· 2021. 1. 16. · on the first day on saturday. ... immunisation campaign at covid block 1 of...

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I ndia launched its mammoth vac- cination drive on Saturday to bring the pandemic under control with two locally-produced vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — with nearly two lakh out of tragetted three lakh taking shot against the pathogen on the first day on Saturday. Launching the “world’s largest vaccination drive” against Covid-19, Modi congratulated citizens and sci- entists for the feat but cautioned peo- ple against being careless and not tak- ing precautions after taking the first dose of the vaccination. The Prime Minister also alerted people against the rumours spread about the vaccines. He said Indian vaccines are the “cheapest and the best in the world”. Modi, in a televised address before the vaccine rollout, said there are several nations whose entire population is less than 3 crore, but India will be vaccinating as many people in just the first phase. He saluted scientists for developing the vaccines in such a short span of time. The PM cautioned people to ensure that they take both the doses at one month’s gap and show patience as the country begins to give the anti- dote to its huge population. “Don’t make the mistake of tak- ing one dose and then forgetting about dose two and don’t forget coro- navirus appropriate behaviour after getting the dose. The patience with which you fought coronavirus, show the same patience during vaccination now,” Modi said. As the PM kicked off the vaccine rollout with a click of a button, a video message played the Sanskrit chant — sarve bhavantu sukhinah, sarve santu niramaya (All be happy, all be free of illness). The Covid-19 vaccination drive was successfully conducted on the first day, Additional Secretary in the Union health Ministry Manohar Agnani said during a press briefing here organised late evening after the drive was wrapped up for the day. Of three lakh planned to be inoculated, around 1,91,181 beneficiaries were given the shot of Covid-19 vaccines on first day involving 16,755 per- sonnel at 3,351 vaccination sessions. Agnani said that Covid-19 vac- cines Covaxin and Covishield (developed by Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII) respec- tively) were given at 3,351 session across the country. He refused to take any questions from the reporters. I t was neither the age, nor the way to go. Usha Srivastava, 59, who headed the Hindi Pioneer since its birth in 2011, passed away at 11.30 at the Max hospital, Saket, in New Delhi on Saturday. She left behind a grieving fami- ly, shell-shocked colleagues, a large number of friends, well-wishers, and acquaintance who would found it difficult to accept that (the) cheer- ful, friendly, demure face of Hindi journalism is no more. Usha was suffering from a liver ailment and had undergone a liver transplant. She could never recover from the post-operation complica- tions. A host of political leaders and journalists have mourned her death. An emotional Chandan Mitra, the Editor-in-Chief of The Pioneer, nearly broke down on hearing the news of Usha’s demise. “She nurtured the Hindi Pioneer like her own baby. She was a spirited, committed, and lively colleague, whose absence can- not be filled easily. I’m speechless with grief,” he said. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath mourned Usha’s death and conveyed his condolences to her family. Union Minister Nitin Gadara and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar were among those who mourned Usha’s death. The Pioneer CEO Shobori Ganguly described Usha as a “valu- able” colleague who also cared for everyone around her. “I find it so dif- ficult to come to terms with her pass- ing away. She was such a noble soul,” she said. When her wait for a liver donor ended on December 25 after nearly a fortnight of a wait during which she was bedridden in the hos- pital, in and out of the ICUs, at The Pioneer we took a sigh of relief. Many of us met her before she was wheeled into the operation the- atre the next day. Little did we know that it would be the last time we would see her. Her valiant fight for survival, our prayers, and doctors’ efforts could not change what destiny had in store for her. She left us without a word, without even opening her eyes for nearly three weeks. Turn to Page 4 A dead owl in the Delhi zoo has been infected with bird flu as the samples were found positive for H5N8 avian influenza virus under RT-PCR test done by ICAR-National Institute of High Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD), Bhopal, on Friday, officials said on Saturday. “The zoo witnessed the death of a brown fish owl in its captivity. Its cloacal, tracheal and ocular swabs were sent to the animal husbandry unit of the Delhi Government for sero- logical examination,” zoo Director Ramesh Pandey said. T he Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshakti approached the Supreme Court on Saturday, requesting it to remove the remaining three members of a com- mittee it had set up to hold talks with the farmers protesting against the three contentious farm laws. The BKU (Lokshakti) has request- ed the court to nominate people to the committee who can do the job “on the basis of mutual harmony”. The BKU (Lokshakti) is one of the 40-odd farmer unions spearheading the agitation on various border points of Delhi for about 50 days now, demand- ing repeal of the farm laws. In an affidavit, the BKU (Lokshakti) said the principle of natural justice is going to be violated as those appoint- ed to the four-member committee “have already supported these laws”. “It is important to mention here with great regret that the principle of natural justice is going to be violated by making these persons as members of the committee.... how they will hear all farmers on equal parameters when they have already supported these laws,” it said. The union also sought dismissal of a plea of the Central Government, filed through the Delhi Police, seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor march or any other kind of protest by farmers that could disrupt the gather- ing and celebrations of the Republic Day on January 26. O n day one of the launch of India’s historic nationwide vaccination drive against Covid-19, Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana recorded cases of adverse events — though none of them fatal — even as the Centre asserted that the inoculation drive was successfully conducted and no case of post-vaccination hospitalisation report- ed so far. In Delhi, 52 healthcare work- ers developed minor adverse event fol- lowing immunisation (AEFI), while 1 severe case was reported as per data available from the Government. Haryana recorded 13 adverse event cases following the immunisation. Officials from Maharashtra said they are further investigating the 14 cases of adverse events. At some sites like RML hospital in the national Capital, a section of doc- tors were apprehensive of an adverse event as they doubted the efficacy of the Covaxin developed by the Bharat Biotech, which is yet to complete the phase three trials. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restrict- ed emergency use in the country. The Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) of the Central Government hospital, RML refused to take the shot and requested the Medical Superintendent to vaccinate them with Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield. In a letter to the MS, the associa- tion said the resident doctors were “a bit apprehensive” about Covaxin and might not participate in the immunisation drive in large numbers. Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla was administered the first dose of the Covishield coron- avirus vaccine on Saturday afternoon, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India’s nationwide vaccination drive. C hief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the creation and use of indigenous vaccine to pre- vent corona is a matter of pride. It is the result of the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modi that from today the countrymen will be able to avail the “Made in India Vaccine”. It has rightly said that “Modi hai to mumkin hai”. Chief Minister Chouhan was inau- gurating the Covid Vaccine Immunisation Campaign at Covid Block 1 of Hamidia Hospital on Saturday. The first vaccine was admin- istered to ward boy Sanjay Yadav, work- ing in Hamidia Hospital on the occa- sion. In the first phase, 2 lakh 25 thou- sand vaccines are being administered in the state today. Chief Minister Chouhan congrat- ulated ward boy Sanjay Yadav who got the first vaccine. Sanjay Yadav thanked Chief Minister Chouhan. Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang, Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Prabhuram Chaudhary, Finance Minister Jagdish Deora, Additional Chief Secretary Mohammad Suleman, Commissioner Bhopal Kavindra Kiawat and Director Public Relations Ashutosh Pratap Singh was present in the vaccination cam- paign. Chouhan gave detailed information about the vaccination programme in Madhya Pradesh. Chief Minister Chouhan said that Prime Minister Modi is a “Man of Ideas”. He recognized the crisis in time. The efforts made by him for the country for the control of Corona are historical. The making of indigenous vaccines to protect against Corona and the introduction of a countrywide vaccine has started as a campaign from today. For this, our sci- entists certainly deserve special thanks, who worked day and night to produce the vaccine. I salute the scientific com- munity. The Chief Minister said that today it is natural to remember the sacrifices of the matyrs who treated Corona vic- tims at a time when people were afraid even by the name of someone infected by Corona. Many doctors lay down their lives while giving treatment services. Vaccination is being started by paying obeisance to them. Turn to Page 4 RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

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    India launched its mammoth vac-cination drive on Saturday to bringthe pandemic under control with twolocally-produced vaccines —Covishield and Covaxin — withnearly two lakh out of tragetted threelakh taking shot against the pathogenon the first day on Saturday.

    Launching the “world’s largestvaccination drive” against Covid-19,Modi congratulated citizens and sci-entists for the feat but cautioned peo-ple against being careless and not tak-ing precautions after taking the firstdose of the vaccination.

    The Prime Minister also alertedpeople against the rumours spreadabout the vaccines. He said Indianvaccines are the “cheapest and thebest in the world”.

    Modi, in a televised addressbefore the vaccine rollout, said thereare several nations whose entirepopulation is less than 3 crore, butIndia will be vaccinating as many

    people in just the first phase. Hesaluted scientists for developing thevaccines in such a short span of time.

    The PM cautioned people toensure that they take both the dosesat one month’s gap and show patienceas the country begins to give the anti-dote to its huge population.

    “Don’t make the mistake of tak-ing one dose and then forgettingabout dose two and don’t forget coro-navirus appropriate behaviour aftergetting the dose. The patience withwhich you fought coronavirus, showthe same patience during vaccinationnow,” Modi said.

    As the PM kicked off the vaccinerollout with a click of a button, avideo message played the Sanskritchant — sarve bhavantu sukhinah,sarve santu niramaya (All be happy,all be free of illness).

    The Covid-19 vaccination drivewas successfully conducted on thefirst day, Additional Secretary in theUnion health Ministry ManoharAgnani said during a press briefing

    here organised late evening after thedrive was wrapped up for the day. Ofthree lakh planned to be inoculated,around 1,91,181 beneficiaries weregiven the shot of Covid-19 vaccineson first day involving 16,755 per-sonnel at 3,351 vaccination sessions.

    Agnani said that Covid-19 vac-cines Covaxin and Covishield(developed by Bharat Biotech andSerum Institute of India (SII) respec-tively) were given at 3,351 sessionacross the country. He refused to take any questions from thereporters.

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    It was neither the age, nor the wayto go. Usha Srivastava, 59, whoheaded the Hindi Pioneer since itsbirth in 2011, passed away at 11.30at the Max hospital, Saket, in NewDelhi on Saturday.

    She left behind a grieving fami-ly, shell-shocked colleagues, a largenumber of friends, well-wishers,and acquaintance who would foundit difficult to accept that (the) cheer-ful, friendly, demure face of Hindijournalism is no more.

    Usha was suffering from a liverailment and had undergone a livertransplant. She could never recoverfrom the post-operation complica-tions.

    A host of political leaders andjournalists have mourned her death.

    An emotional Chandan Mitra,the Editor-in-Chief of The Pioneer,nearly broke down on hearing thenews of Usha’s demise. “She nurtured

    the Hindi Pioneer like her own baby.She was a spirited, committed, andlively colleague, whose absence can-not be filled easily. I’m speechlesswith grief,” he said.

    Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath mourned Usha’sdeath and conveyed his condolencesto her family. Union Minister NitinGadara and Haryana Chief Minister

    Manohar Lal Khattar were amongthose who mourned Usha’s death.

    The Pioneer CEO ShoboriGanguly described Usha as a “valu-able” colleague who also cared foreveryone around her. “I find it so dif-ficult to come to terms with her pass-ing away. She was such a noble soul,”she said. When her wait for a liverdonor ended on December 25 afternearly a fortnight of a wait duringwhich she was bedridden in the hos-pital, in and out of the ICUs, at ThePioneer we took a sigh of relief.

    Many of us met her before shewas wheeled into the operation the-atre the next day. Little did we knowthat it would be the last time wewould see her.

    Her valiant fight for survival, ourprayers, and doctors’ efforts couldnot change what destiny had instore for her. She left us without aword, without even opening her eyesfor nearly three weeks.

    Turn to Page 4

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    Adead owl in the Delhi zoohas been infected with birdflu as the samples were foundpositive for H5N8 avianinfluenza virus under RT-PCRtest done by ICAR-NationalInstitute of High SecurityAnimal Disease (NIHSAD),Bhopal, on Friday, officialssaid on Saturday.

    “The zoo witnessed thedeath of a brown fish owl in itscaptivity. Its cloacal, trachealand ocular swabs were sent tothe animal husbandry unit ofthe Delhi Government for sero-logical examination,” zooDirector Ramesh Pandey said.

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    The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshaktiapproached the Supreme Court onSaturday, requesting it to remove theremaining three members of a com-mittee it had set up to hold talks withthe farmers protesting against the threecontentious farm laws.

    The BKU (Lokshakti) has request-ed the court to nominate people to thecommittee who can do the job “on thebasis of mutual harmony”.

    The BKU (Lokshakti) is one of the40-odd farmer unions spearheading theagitation on various border points ofDelhi for about 50 days now, demand-

    ing repeal of the farm laws.In an affidavit, the BKU (Lokshakti)

    said the principle of natural justice isgoing to be violated as those appoint-ed to the four-member committee “have already supportedthese laws”.

    “It is important to mention herewith great regret that the principle ofnatural justice is going to be violated bymaking these persons as members of thecommittee.... how they will hear allfarmers on equal parameters whenthey have already supported theselaws,” it said.

    The union also sought dismissal ofa plea of the Central Government, filedthrough the Delhi Police, seeking aninjunction against the proposed tractormarch or any other kind of protest byfarmers that could disrupt the gather-ing and celebrations of the Republic Dayon January 26.

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    On day one of the launch of India’shistoric nationwide vaccinationdrive against Covid-19, Delhi,Maharashtra and Haryana recordedcases of adverse events — though noneof them fatal — even as the Centreasserted that the inoculation drive wassuccessfully conducted and no case ofpost-vaccination hospitalisation report-ed so far. In Delhi, 52 healthcare work-ers developed minor adverse event fol-lowing immunisation (AEFI), while 1severe case was reported as per dataavailable from the Government.

    Haryana recorded 13 adverse eventcases following the immunisation.

    Officials from Maharashtra saidthey are further investigating the 14

    cases of adverse events. At some sites like RML hospital in

    the national Capital, a section of doc-tors were apprehensive of an adverseevent as they doubted the efficacy of theCovaxin developed by the BharatBiotech, which is yet to complete thephase three trials.

    The Drugs Controller General ofIndia (DCGI) had earlier this monthapproved Oxford Covid-19 vaccineCovishield, manufactured by the SerumInstitute, and indigenously developedCovaxin of Bharat Biotech for restrict-ed emergency use in the country.

    The Resident Doctors’ Association(RDA) of the Central Governmenthospital, RML refused to take the shotand requested the MedicalSuperintendent to vaccinate them withOxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield.

    In a letter to the MS, the associa-tion said the resident doctors were “a bitapprehensive” about Covaxin and mightnot participate in the immunisationdrive in large numbers.

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    Serum Institute CEO AdarPoonawalla was administered thefirst dose of the Covishield coron-avirus vaccine on Saturday afternoon,hours after Prime Minister NarendraModi launched India’s nationwidevaccination drive.

    ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ �����!�������������!����"��������##�$�����������������$����� %��������&�'������

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    Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has said that the creationand use of indigenous vaccine to pre-vent corona is a matter of pride. It is theresult of the visionary leadership ofPrime Minister Modi that from todaythe countrymen will be able to avail the“Made in India Vaccine”. It has rightlysaid that “Modi hai to mumkin hai”.

    Chief Minister Chouhan was inau-gurating the Covid VaccineImmunisation Campaign at CovidBlock 1 of Hamidia Hospital onSaturday. The first vaccine was admin-istered to ward boy Sanjay Yadav, work-ing in Hamidia Hospital on the occa-sion. In the first phase, 2 lakh 25 thou-sand vaccines are being administered inthe state today.

    Chief Minister Chouhan congrat-ulated ward boy Sanjay Yadav who gotthe first vaccine. Sanjay Yadav thankedChief Minister Chouhan.

    Medical Education MinisterVishwas Sarang, Public Health andFamily Welfare Minister PrabhuramChaudhary, Finance Minister JagdishDeora, Additional Chief SecretaryMohammad Suleman, CommissionerBhopal Kavindra Kiawat and DirectorPublic Relations Ashutosh Pratap Singhwas present in the vaccination cam-paign.

    Chouhan gave detailed informationabout the vaccination programme inMadhya Pradesh. Chief Minister

    Chouhan said that Prime MinisterModi is a “Man of Ideas”. He recognizedthe crisis in time. The efforts made byhim for the country for the control ofCorona are historical. The making ofindigenous vaccines to protect againstCorona and the introduction of acountrywide vaccine has started as acampaign from today. For this, our sci-entists certainly deserve special thanks,who worked day and night to producethe vaccine. I salute the scientific com-munity.

    The Chief Minister said that todayit is natural to remember the sacrificesof the matyrs who treated Corona vic-tims at a time when people were afraideven by the name of someone infectedby Corona. Many doctors lay down theirlives while giving treatment services.Vaccination is being started by payingobeisance to them.

    Turn to Page 4

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  • � What made you say yes toplay Farishta in Naagin 5?

    I have never done asupernatural fantasy showearlier and also I was gettinga chance to work with Balajiafter three-and-a-half years, sothat’s what attracted me to therole. Not to mention, that it isan interesting character anddifferent from what I havedone till date.� What all can the audienceexpect from this new entry?

    There is a lot of craze forNaagin among the audience. Ican’t reveal the track but I amsure it will be as interesting asit has been all these years withme joining the show as acameo. � Did the role offer anychallenges?

    The role is challengingbecause the technique toshoot a fantasy thriller isdifferent from a daily soap. Ihave never joined a showmidway and believe it will befun and also a learningexperience.� In all these years, what hasbeen your biggest takeawayfrom the industry?

    I am growing andevolving with every projectthat I do, not only as an actorbut also as a human being.That’s my biggest takeaway. Iam fortunate enough to havebeen able to work with suchgood people all through. I amgrateful for whatever I haveachieved and my journey isnothing short of amazing.� You have been a part of afew music videos as well.How did that happen?

    I got an offer, I had timeand so I did it. I didn’t give itmuch thought. And the lastmusic video that I did — EkDafa To Mil, was shot anddirected very well.� How did acting happen toyou?

    It happened after school.I always wanted to act. I toldmy parents that I want to goto Mumbai. They weresupportive and encouragedmy decision. They were happyof what I wanted to do. I cameto Mumbai and started

    auditioning. Thankfully,within two months of comingto Mumbai, I got work. Therewas no struggle that I had togo through because of myparents or any other thing. Itall went smooth for me.� Did you have anyapprehensions?

    Not at all. I knew what Iwanted to do and I just wentwith my intuitions. A lot ofpeople are worried about thefuture and they do want to

    have a back-up plan if thingsdidn’t go their way. But I wasdedicated enough to this craftand that is all I cared about. Iwas sure things will work outon their own and there wasnothing that I was worriedabout.� What next?

    There are a few things inthe pipeline and I will talkabout it and share more detailssoon as things wil l getconfirmed.

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    The Bansal Super SpecialtyHospital of Bhopal has alsoachieved a new status in thefield of transplantation bytransplanting 100 kidneys in avery short time.

    Kidney transplant is themain option for a long and bet-ter life in kidney failurepatients, for a long time it wascommon practice to getpatients treated outside thestate for high level medicalfacilities, but in such a shorttime to establish High levelinstitute for kidney transplantby Bansal Hospital in the city is a matter of pride for thestate.

    Dr Vidyanand Tripathi,nephrologist at Bansal Hospitaland head of the kidney trans-plant department, said thatkidney failure patients have togo to the hospital for dialysistwo to three times a week and

    life is not very long, In terms ofexpenses the cost of dialysis inthe long run is much higherthan that of kidney transplant,so kidney transplant is like giv-ing new life for these patients.

    Dr Santosh Agrawal, ChiefSurgeon, Department ofKidney Transplant and Head ofUrology Department said thatthe specialty of these trans-plants is that they contain allthose complex transplants likecadaver transplant, swap trans-plant, transplant without bloodgroup matching, pediatric

    transplants and multivessaldonor transplants. Donor kid-neys have been extracted fromlaparoscopic method in allpatients. All these facilities areequivalent to the facilities avail-able only in big transplant cen-ter in the country.

    Dr Ganesh Dhanuka, anephrologist and transplantphysician at Bansal Hospital,explains that the success ofBansal Hospital's transplantprogram is equivalent to trans-plant centers of major cities inIndia.

    ����������� -,.��+

    Observing birth anniver-sary of SwamiVivekananda, the NationalYouth Day was celebratedenthusiastically in theRadharaman Group Campus.An event was organised here onSaturday.

    Lectures were organizedin the college auditorium.Following the CoronaGuideline, on one hand, teach-ers and management peoplejoined it live maintaining socialdistancing, while on the otherhand it was broadcast throughFacebook Live and GoogleMeet for students and parents.

    The keynote speaker ofthe programme, VishwasChauhan, AdministrativeMember, Madhya PradeshPrivate University RegulatoryCommission, told that byadopting the thoughts ofSwami Vivekananda in life, aperson can succeed. IndianGovernment celebratesNational Youth Day every yearon the birthday of SwamiVivekananda.

    This decision was taken bythe Indian government toinspire Swami Vivekananda'sphilosophy and his youthtowards his ideal. He furthersaid that it was decided to cel-ebrate the birthday of SwamiVivekananda as National Youth

    Day to fulfill the goal ofimproving the future of thecountry by encouraging theyouth through SwamiVivekananda's ideas andlifestyle.

    Speaking about the impor-tance of Youth Day, RR Saxena,Chairman of RadharamanGroup said that the main goalof celebrating it is to spread theimportance of SwamiVivekananda's ideals and ideasamong the youth of India. Thisis a great way to awaken theeternal energy of the youthalong with their great efforts tomake India a developed country.

    ����������� -,.��+

    In a joint effort district policeand excise departmentdestroyed and dumped 35,000kg of raw material and 1,800litres county raw country madeliquor worth �28 lakh fromover Tarawali Kanjar Dera,accused escaped in forest area.

    The special campaign tocurb illegally manufacturing ofliquor in the region continuedand under which teams wereformed and raided severalplaces and recovered raw mate-rial and country made liquorwhich was destroyed by theteams.

    The police have registereda case under section 34(1) ofthe Madhya Pradesh Excise Act1915 and started further inves-tigation.

    During the raid conductedpolice and Excise Departmentteam jointly taking action inTarawali Kanjar Dera and near-by areas.

    The police would takeaction under NSA against theabsconding accused.

    Meanwhile, the BhopalCrime Branch nabbed twomiscreants who were engagedin transportation of liquor ille-gally in car and recovered 130liters of country made liquorworth �4.75 lakh from theirpossession near Khajuri onFriday.

    Police said that after receiv-ing tip off regarding miscreantsusing car involved in trans-porting liquor illegally crimebranch team reached the spotand seized the car and liquor.

    The three miscreants were in acar bearing registration num-ber MP 04 CD 2395.

    Nabbed accused were iden-tified as Ramswaroop Meena(40) and Kumer Meena (30)who were carrying liquor ille-gally.

    The accused used old car toevade suspicion as police couldnot be misled. Police have reg-istered a case under section34(2) of the Excise Act was reg-istered and further investiga-tion has been started.

    ����������� -,.��+

    A28-year-old man who wasinjured in Ratibad area inthe early morning hours onSaturday, died while undergo-ing treatment at a HamidiaHospital.

    According to the policethe deceased Rambabu Meena0of Bilkisganj was on his way toBhopal when he met accidentand was rushed to hospitalwhere he died during treat-ment.

    The police have registereda case under section 174 of theCrPC and have started furtherinvestigation.

    The accident took place ata deserted place and localsinformed police and ambu-lance to take injured to hospi-tal.

    Meanwhile, a 2-year-oldboy died late in the night atKamla Nehru Hospital whowas hit by unidentified vehicleat Karbala area; Koh-e-Fizapolice have started investiga-tion.

    ����������� -,.��+

    Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has said that theMahila Samman Abhiyan isbeing conducted by the StateGovernment in collaborationwith the society to protect thehonour of girls and women.The general public must extendsupport to the campaign.

    The Freedom of ReligionBill 2020 has been passed bythe State Government for theprotection of girls and women.The people of the State are ourGod. For them, I am soft likea flower for them, and hard asthunderbolt for goons ad mis-creants. Mafia will be destroyedin the state. The Governmenthas decided to provide thefarmers and poor people withtheir rights and benefits ofGovernment schemes so thatthe State can progress at a

    faast pace. Chouhan wasaddressing a programmeorganised at Beohari districtheadquarters of Shahdol dis-trict.

    Chouhan administered theoath to the people present onthe occasion to support thedevelopment of MadhyaPradesh and urged them toassist State Government in de-addiction and to save the dig-nity of women. Chouhan saidthat the State Government wasformed during the corona peri-od, during which all arrange-ments for prevention of coro-na infection were made. Nowthe State Government is work-ing with the resolve to providefood, clothing, shelter, educa-tion, and medicines to everypoor in the State.

    Yearly Samman Nidhi of�6,000 is being given to farm-ers by Prime Minister Narendra

    Modi and a Samman Nidhi of�4,000 is given by the StateGovernment which totals to�10,000. He said that treatmentis being ensured to every per-son, pucca houses to everypoor by the year 2024 andwater through tap-waterscheme in every house is beingprovided under the AyushmanYojana.

    The Chief Minister per-formed bhoomi-pujan of 46works costing �48 crore 29 lakh28 thousand in Beohari. Alongwith this, he also dedicated 547construction works worth �24crore 45 lakh and 58 thousand.Chief Minister Chouhan dis-tributed benefits worth �14crore 66 lakh to 9,324 benefi-ciaries of various welfareschemes in the programme.Chouhan released the booklet“Aapada ko badla avsar mein”in Shahdol district.

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    Darshan Desale launchedhis first literary work titled'Manu'. The book is about theProtagonist Manu, a com-monplace young boy who liveda life just like you and I. Heloved to learn the secrets fromour ancient scriptures andbooks. He tried to learn moreabout the meaning of life andexistence. Manu’s life changesone day when a character fromMahabharata appears in frontof him in person, with an invi-tation to visit a secret place inan ancient lost city and thestory unfolds after that.

    Desale shares his Journeyof penning his first Novel, “The journey of writing a bookon Manu started when I was in12th grade. I wrote my firststory when I was in 8th grade.I was always attracted to mys-terious things and the myster-ies of the universe. That’s wheremy research started. My timewas running out to find evi-dence of what is the truth, whatis half-truth? it increased mycuriosity about certain things.So, if those things didn’t attract

    me at that time, I might nothave written this ‘MANU’ booktoday.”

    The author unravels histhoughts, “My writing processis simple. I write inflow.Writing must have done inflow.When you are writing in flow,when you are in perfect align-ment with the universe, theideas flow automatically frominside. To give an example ofme, in the book Manu, I haveshown that heroes have a lot ofdreams. That dreams are notimaginary but real.As I had adream while writing the bookManu, I wrote those in thebook. This thing happenedautomatically, inflow. And sur-prisingly, whenever I had adream, I write it.”

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    On the first day of the three-day National CanoeMarathon Championshipwhich started on Saturday incity. The players of the WaterSports Academy bagged 4 goldmedals to Madhya Pradesh ina spectacular performance. Theboys and girls players won themedals in the 15 km juniorclass and 21 km senior classmarathons.

    Minister of Sports andYouth Welfare, YashodharaRaje Scindia congratulated thefour gold medal winners andappreciated the great perfor-mance of the players in theNational Canoe MarathonChampionship. He expressedconfidence that our playerswill make the state proud bywinning more medals in thisthree-day championship.

    Director Sports and YouthWelfare Pawan Jain said that itis a matter of pride, pride andhonor that our players aredoing best in national compe-

    titions and are increasing thevalue of Madhya Pradesh bywinning medals.

    On Saturday 15 km of thechampionship The marathonwas won by the academy'sKaveri Dheemer with a time of1 hour 25 minutes 48 secondsand Shivani Verma with1.29.42 and Akshit Baroi fin-ishing the race with a time of1.10.15. 21 km of the champi-onship Academy player BalvirJat completed the marathon inone hour 25 minutes 09 sec-onds and earned the goldmedal.

    It is noteworthy that theNational Canoe MarathonChampionship is being orga-nized at the small lake in thecity from January 16 to 18under the joint aegis of theIndian Kayaking and CanoeingAssociation and MadhyaPradesh Amateur Kayakingand Canoeing Association.

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    Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh onSaturday said he would gethimself vaccinated for Covid-19 vaccine in the next phase ashe rolled out the inoculationdrive here.

    Four healthcare workers,including three doctors, wereadministered the first dose ofCovishield vaccine in the pres-ence of the chief minister atcivil hospital. Capt Amarinderalso gifted saplings to these fivehealthcare workers as a tokenof appreciation.

    The Chief Minister said itwas his desire to get vaccinat-ed first but in accordance withthe directives of theGovernment of India onlyhealthcare workers could becovered in the first phase. “Iwould definitely get myself

    vaccinated in the next phase,”he said.

    The CM said the vaccinewould be administered to thehealth workers first, followedby the Army and police per-sonnel, in line with the guide-lines of the Government ofIndia. In the first phase, 1.74lakh health workers would beinoculated.

    He said he had written tothe Prime Minister for per-mission for free distributionamong the people belonging tothe lower income groups. Inresponse to a query on vaccinesafety, the Chief Minister saidthe vaccine will not have beenapproved unless the scientistswere sure of its safety.

    He noted that Covid vac-cines around the world hadbeen taken by many eminentpersonalities, including QueenElizabeth of the UK who is 93

    and her husband who is 99,without any side effects.

    Earlier, in his address, thechief minister said he was

    delighted to announce thestate-wide launch of the Covidvaccine, while appealing to thepeople to continue to wear

    masks and observe all social distancing and othersafety norms.

    He noted that all the

    restrictions imposed duringlockdown, curfew and there-after had been aimed at delay-ing the peak of the pandemicso that the vaccine could beavailable.

    The CM thanked the peo-ple for their patience and coop-eration during this difficultphase. Hoping that the vacci-nation would pave the way forthe complete eradication ofthe Covid pandemic fromPunjab and the rest of India,the CM said it was undoubtedlya memorable day when thelong awaited vaccine hadarrived after getting all themandatory approvals fromhealth experts in theGovernment of India.

    He prayed to the almightyfor the success of the vaccina-tion drive to ensure the safetyand protection of every citizen.

    Amarinder lauded the

    healthcare workers and othersresponsible for keeping thespread of the pandemic incheck in the State, where thenumber of daily cases hadcome down from the peak of3,700 to 242.

    The target was to bringthem down to zero, he said,asserting that his Governmentwould continue its endeavourto safeguard the interests of allPunjabis.

    Capt Amarinder said thefirst Covid case in the countrywas reported from Kerala onJanuary 20, 2020, while the firstinstance of Covid -19 came to notice in Punjab onMarch 5, 2020 with a travel his-tory of Italy.

    Since then, in Punjab about1.20 crore persons have beenscreened for symptoms andover 41 lakh persons have beentested so far, he said, adding

    that nearly 1.7 lakh peoplehave been diagnosed withCovid-19.

    The CM pointed out thatPunjab was the first state toimpose lockdown and curfew,besides ensuring home deliveryof food items and medicinesduring curfew.

    Health Minister BalbirSingh Sidhu said all arrange-ments had been put in place forsmooth vaccination, includ-ing online portal for registra-tion, operationalisation of sitesfor administering the dose,etc. in the State.

    In the initial stage, as manyas 408 vaccination teams hadbeen constituted and 59 teamswere working to inoculate thehealthcare workers, he added.Sidhu said 729 cold chainpoints had been established inthe state for adequate storage ofvials at the desired temperature.

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    Stating that the vaccinationprogramme would prove tobe an effective step in over-coming global Covid-19 pan-demic, Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar onSaturday said the StateGovernment has made all nec-essary arrangements for thesuccessful implementation ofCovid-19 vaccination pro-gramme commencing todayat 77 sites in the State.

    He said two vaccinesnamely Covishield of SerumInstitute of India and Covaxinof India Biotech are authorisedfor emergency use in Haryana.He said that on January 13, theState had received more than2.4 lakh doses of Covishieldvaccine and the first supply of20,000 doses of Covaxin.

    Khattar was interactingwith the Covid vaccinationbeneficiaries and serviceproviders of Medanta-TheMedicity, Gurugram and othergovernment and private healthinstitutions in the State throughvideo conferencing here inChandigarh.

    The address of ChiefMinister was telecast live at all77 sites in the State includingtwo-way connectivity at CivilDispensary, Sector-4, Panchkulaand Government PrimarySchool, Wazirabad, Gurugram.

    He said the population hasbeen prioritised in view of thehigh demand of vaccines ini-tially. Several groups have been

    included in the vaccination ofCovid-19 and the vaccinewould be administered sequen-tially starting from Health CareWorkers.

    Khattar said those whohave been included in Group 1include health workers (doc-tors, nurse, ANM, pharma-cists, sweeper, lab technician,helper, ASHA, Anganwadiworkers, etc).

    Similarly, those who havebeen included in Group-2include frontline workers suchas municipal and sanitationworkers, state and central policeforces, civil security, prison staffand armed forces like armed lineworkers. Now the revenue staffhas been added to it. He said thatthe population above 50 years ofage and Population below 50years with co-morbidities havebeen included in Group-3.

    The Chief Minister saidthat to ensure smooth, effectiveand target based implementa-tion of vaccination programme,beneficiaries have beenenrolled in the digital platform(CoWIN software).

    He said for the successfulimplementation of the vacci-nation programme, health careworkers and health facilitieshave been registered on theCoWIN platform.

    This includes about twolakh health workers, 5,044 vac-cinators, 765 Public Healthfacilities, 3,634 Private healthfacilities, 18,921 session sitesand 1,005 observers.

    He said that Haryana has

    adequate cold chain space tostore the Covid-19 vaccine. AState Level Vaccine Store hasbeen set up in Kurukshetra.Apart from this, four regionallevel stores have been set up inHisar, Rohtak, Kurukshetraand Gurugram.

    Also, 22 vaccine stores (onein each district) have also beenset up. Apart from this, arrange-ment of 22 insulated vaccinevans has been made for thetransportation of vaccine to 659cold chain points acrossHaryana.

    Khattar said that Haryanahad enough Covid hospitals totreat Corona patients and allthe hospitals are equipped withoxygen beds, ICU beds andventilators. He said that theHealth Department has also setup a 1075 helpline for theassistance of citizens of theState. Today the recovery ratein Haryana is more than 98percent and the mortality rateis about 1 percent which ismuch lower than most states,he asserted.

    He said however, cases ofCoronavirus are decreasingand the Covid-19 vaccine hasalso come up, the people stillneed to be vigilant to preventthe further spread ofCoronaVirus by following pre-cautionary measures like wear-ing a mask, maintaining handhygiene and a physical distanceof two yards. He also urged thepeople not to panic fromCorona as it is completely cur-able. Citing his own example,

    the Chief Minister said that heremained admitted in Medanta,Gurugram for 17 days due toCorona. As a result of strongwill power and dedication ofdoctors, he successfully recov-ered from Covid.

    Additional Chief Secretary,Health and Family Welfare,Rajeev Arora said that Saroj Balawas the first Healthcare workerto have been successfully vacci-nated at GovernmentDispensary, Sector-4, Panchkula.

    He said that DirectorGeneral Health Services SurajBhan Kamboj, AdditionalDirector General HealthServices, Dr Veena Singh,Director, National HealthMission, Haryana Dr VK Bansal,Civil Surgeon, Panchkula DrJasjeet Kaur, State ImmunizationOfficer Dr. Virender Ahlawat,were among the few who cameforward and got themselves vac-cinated so as to infuse confidenceamong other people of the Statetowards the vaccination.

    Dr Naresh Trehan ofMedanta-The MedicityGurugram who was alsoamong the doctors of Medantathat got vaccinated on Saturdaytold the Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar thatCovid vaccination is neces-sary for the safety of people,their family and the society. Hesaid that mild fever and bodypain after the vaccination isnormal and people should notworry about these symptoms.

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    �����������������������������=�!������ ����� !,���(�8,A20-year-old sanitationworker received the first

    shot of the coronavirus vaccineas the inoculation drive commenced in Chandigarh onSaturday.

    Arun, who works as asweeper at the GovernmentMulti-Specialty Hospital atSector 16, said he was feelinggood and had no worry beforebeing administered the jab.After administering the vac-cine, the youth was kept forobservations for 30 minutes tocheck any side effects.

    “There’s no anxiety, rather Iam feeling good,” said Arun,who was also given a bouquet offlowers. Arun, whose mother

    came to meet him when he wasvaccinated, said he was told thathe was the first one to get thevaccine in the Union territory.

    The vaccination drive wasconducted at five sites in

    Chandigarh. One was at theGovernment Multi-SpecialtyHospital at Sector 16, civilhospital at Sector 45, two sitesat Government MedicalCollege and Hospital at Sector

    32 and one at advanced paedi-atric centre at the PostGraduate Institute of MedicalEducation and Research(PGIMER).

    Around 500 healthcareworkers will be vaccinated onthe first day of the drive.Chandigarh Health ServicesDirector Amandeep Kang wasamong those who got the jab. Adoctor working at the PGIMERwho also received the shot saidhe was happy that the vaccinehad finally come and would beadministered to all healthcareand frontline workers.

    The Union territory hasreceived 12,000 doses ofCOVID-19 vaccine and healthauthorities provided 1,000doses to the PGIMER.

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    Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur started theCovid-19 vaccination cam-paign in the State from IGMCShimla and said in the firstphase of Covid-19 vaccina-tion, 93,000 doses would beadministered to the front linewarriors including health careworkers of the State.

    He said that 2,529 healthcare workers were administereddose through 27 identified sitesin the State on Saturday, addingthat about 74,500 health work-ers would be vaccinated andeach beneficiary would be pro-vided two doses and a seconddose would be administeredafter an interval of 28 days.

    Thakur said the StateGovernment had constituted aState Level SteeringCommittee, State Task Force,District Task Force and BlockTask Force to monitor effectiveadministration of vaccinationof Covid-19.

    He said the StateVaccination Store had beenset up at Shimla while theRegional vaccine store had

    been established at Mandi andDharamshala. He said thatDistrict Vaccine Stores hadbeen set up in all the 12 dis-tricts of the State besides 386cold chain points in the State.

    The CM said AD syringesin sufficient quantity as perbeneficiary has also beenreceived by the State and hasbeen distributed to the districtsand additional stock of 0.5 mlAD syringes had been stored atState Vaccine Store, Parimahal,Shimla, Regional Vaccine Store,Mandi and Regional VaccineStore Dharamshala to meetout any situation.

    He added Adverse EventsFollowing Immunization(AEFI) management traininghad been given to the sessionsite vaccinators for establishingreferral mechanisms andreports on COWIN app.

    Thakur said AEFICommittees at State andDistrict level had also beennotified with additional mem-bers of Pulmonologist andMedicine Specialists for casu-alty assessment of AEFI cases.

    The CM added to ensurethe success of the vaccination

    campaign dry run had alsobeen organised at various iden-tified sites. He also urged thepeople of the State to ensurethat all precautions are main-tained despite having admin-istered Covid 19 vaccine.

    Urban DevelopmentMinister Suresh Bhardwaj,Secretary Health AmitabhAwasthi, Mission DirectorNHM Dr. Nipun Jindal,Director Medical EducationDr. Ravi Sharma, PrincipalIGMC Rajneesh Pathania,Deputy Commissioner ShimlaAditya Negi and other digni-taries were also present on theoccasion.

    Later on, Thakur visitedthe identified site underRegional Hospital at Mandi and also reviewed thework plan for Covid-19 vacci-nation and bird flu situation in

    the district. He expressed satisfaction

    over the decline of Covid-19cases in the State and said that the Covishield vaccinewould give safe and expectedresults in eradicating covidcases in the State.

    On the first day of vacci-nation, he took stock of theestablished Covid vaccine cen-ters at Vijay Senior SecondarySchool, Lal Bahadur ShastriMedical College and Hospital,Civil Hospital Sundernagarand Karsog, where 360 health workers were adminis-tered the vaccine.

    He directed the officersconcerned regarding microplan of vaccination campaignwhich would be completed in161 phases in 111 centres of thedistrict covering 11,877 bene-ficiaries upto February 1, 2021.

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    To promote livelihood,Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Saturdayvirtually kicked off a state-widepro-poor scheme for Allotmentof 7,219 Fair Price Shops (FPS)under his Government’s flag-ship “Ghar Ghar Rozgar teKarobaar Mission”.

    As a token gesture, theChief Minister handed overallotment letters to five bene-ficiaries. The event was markedby simultaneous distribution of370 allotment letters to the ben-eficiaries in 64 MunicipalCommittees by variousMinisters, MLAs and otherdignitaries across the State, inthe first phase of the scheme.

    The CM said the initiativewill be instrumental in improv-ing the economic condition ofpeople, besides furtherstrengthening public distribu-tion system to ensure seamless,fair and timely distribution.

    He asked the allotees toensure that the ration meant for

    the poor reaches the genuinebeneficiaries without illegaldiversion of food grains. Headded nearly 30,000 beneficiaries(average family of four) would bebenefitted through the scheme.

    Amarinder asked the FoodDepartment to look into waysand means to supplement theincome of FPS owners by facil-itating these outlets as points ofsale for additional consumeritems. He complemented theRation Depot Holders for theircontribution to the StateGovernment’s relentless battleagainst Covid-19 by operatingtheir shops during lockdownthus ensuring hassle-free supplyof free food grains to the peoplein the State. During the lock-down period, 17 lakh free foodkits were distributed to the poor.

    He also lauded the endeav-our of the Food and CivilSupplies Department to plugleakages in Public DistributionSystem with the introduction ofePOS machines using biomet-rics, to ensure that ration onlygoes to the rightful beneficiaries.

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    Haryana Government onSaturday approved 218new schemes costing Rs 245crore and six schemes costingRs 49.27 crore of Public HealthEngineering Department inthe 52nd meeting of HaryanaState Drought Relief and FloodControl Board held under theChairmanship of ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattarhere in Chandigarh.

    Deputy Chief MinisterDushyant Chautala andAgriculture and Farmers’Welfare MinisterJP Dalal werealso present in the meeting.

    During the meeting, theChief Minister directed theDeputy Commissioners in theState and SuperintendingEngineers (SEs) of line depart-ments to ensure speedy imple-mentations of these schemeswith a target to complete all shortterm schemes by June 30, 2021.

    The Chief Minister alsodirected the officers of PublicHealth EngineeringDepartment to coordinate withthe Deputy Commissionersand District Municipal

    Commissioners to draft sepa-rate dewatering plans for thoseareas which have not beenincluded in the schemesapproved in today’s meeting soas to deal with the problem ofwater logging in such areas.

    During the meeting,Additional Chief Secretary,Irrigation and Water ResourcesDepartment, Devender Singhsaid that the IrrigationDepartment by taking furtherthe State Government’s visionof water conservation has laidmore thrust on water conser-vation and land reclamation inaddition to its mandate to savethe state from fury of floods.He informed that the 218

    schemes approved in today’smeeting include water con-servation, reclamation, pro-tection of Abadi/AgricultureLand, Procurement of Flood Machinery andRepair/Reconstruction ofBridges/Structures etc.

    He informed that last yearno flood situation along RiverYamuna though some districtslike Hisar, Sonipat, Ambala,Jhajjar Jind, Julana experiencedwater logging due to localizedheavy rains. He said that all theflood protection schemes pro-posed were reviewed and rec-ommended by the HaryanaState Advisory Committee inthe meeting held on January 6,

    2021 under the Chairmanshipof Additional Chief Secretaryand Financial Commissioner,Revenue and DisasterManagement Sanjeev Kaushal.

    He further intimated thesuccess of last year’s executedland/soil reclamation pilotschemes and said that the samehave been proposed to be repli-cated on a wider scale to otherdistricts to reclaim the sub-merged areas whereby savingcrops and increasing agricul-ture produce.

    During the meeting, theChief Minister also launched aweb portal for “MicroIrrigation Initiative” on theweb site https://cada-

    haryana.nic.in for invitingapplications from the farm-ers/WUA.

    The launch is with themotto “Suksham Sinchai SeHar Khet Mein Pani” which isa step towards automation. Aproject, inclusive of water-course for installation ofCommunity Based Solar/GridPowered Integrated MicroIrrigation with subsidy at therate of 95 percent on MicroIrrigation (MI) system will betaken up through the portal.

    Farmers or groups of farm-ers have to come forward withthe chak of minimum 25 acresto adopt MI in their fields.Further 100 percent consent ofstakeholders (Farmers) foradaptation of MI system with 5percent MI cost contributionand free land for tank at the rateof 2 kanal for 25 acres chak willbe main requirement fromfarmers end. Therefore con-struction of storage tanks, solarpumps and on farm micro irri-gation components like drip andsprinkler shall be provided byGovernment on subsidised ratesin a transparent mannerthrough this web portal.

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    From Page 1When she first fell ill in end

    of October last year, none of usever thought in two-monthtime we would lose her forev-er. After all, we were so used toher presence, her friendly ban-ters and intense politicaldebates, that we thought noth-ing could ever defeat her. Alas!We were so wrong.

    Usha completed her studyfrom Kashi HinduVishwavidyalaya and thenstarted her journalist careerfrom Hindi daily Aaj as a cor-respondent from Varanasi.Later, she moved to Delhi andworked with Amar Ujala,Rajasthan Patrika and DainikBhaskar before she joined asthe Resident Editor of theHindi Pioneer in 2011.

    She would be always thelast to leave the office.

    But when it came to leaveus for one last time, she seemedto be in such a tearing hurry.

    Goodbye, Usha...

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    From Page 1The Chief Minister said that

    the order of priority for vaccina-tion has been set. In the firstphase, Corona warriors includ-ing medical and paramedicalstaff apart from doctors fromgovernment and private hospitals

    will be vaccinated. In the nextorder, frontline workers includ-ing revenue workers, policemen,employees of urban bodies etc.will get vaccinated. Citizensabove 50 and those under 50years but suffering from multiplehealth issues will be vaccinated.

    Chief Minister Chouhan said thatsmall health problems may ariseafter vaccination for whicharrangements have been made.This vaccine is safe. After the firstdose, the second dose will beadministered after 28 days of thefirst vaccination. After this, anti-

    bodies will develop in 14 days.Those vaccinated will be keptunder observation for 30 minutesafter the vaccination, to see if theconcerned person develops anyAEFI symptoms for which nec-essary arrangements have beenmade.

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    The CBI has re-registeredJ&K ACB FIR in connec-tion with the alleged irregu-larities committed in transferof land under the RoshniScheme against 13 persons ofPulwama, including seventhen officials posted in the dis-trict l ike the DeputyCommissioner, Pulwama andhis subordinates.

    The then DeputyCommissioner, Pulwama,Mehraj Ahmad Kakroo, thethen Additional DeputyCommissioner, PulwamaIftikhar-ul Hasnain, the thenAssistant Commissioner,Revenue, Mohammad RajabBhatt, the then TehsildarMohammad Hussain, the thenNaib Tehsildar, Kakpora,Mohammad MaqboolAhanger, the then Girdawar,Kakpora, Ghulam AhmadSheikh and the then PatwariHalqa , Kakpora, Abdul RazakWagey have been named inthe FIR.

    In addition, private per-sons named in the FIR areAhmad Pandith, Nabi Naikoo,Mohammad Amin Pandith,Dr Farhat Pandith, Abdul

    Majid Sheikh and GhulamRasool Wani.

    The accused have beenbooked under Section 120-B(criminal conspiracy) of theRanbir Penal Code and rele-vant provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Act.

    “In pursuance of the J&KHigh Court, FIR No 29/2015OF Police Station-VOK, nowACB, J&K is re-registered,”reads the FIR.

    An audit report of thePrincipal Accountant General(Audit) alleged irregularitiescommitted in the transfer ofland under the Roshni scheme.The report revealed that theoff icers and off icials ofRevenue department ofPulwama have by abuse and

    misuse of their official positionas public servants conferredundue pecuniary benefit uponthe illegal occupants of stateland by arbitrarily fixing theprice of land which was lowerthan the prevailing marketrate of the area, incorrectapplication of rates and unau-thorised change of classifica-tion of land from residential toagricultural.

    Verification revealed thatthe ownership rights of thestate land measuring sixKanals, 10 Marlas and fourSirsai was transferred in thename of the six accused per-sons under Jammu andKashmir State Land (vesting ofownership) Act, 2001, itadded.

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    Former Union Minister PChidambaram on Saturdayhit out at the Centre over theimpasse on the farm laws, alleg-ing that “no one” was consultedfor the legislations, and assert-ed that the only way out for theGovernment was to agree tostart on a “clean slate”. Hisremarks came a day after theCentre asked protesting farmersto form an informal group toprepare a concrete proposalabout their objections and sug-gestions on the farm laws for fur-ther discussion at their nextmeeting on January 19 to endthe long-running protest at var-ious Delhi borders.

    The protesting farmerunions, however, stuck to theirmain demand of a completerepeal of the three legislations.In a series of tweets,Chidambaram said that asexpected, another round of talksbetween the farmers and gov-ernment has failed.

    The fault lies with theGovernment because it will notagree to get rid of the disputedlaws, the former Union minis-ter said. “RTI responses haveexposed as a lie the government’s

    claim that there were extensiveconsultations before the FarmLaws Ordinances were promul-gated. The truth is that no onewas consulted. In particular,state governments were notconsulted,” he alleged.

    The only way out of theimpasse is for the government toadmit its mistake and agree tostart on a clean slate,Chidambaram said. Thousandsof farmers, mostly from Haryanaand Punjab, have been protest-ing at several border points ofDelhi since November 28 lastyear, demanding a repeal of thethree laws and a legal guaranteeto the minimum support price(MSP) system for their crops.

    Enacted in September lastyear, the three laws have beenprojected by the Centre as majorreforms in the agriculture sectorthat will remove middlemen andallow farmers to sell their pro-duce anywhere in the country.

    However, the protestingfarmers have expressed theirapprehension that the new lawswould pave the way for elimi-nating the safety cushion of theMSP and do away with the“mandi” (wholesale market) sys-tem, leaving them at the mercyof big corporates.

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    To promote toy manufac-turing among domesticplayers, particularly amongrural entrepreneurs, theCommon Service Centre(CSC), an SPV under theMinistry of Electronics andIT Ministry, has joined handswith the All India Council forTechnical Education (AICTE)to organise ‘Toycathon-2021’.

    “Toycathon-2021 is aimedat understanding the creativi-ty among start-ups in ruralareas, students and profes-sionals for developing andmanufacturing toys. It is aunique opportunity for stu-dents, teachers, start-ups andtoy experts/professionals inIndia to submit their innovativetoys/games concepts and winprizes worth Rs.50 lakhs,” saidCSC Managing Director DrDinesh Tyagi.

    Toycathon-2021 is aninter-ministerial initiativeinvolving six ministries.Organised by the Ministry ofEducation’s Innovation Cellwith support from AICTE,the initiative is being support-ed by the Ministry of Womenand Child Development,Ministry of Commerce andIndustry, Ministry of MSME,Ministry of Textiles andMinistry of Information and

    Broadcasting.Toycathon-2021 will be

    conducted through CSCAcademy, an arm of CSC, at6,000 block and taluka levelwhere CSC Academies arepresent. “CSC Academy, a not-for-profit society which deliv-ers specialized courses/trainingprogrammes, and promotesentrepreneurship among therural masses, is best suited for

    this unique initiative due to itsreach and expertise.

    CSC Academies are beingutilised to create awareness,promote and conductToycathon-2021 in rural areas.The new concepts of toys gen-erated from Tyocathon-2021might also be useful in solvingour societal problems,” saidTyagi, who is also Secretary ofthe CSC Academy.

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    Traders’ body CAIT onSaturday filed a petition inthe Supreme Court, making aplea to direct WhatsApp towithdraw its new privacy pol-icy

    The body issued a state-ment claiming that the newWhatsApp privacy policyencroaches upon various fun-damental rights of the citizens.

    About the petition, thetraders’’ body said it “has alsoprayed that Union of Indiamust frame guidelines to gov-ern big technology companieslike WhatsApp and frame poli-cies which would protect theprivacy of citizens and busi-nesses”.

    “The Confederation of AllIndia Traders (CAIT) hastoday filed a petition in theSupreme Court with the prayerto direct WhatsApp to with-draw its new privacy policy,which is encroaching uponvarious fundamental rights ofthe citizens granted byConstitution of India,” thestatement said.

    Meanwhile, WhatsApp hasannounced delaying by threemonths the implementationof the new privacy policy thathas faced a massive backlash

    with tens of millions of its usersmoving from the platform torivals like Signal and Telegram.

    The policy change wasoriginally scheduled to comeinto effect on February 8, theFacebook-owned companysaid.

    It has clarified that theupdate does not affect datasharing with Facebook withregard to personal conversa-tions or other profile infor-mation and only addressesbusiness chats in the event auser converses with a compa-ny’’s customer service plat-form through WhatsApp.

    “The petition especiallyhighlights the difference ofapproach in EU and Indiacountries with respect to theprivacy policy of WhatsAppand how the data of Indianusers can be misused by suchbig tech companies,” CAITsaid.

    '������$��������������+1�������������������������������������� ����� �*���*+,(The Supreme Court hasimposed a fine of�25,000

    on Gujarat for wasting judicialtime, irked over the “lethargyand incompetence” of thestate government in filing apetition before it after a delayof over a year.

    A bench, headed byJustice Sanjay Kishan Kaul,pulled up the state forapproaching the apex court ina “casual manner” and dis-missed the plea on the groundof delay.

    It observed that such kindof “certificate cases” are filedwith the only objective toobtain a quietus from the topcourt on the ground thatnothing could be donebecause the highest court haddismissed the appeal.

    The petition was filed inthe the top court by the stategovernment after a delay of427 days against an order ofthe Gujarat High Court passedin March 2019 in a case.

    “The objective is to com-plete a mere formality andsave the skin of the officerswho may be in default in fol-lowing the due process ormay have done it deliberate-ly. We have deprecated suchpractice and process and wedo so again.

    “We refuse to grant suchcertificates and if the govern-ment suffers losses, it is timewhen concerned officersresponsible for the same bearthe consequences,” said thebench, also comprisingJustices Dinesh Maheshwariand Hrishikesh Roy.

    “The irony, emphasisedby us repeatedly, is that noaction is ever taken against theofficers and if the court push-es it, some mild warning is allthat happens,” the bench saidin its order passed earlier thisweek.

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    Former president of theSupreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) andsenior advocate Vikas Singhon Saturday requested ChiefJustice S A Bobde to constitutea bench to resolve the electionstalemate of the professionalbody of lawyers.

    He said Dushyant Dave,who resigned from the post ofSCBA president on Thursday,was to constitute the electioncommittee in the first week ofNovember last year as theterm of the executive com-mittee was ending onDecember 13.

    “He delayed the decisionby a month. Even after decid-ing on December 4, hedelayed communicating tothe election committee byanother week. When the EChad already decided to con-duct the election virtually,there was no occasion forhim to call an EC to ratify theelection committee decision ofappointing NSDL,” Singh saidin a letter to the RegistrarGeneral of the SupremeCourt.

    “If a hybrid mode (of elec-tion) was what they wanted,they should have decided onDecember 4. Now asking theelection committee to deferthe election to third week ofFebruary is again an attemptby Dave to prolong his tenuretill then creating a drama ofresignation and then makingthe EC to reject his decision toresign,” the letter stated.

    The senior lawyer said allthe three members of the theelection committee resignedon Friday night as the SCBArefused to accept its decisionto hold elections throughNSDL, a digital firm.

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    Nepal does not acceptinterference in itsdomestic politics as it is capa-ble of handling its internalproblems, Nepalese ForeignMinister Pradeep KumarGyawali said on Saturday, incomments that came againstthe backdrop of China wad-ing into the political turmoilin the Himalayan nation fol-lowing the dissolution of itsparliament.

    Gyawali’s assertion cameat a media interaction whenasked about China’s attemptto play a role in the after-math of fast-paced politicaldevelopments in Nepal lastmonth.

    “We never accept inter-ference in our domestic pol-itics. We are able to settleour own problems. As aclose neighbour, there maybe some concerns or ques-tions but we never accept

    interference,” the Nepaleseforeign minister said.

    Nepal plunged into apolitical turmoil followingPrime Minister K P SharmaOli’s sudden decision to dis-solve parliament and callfor fresh elections in view ofinternal feud in the rulingNepal Communist Party(NCP).

    As the crisis deepened,China rushed a high-levelte am he ade d by ViceMinister of the InternationalD ep ar t ment of t heCommunist Party of China(CPC) Guo Ye zhou toKathmandu to hold talkswith the rival factions with-in the NCP after the Chineseambassador in the countryfailed to sort out differ-ences.

    The team held talks withalmost all top Nepalese lead-ers but had to return emptyhanded. The Chinese med-dling in Nepalese politicaldevelopments triggered strong

    criticism within Nepal.Gyawali said Nepal’s rela-

    tions with both India andChina are excellent and that itnever compares ties with eachother.

    Asked about the politicalcrisis and role of NCP leaderPushpa Kamal Dahal who ispopularly known asPrachanda, Gyawali refused tomake any direct commentand said as foreign minister ofthe country, he representseveryone in Nepal.

    At the same time, theNepalese foreign minister jus-tified Oli’s decision to dissolveparliament saying he followedthe democratic principle ofseeking fresh mandate fromthe people whose decisions aresupreme in a democracy.

    “In democracy, people arethe final authority to decideabout who will govern. I thinkdissolution of the parliamentis a reflection of the internalissue. It is not wise to blameanybody,” Gyawali said.

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    Days after booking its fourpersonnel for allegedlyreceiving bribe to compromiseon investigation against com-panies accused of bank fraud,the CBI has suspended two ofthem —Inspector KapilDhankad and StenographerSamir Kumar Singh — and rec-ommended administrativeaction against the other two.

    Officials said on Saturdaythat the agency has recom-mended to the Department ofPersonnel and Training to ini-tiate administrative actionagainst deputy superintendentsof police R K Rishi and R KSangwan.

    The Department ofPersonnel and Training is thenodal ministry for the CBI,they said.

    According to the chargeslevelled in the eight-page FIR,made public on Friday after thecompletion of a search opera-tion by the agency, InspectorDhankad received bribe moneyfrom Sangwan and Rishi, whowere soliciting favours forShree Shyam Pulp and BoardMills, accused in a Rs 700-crorebank fraud case, and FrostInternational, accused in a Rs3,600-crore bank fraud case.

    The CBI has booked itsfour personnel, besides twoadvocates, Additional Directorof Shree Shyam Pulp and BoardMills Mandeep Kaur Dhillonand Directors of FrostInternational Sujay Desai andUday Desai.

    “The CBI has a zero tol-erance policy towards corrup-tion, be it other departments orwithin the organisation. Thecase is a result of strict vigil andaction on any input whichindicates involvement of ourofficials in corrupt practice,” anofficial said.

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    The Centre on Saturday saidbird flu in poultry has beenconfirmed in nine districts ofMaharashtra, while cullingoperation in poultry is under-way in one district each inMadhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh. Apart from poul-try, the viral disease has beenconfirmed in crow inUttarakhand, Gujarat and UttarPradesh, while in pigeon,brown fish owl and Heron inDelhi.

    The Ministry of AnimalHusbandry on Saturday saidthat Avian Influenza has beenconfirmed in Chhatarpur dis-trict of Madhya Pradesh(crow); Surat, Navsari andNarmada districts of Gujarat(crow); Dehradun district ofUttarakhand (crow); Kanpurdistrict of Uttar Pradesh (crow).Additionally, in Delhi, Pigeonand brown fish owl inNajafgarh and Heron in Rohinihave tested positive for avianinfluenza. “Till 16 January,

    2021 cases of Avian Influenzahave been confirmed in poul-try in Latur, Parbhani, Nanded,Pune, Solapur, Yavatmal,Ahmednagar, Beed and Raigaddistricts of Maharashtra,” itsaid.

    However, the ministryagain requested state govern-ments to “rethink” their deci-sions to impose ban sale ofpoultry products and allowsale of poultry items sourcedfrom the non-infectedareas/states.

    As per the report, receivedfrom Central PoultryDevelopment OrganisationMumbai, unusual mortality ofpoultry have been found in thefarm. The samples have beensent to the designated labora-tory for testing.

    The ministry has againasked the states to rethinktheir decisions to impose banon sale of poultry and poultryproducts and allow selling ofpoultry and poultry productssourced from the non-infectedareas/States.

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    There will be no letup in theintense cold and dense tovery dense fog conditions in thenorth and north western partsof the country at least the nextthree to four days. Dense tovery dense fog over north andcentral India has delayed sev-eral trains and rescheduledflights in Delhi, Amritsar andLucknow on Saturday due topoor to zero visibility.

    According to the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), zero visibility wasreported over Delhi, Lucknowand Amritsar due to variableand calm lower-level windson Saturday. “Zero visibilityshown over Delhi, Lucknowand Amritsar...,” the IMD saidin a tweet. This is the third timeduring this winter season thatthe visibility has dropped tozero in several cities. Densefog-induced low visibility con-ditions led to delay of over 40flights from the Indira GandhiInternational Airport (IGIA)here on Saturday. According toairport sources, poor visibilityconditions and non-compli-ant CAT III B trained pilots ledto the delays.

    According to IMD,Ludhiana, Patiala, Karnal andAligarh reported visibility-50meters each at 5.30 pm onSaturday and Bahraich,Gangtok, Cooch Behar-200each. As regards Delhi andSafdarjung have reported visi-bility 500 meters while visibil-ity in Palam was reported1000meters.

    The dense fog is likely topersist on Sunday and Mondayas well. “Dense to very densefog at some/many pockets verylikely over Punjab, Haryana,Chandigarh & Delhi, UttarPradesh, north Rajasthan; atisolated pockets over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal &Sikkim, Bihar during the next

    two-three days,” the IMD said.“This will also lead to

    dense fog conditions with vis-ibility at below 200 metres inthe morning hours, which canimpact the transport and powersectors,” it said.

    Due to the prevalence ofdry north and north-westerlywinds, minimum temperaturesare likely to fall by 2-4 degreesover most parts of northwestIndia during the next two days.The cold and chilly winter thisyear is due to the prevailing LaNina condition which is aweather phenomenon causeddue to the cooling of the PacificOcean. This has led to the dropin temperature and long spellsof cold. Also, the western dis-turbances brought rains andsnowfall in the first week ofJanuary which has also impact-ed the weather.

    Kuldeep Srivastava, head ofregional forecasting at theRegional MeteorologicalDepartment in Delhi, said thattemperatures will begin to risefrom January 19. “The La Ninaconditions will persist till thefirst week of February 2021. Weexpect day temperatures togradually increase fromJanuary-end which will givesome respite to people,” hesaid.

    Dense fog also added toextreme cold in Jammu &Kashmir on Saturday, and theweather office forecast nomajor change during the next

    five days in the prevailingweather conditions. Srinagarcity — the summer capitalofJammu and Kashmir --recorded a low of minus 8.2degrees Celsius, down fromminus 7.6 degrees Celsius theprevious night.

    Cold wave conditions pre-vailed in Punjab and Haryanaon Saturday, with Bathindaregistering a minimum tem-perature of 4 degrees Celsius.Among other places in Punjab,Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patialabraved the chill at 6.5, 7.8 and6.7 degrees Celsius, respec-tively, up to three degreesabove normal.

    In Uttar Pradesh, the low-est temperature in UttarPradesh was 2.6 degreesCelsius, recorded at Churkobservatory, while Jhansi reg-istered a high of 24.2 degreeCelsius -- the highest in thestate.

    Cold wave conditions con-tinued in Himachal Pradeshwith Keylong shivering atminus 6.8 degrees Celsius.IMD has predicted dry butcold weather in the state tillJanuary 22. Tribal Lahaul andSpiti’s administrative centreKeylong continued to be thecoldest place in the state atminus 6.8 degrees Celsius,Shimla MeT centre directorManmohan Singh said. Kalpain Kinnaur district recorded alow of zero degrees Celsius, headded.

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    With the RBI raising con-cern over the issuance ofzero coupon bonds for recap-italisation of public sectorbanks (PSBs), the FinanceMinistry is examining otheravenues for affordable capitalinfusion including setting up ofa Bank Investment

    Company (BIC), sourcessaid. Setting up a BIC as a hold-ing company or a core invest-ment company was suggestedby the P J Nayak Committee inits report on ‘Governance ofBoards of Banks in India’.

    The report recommendedtransferring shares of the gov-ernment in the banks to theBIC which would become theparent holding company of allthese banks, as a result of this,

    all the PSBs would become‘limited’ banks. BIC will beautonomous and it will havethe power to appoint the boardof directors and make otherpolicy decisions about sub-sidiaries.

    The idea of BIC, whichwill serve as a super holdingcompany, was also discussed atthe first Gyan Sangam bankers’retreat organised in 2014,sources