the top offood chain and their growingnumbers shows the well beingof the whole ecosystem.”

    Management EffectivenessEvaluation (MEE) of ProtectedAreas (PAs) has emerged as akey tool for PA managers and isincreasingly being used by gov-ernments and internationalbodies to understand thestrengths and weaknesses of theprotected area managementsystems.

    The results of the presentassessment are encouragingwith an overall mean MEEscore of 62.01 per cent which ishigher than the global mean of56 per cent. On the occasion,the Management EffectivenessEvaluation of Indian Zoos(MEE-ZOO) framework wasalso released.

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    The second edition of thebiennial pan-India coastaldefence exercise ‘Sea Vigil-21’will be conducted for twodays starting Tuesday. Theexercise will be undertakenalong the entire 7,516 kmcoastline and ExclusiveEconomic Zone(EEZ) ofIndia. The first such exercisewas held in 2019.

    Giving details here onMonday, the Navy said thedrill will involve all the 13coastal States and UnionTerritories along with othermaritime stakeholders,including the fishing andcoastal communities.

    The exercise is being coor-dinated by the Indian Navy.The entire coastal security set up was reorgan-ised after the 26/11 Terrorattack at Mumbai which waslaunched via the sea route.

    The scale and conceptualexpanse of the exercise isunprecedented in terms ofthe geographical extent, thenumber of stakeholdersinvolved, the number of unitsparticipating and in terms ofthe objectives to be met.

    The exercise is a build uptowards the major Theatrelevel exercise TROPEX

    [Theatre-level ReadinessOperational Exercise] whichIndian Navy conducts everytwo years. SEA VIGIL andTROPEX together will coverthe entire spectrum of mar-itime security challenges,including transition frompeace to conflict.

    Assets of the Indian Navy,Coast Guard, Customs andother maritime agencies willparticipate in the exercise,the conduct of which is alsobeing faci l itated by theMinistries of Defence, HomeAffairs, Shipping, Petroleumand Natural Gas, Fisheries,Customs, State Governments and other agen-cies of Centre and State.

    While smaller scale exercises are conducted incoastal states regularly, includ-ing combined exercises amongst adjoining states, theconduct of a security exerciseat national-level is aimed toserve a larger purpose.

    It provides opportunity, atthe apex level, to assess ourpreparedness in the domain ofmaritime security and coastaldefence.

    Exercise ‘Sea Vigil 21’ willprovide a realistic assessmentof our strengths and weak-nesses and thus will help infurther strengthening mar-itime and national security.

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    As the Supreme Courtrapped the Centre on thethree farm laws while hearinga bunch of petitions onMonday, the Congress onMonday demanded thatPrime Minister NarendraModi should apologise andimmediately repeal the con-tentious farm laws which areagainst the interest of farmersof the country.

    The Congress’ sharp reac-tion came soon after theSupreme Court said it hasmade up its mind to stay theimplementation of the threefarm laws which have led toprotests by thousands offarmers at various Delhi bor-ders.

    Congress chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala alsourged the Supreme court toregister cases against Modi,Home Minister Amit Shahand chief ministers ManoharLal Khattar and YogiAdityanath after taking noteof their actions that causeddamage to public property. Hesaid the central and state gov-ernments have dug up roadsand caused blockades on thenational highways around thenational Capital.

    “Prime MinisterNarendra Modi should apol-ogise not only to the familiesof 65 farmers who have sac-rificed themselves, but also tothe 62 crore farmers of the country. The prime ministershould thereafter talk to theagitating farmers himself andnothing short of it is accept-able to the ‘annadatas’,”Surjewala said at the AICCPress conference.

    Surjewala said the PMshould come forward andwipe the tears of farmers, heshould shed his support forcrony capital ists andannounce the repeal of thethree farm laws immediately.

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    Stopping short of calling theBJP a fascist force, BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee on Monday said thatthere is no difference betweenthe saffron outfit and outgoingUS President Donald Trumpadding Bengal will witness asecond famine if they come topower in the State.

    “There is no differencebetween BJP and Trump asthey represent two sides of thesame coin,” Banerjee said refer-ring to how one party like theother refuses to concede defeateven after getting trounced inthe elections. “Trump has lostthe elections but wants to con-tinue in power refusing to con-cede defeat. The BJP is no dif-ferent from him and they too cling on to power afterdefeat.”

    Hitting out at the saffronGovernment for forcingthrough the anti-farmer lawsagainst which the entire farm-ing community of the countryhad united in the outskirts ofDelhi Banerjee said if the BJPis allowed to come to power inBengal the State will be hit bya second Great Famine.

    Bengal had lost lakhs ofpeople in the Great Famine of‘76. “The Great Famine will hitBengal again if the BJP comesto power in the State” askingthe farmers and the poor toreject the party in the comingAssembly elections.

    The Chief Minister wasspeaking in an electoral rally atHabibpur in Nadia.

    Earlier she demanded thewithdrawal of the “oppressivefarm laws” while paying tributeto former Prime Minister LalBahadur Shastri on his 55thdeath anniversary.

    Invoking Shashtri’s slogan,“Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’’ (hail theyouth hail the farmers),Banerjee said that the interests

    of the farmers who are theheroes of the nation should bepreserved at any lost.

    “Tribute to Lal BahadurShastri, former prime minister,on his death anniversary. Hegave us the inspirational slogan‘’Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’’. We areproud of our farmer brothersand sisters. Farmers are theheroes of our nation. TheCentre MUST repeal the anti-farmer Acts NOW!” she wroteon the Twitter.

    In the rally she said herparty Trinamool Congress willalways stand by the agitatingfarmers saying “the farmers ofPunjab and Haryana are beingoppressed and tortured by theBJP Government … in theinterest of the corporate houses.”

    Attacking the BJP leadersfor giving false promises to theNamo Shudras (Matuas andSCs who have come fromBangladesh) of giving them cit-izenship Banerjee said “every-one who have been living inBengal since 1972 are the citi-zens of this country. They donot need any other recognition

    … but some swindlers arepromising them false citizen-ship which is not required,”adding her government willprovide about 1.5 lakh ‘pattas’to the people which in turn willstrand as a record to prove cit-izenship.

    “We will not allow anyoneto implement to force NRC orNPR in Bengal in the name ofgiving citizenship to people,”Banerjee said adding “thosewho will try to implementNRC or NPR will be shoedaway from the area by thelocal people.”

    Attacking the “turncoats”including senior TMC leadersand former Ministers who haveleft the ruling party to join theBJP Banerjee said that the “BJPtoday stands for Bharatiya JunkParty which accommodates allthe junks from the TMC…”adding “the BJP has come outwith a formula according towhich all the Kalo (black)becomes ‘Bhalo’ (good) afterjoining the BJP.”

    Pooh-pooing the BJP forholding out a false dream of“Sonar Bangla” or GoldenBengal, Banerjee said “theyare feeding you a false dreamof Sonar Bangla. But there is noneed of that as we alreadyhave made a Sonar Bangla…now we are proceeding toaccomplish the dream of BiswaBangla (Global Bengal).

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    With Assembly elections inAssam only months away,BJP President JP Nadda onMonday launched party’s pollcampaign in the State, assertingit will return to power for thesecond consecutive term bywinning hundred plus seats inthe 126-member House.

    The party since the 2016assembly win in the state hasemerged victorious in all theelections-whether it be theParliamentary, byelections, zillaparishads, panchayats, terri-torial or autonomous councils-and will come to power againin the next assembly polls,Nadda said while addressing‘Vijay Sankalp’ rally at thepolice parade ground here.

    “This has been possibledue to all-round development ofall sections of the people and theentire state by the governmentof Sarbananda Sonowal with thesupport of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi”, he said.

    Its BJP’s “double engine”government at the centre andthe state that has led to prop-er implementation of all theschemes in the various sectors,he said.

    “It is in the entire countrythat people have time andagain reposed faith in Modi ji

    which has resulted in the BJPwinning almost all elections atall levels”, Nadda said.

    Recent elections at Ladakh,Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat,Karnataka, Telangana, UttarPradesh, Bihar and North Easthave shown that people want tobe part of Modi ji’s “model ofdevelopment” and they alsoserved as an example of “howa party and the government canwork together”.

    Starting BJP’s poll cam-paign from the Barak valley,which has a sizeable populationof the Hindu Bengalis, is sig-nificant as it was here that theparty had began its journey inthe state winning two Lok

    Sabha seats and nine assemblyseats for the first time in theearly nineties.

    Barak valley comprises of15 assembly segments in thethree districts of Cachar,Karimganj and Hailakandi dis-tricts. Polls in Assam is due inMarch-April this year.

    The BJP president, harpingon the development agenda ofthe government, steered clearof the twin issues of NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC)which was published in 2019but is yet to be implementedand Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA) which created a stirin the rest of Assam but waswelcomed in the Barak valley.

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    Karnataka Chief MinisterBS Yediyurappa onMonday said the much-await-ed expansion or reshuffle of hisCabinet will take place onJanuary 13 or 14, and BJPPresident JP Nadda will beinvited for the swearing- in.

    Though the Chief Ministerindicated seven new faces willbe inducted, he did not makeit clear whether it will be a cab-inet expansion or reshuffle.

    The ministry currently has27 members and seven berthsare vacant.

    As it became clear that themuch-awaited exercise wouldfinally happen this week,Ministerial aspirants steppedup efforts to secure a berth onMonday even as speculationthat a few incumbents may bedropped kept some on tenter-hooks.

    “On January 13 or 14according to convenience ofour national President J PNadda and Karnataka in-charge (general secretary ArunSingh), by inviting them,swearing in ceremony will beorganised,” Yediyurappa toldreporters here.

    After paying tributes toformer prime minister Lal

    Bahadur Shastri on his deathanniversary, he said, aboutseven people will be inducted.

    Asked whether it will becabinet expansion or reshuffle,he said, “let’s see, you will getto know.” On returning fromNew Delhi after holding dis-cussions with Nadda andUnion Home Minister AmitShah on the cabinet expansion,Yediyuurappa had on Sundaysaid seven members would beinducted and that he willfinalise the names on Monday.

    Yediyurappa was waiting tocarry out the expansion/reshuf-fle as he was asked by the BJPpresident during their meetingin New Delhi on November 18to wait for the clearance fromthe central leadership.

    Amid reports that he mightbe dropped, Excise Minister HNagesh said he was not awareof any such move.

    The Minister said he waspromised that he would not beeased out from the cabinet as hehad played a crucial role in theBJP forming government andhe trusted the chief minister.

    “It is I who paved the wayfor BJP government forma-tion, CM and people of thestate are aware of it,” Nagesh, aminister in the previous JDS-Congress government, said.

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    The Sikkim Assembly onMonday adopted a resolu-tion for granting ScheduledTribe status to 11 left-out com-munities of the State.

    The resolution will now beforwarded to the Centre forapproval.

    Speaking at the one-dayAssembly Session, ChiefMinister Prem Singh Tamangsaid it is a long-standingdemand of the 11 communitiesto be granted ST status.

    The assembly passed theSikkim Panchayat(Amendment) Bill and theSikkim Industries Licensing(Amendment) Bill.

    The House also passed thesecond supplementarydemands of Rs 503.47 crore for

    2020-21 fiscal by a voice vote.It also passed the SikkimAppropriation Bill for the sec-ond supplementary demands.

    Governor Ganga Prasad,while addressing the House,said that the prevailing chal-lenges related to the COVID-19 outbreak will not be allowedto derail the state government’sresolve to bring all-rounddevelopment of the state.

    Deputy Speaker SangayLepcha adjourned the Housesine die at the end of the pro-ceedings.

    Lucknow: A constable alleged-ly attacked a BJP leader whowent to a police station inDeoria for the release of a paanshop-owner detained by police.Local BJP leaders protestedagainst the incident after whichthe constable was suspendedand a probe ordered.

    According to reports,Balram Chaurasiya owns apaan shop at Mahuapatancrossing under Bariyapurpolice station. Chaurasiya wasin the shop late on Sundaynight when a cop from the localpolice station reached there andconfronted him for keeping theshop open till late night. Later,he forcibly took the shop-owner to the police station.

    When the informationreached Balram’s family, theycontacted the chairman of theSC cell of BJP in Bariyapur,Nageshwar Paswan and soughthis help. Paswan reached thepolice station and talked to thestation house officer DeepakKumar for release of Balram.

    Nageshwar alleged thatwhen he was sitting with hissupporters at the police station,head constable Manoj Patel,who brought Balram to thepolice station, reached thereand started hurling abuses atthem. “He appeared to be in aninebriated state. When some ofmy supporters asked him tomind his language, the consta-ble got agitated and attackedBalram. PNS

    Lucknow: The ElectionCommission of India (ECI) onMonday issued the notificationfor biennial polls to 12 seats ofUP Legislative Council. Thepolling is scheduled for January28. The UP chief electoral offi-cer (CEO) said that the term ofthe 12 seats is expiring onJanuary 31. The last date for fil-ing the nominations is January18 while scrutiny of the paperswill be done on January 19.

    Candidates can withdraw theirnominations till January 21. Ifrequired, the polling will beheld on January 28 from 9 amto 4 pm while the counting ofvotes from 5 pm.

    All the Assembly membersare eligible to vote in this elec-tion. BJP is set to win 10 seatswhile SP one seat. If the oppo-sition is united and fields a jointcandidate, it can win the 12thseat. PNS

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    A55-year-old woman, whowas a relative of aRajasthan AdministrativeServices (RAS) officer, died ata hospital after being foundunconscious with her handsand legs tied in Mansarovararea here on Monday, policesaid. Vigya Devi (55) was thesister of an RAS officer postedas a sub-divisional magistrate(SDM) in Jaipur. She was a gov-ernment teacher and posted inJaipur collectorate on deputa-tion.

    “The matter came to lightwhen her relatives reached thehouse in the morning. Shewas lying unconscious. Herhands and legs were tied. Shewas rushed to a nearby privatehospital where she died,” police said.

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    The MaharashtraGovernment on Mondaysounded a “high alert” acrossthe State, as the health author-ities confirmed that the bird fluwas the cause of the death ofbirds in Parbhani district where“800 to 900” birds died due toavian influenza later last weekand also in places like Beed,Mumbai, Thane and Dapoli.

    Three days ago “800 to900” chickens died inMurumba village in Parbhanidistrict in Marathwada. Thedistrict authorities had sent theblood samples of a fewdeceased birds to Bhopal-based ICAR-National Instituteof High Security Animal

    Diseases (NIHSAD) for achemical analysis, reports ofwhich had confirmed that “800to 900” birds had died due toAvian influenza.

    On its part, the NIHSADhad confirmed that two crowsfrom Mumbai died due to birdflu. On Sunday, 11 crows werefound dead at Chembur innorth-central Mumbai, fol-lowing which a team of doctorsfrom the BMC health depart-ment rushed to the spot toexamine the cause of the deathof crows.

    Three pond egrets and aparrot from Thane were infect-ed by the H5N1 avian influen-za virus, while a chicken andtwo herons from Parbhani toodied of H5N1 avian influenza

    virus. Crows from Beed andDapoli in Ratnagiri districtwere infected by H5N8 avianinfluenza virus. Similarly, 180birds, including 128 hens, werefound dead during the lastfew days in Latur district ofMarathwada region.

    Talking to media persons atJalna where he had gone to cel-ebrate his birthday, State HealthMinister Rajesh Tope said thatthere was a need to sound“high alert” in the state.

    “There has been an out-break of bird flu in many states.Maharashtra has also joinedthese states. Hundreds of crowshave been found dead inParbhani district The death rateamong those affected by birdflu is 10 to 12 per cent To stop

    the spread of bird flu, the stateanimal husbandry departmenthas to sound high alert in thestate,” Tope said.

    Confirming the outbreakof bird flu in some parts ofMaharashtra, State AnimalHusbandry Department secre-tary Anoop Kumar said thatthe state government wouldintensify bio-safety measures inpoultry farms so that there wasno interface with wild birds.

    Kumar said that as part ofthe action plan being imple-mented to fight bird flu in thestate, the culling of birds wouldbegin from Tuesday.

    Kumar said that 8,000 to10,000 birds within one-kmradius of the infected zone inParbhani would be culled on

    Tuesday.Kumar, meanwhile, said

    that it was “safe” to consumeeggs or chicken as the viruscannot withstand cooking tem-peratures. He said that peopleneed not worry as infection tohumans due to bird flu was“rarest of rare”

    In a related development,the Thane MunicipalCorporation has set up a con-trol room to monitor the situ-ation and appealed to people topromptly report any cases ofbird deaths in the city. “TheTMC will undertake a cam-paign to remove fear from theminds of citizens and givethem appropriate informationfrom time to time,” a TMCspokesperson said.

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    Lucknow: The Lucknow Zoohas suspended its birdexchange programme andclosed its aviary for visitorsafter Uttar Pradesh confirmedoutbreak of the avian influen-za when samples of a couple ofbird carcasses in Kanpur zoowere found positive for the dis-ease. The Kanpur ZoologicalPark has already been closedfor visitors till further orders.

    The outbreak was con-firmed in seven states —Kerala, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, Himachal Pradesh,Haryana, Gujarat and UttarPradesh — as on January 10.On Monday, bird flu has alsobeen confirmed in Delhi,Uttarakhand and Maharashtra.

    The bird section of theLucknow Zoo was closed onSunday and the bird exchangeprogramme has been tem-porarily suspended. PTI

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    More than 31 years after ter-rorists belonging to theJammu & Kashmir LiberationFront (JKLF) had abductedRubaiya Sayeed, youngerdaughter of former HomeMinister Mufti Mohd Sayeed,a special TADA court inJammu on Monday orderedthat charges be framed againstterrorist-turned-separatistleader Yasin Malik and nineothers. The trial in the case isexpected to begin soon.

    Rubaiya Sayeed was kid-napped by the Jammu KashmirLiberation Front on December8, 1989 barely six days afterMufti Mohd Sayeed was swornin as Union Home Minister.She was dragged out of a mata-dor, popular mode of publictransport and whisked away ina car from Nowgam area ofSrinagar,by the JKLF terror-

    ists.Rubaiya was returninghome from the local hospital atthe time of her abduction atgunpoint.

    As pressure mounted onthe union government, fiveJKLF terrorists were released byDr Farooq Abdullah govern-ment on December 13,1989.Hours later RubaiyaSayeed too was set free by theJKLF terrorists.

    During a special hearing inthe case, Special Judge TADACourt Sunit Gupta Mondayordered that charges be framedagainst Yasin Malik, AliMohamad Mir, MohammadZaman Mir, Iqbal AhmadGandroo , Javed Ahmad Mir ,Mohammad Rafiq Pahloo aliasNana Ji alias Saleem , ManzoorAhmed Sofi, Wajahat Bashir ,Mehraj-ud-Din Sheikh andShowkat Ahmad Baks


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March 11-12, 2021 - mnhospitals.org

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11.+ 12.září 2021 · 2021. 4. 4. · •STATUTÁRNÍ MĚSTO PARDUBICE 11.+ 12.září 2021 •Ministr obrany České republiky Mgr. Lubomír Metnar •Náměstek gen. ředitele

September 11-12, 2021

BOARD MEETING AGENDA – January 11, 2021 – 12:00 p.m....2021/01/11  · BOARD MEETING AGENDA – January 11, 2021 – 12:00 p.m. Notice of COVID-19 Pandemic Meeting Format: Effective

12 / 11 / 2021 —> 05 / 01 / 2022 09

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November 11-12, 2021 - School Webmasters

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Generated on: 2021-11-12 19:31

October 11-12, 2021 | Los Angeles, CA 2021 SPONSORSHIP

Daily Current Affairs- 11 & 12 September 2021

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2021-12-02 (11)

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VOLUME XXXVI NO.11 Le 12 novembre 2021

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2021 12 11 8 -The LIVE - Delight

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Aladip Catalogo 2021 · 2020. 12. 14. · Title: Aladip Catalogo 2021 Created Date: 12/11/2020 11:14:21 AM

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FANO 10-11-12 SETTEMBRE 2021

September 11 & 12, 2021 SERIES reservations call Pineola

2021-05-11 (12)

ClinicalTrials.gov Search Results 11/12/2021

11 - 12 FEBRUARY 2021 - Life Healthcare

01/11/2021, 22/11/2021, 13/12/2021, 03/01/2022,

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PCHA September 11-12, 2021

Revised: 11/12/2021 SHORT CLASSES

2021-11-12-TD spectroscopie et structure

11 to 12 November 2021 - casfosddn.nic.in