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Pitching for a strongCongress leadership at the

Centre in order to corner theNarendra Modi-ledGovernment, the group of 23Congress leaders, known in theparty circles as “dissident” voic-es, on Saturday launched afresh offensive questioning thetop brass of the party why itfailed to utilise the services ofan “experienced” leader likeGhulam Nabi Azad when itneeded him the most.

At least seven leadersbelonging to this “group of dis-senters”, assembled in Jammuto attend Shanti Sammelanorganised by the GandhiGlobal Family.

Interestingly, the “show ofstrength” was organised bythese leaders a day after theannouncement of the Assemblypolls by the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) infive States, including Kerala,Assam, Tamil Nadu and WestBengal.

In one voice all these lead-ers sent out a clear message tothe Congress leadership tostart working towards strength-ening the party before it’s toolate. The tone and tenor of thespeeches made by these leadersclearly indicated the Congressparty is headed for a major“shakeup” in the days to come.These leaders also made itclear they will not sit idle as thecountry was facing numerouschallenges.

Apart from Ghulam NabiAzad, former Cabinet MinistersKapil Sibal, Manish Tewari,Anand Sharma, formerHaryana Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda, par-liamentarians Raj Babbar, andVivek Tankha attended theevent in Jammu.

Wearing saffron headgears,all these leaders also openlycame out in support of thedemand for restoring “state-hood” to Jammu & Kashmir.

None of the office-bearersof the Jammu & Kashmir

Pradesh Congress Committee,including its chief GA Mir,attended the event. Only loy-alists of Ghulam Nabi Azadfrom the Kashmir Valley andJammu region attended theevent in full strength.

Leading the charge fromthe front, one of the seniormost members of the groupAnand Sharma said, “TheCongress has weakened in thelast decade. Our voice is for thebetterment of the party. Itshould be strengthened every-where once again. New gener-

ation should connect (to theparty). We’ve seen good days ofthe Congress. We don’t want tosee it weakening as we becomeolder.”

In a veiled attack on theparty leadership, the formerUnion Minister went on to add,“All of us have covered a longdistance to reach where we’retoday. Nobody among us hascome through the window, allof us have walked through thedoor. We have come throughthe students’ movement, theyouth movement. I’ve not given

anyone the right to declare ifwe’re people of Congress or not,nobody has that right. We’llbuild the party and strengthenit. We believe in the strengthand unity of the Congress”.

His Cabinet colleaguesKapil Sibal and Manish Tewarialso batted for a strongCongress leadership at the top.Sibal said, “We had gatheredtogether earlier too and wehave to strengthen the partytogether”.

Sibal questioned as to whythe Congress was not utilisingthe rich experience of GhulamNabi Azad. “He is one suchleader who knows the groundreality of Congress in every dis-trict of every State. We weresaddened when we realisedthat he is being freed fromParliament. We didn’t wanthim to go from Parliament”.

Referring to the treatmentmeted out to Azad by the partyhigh command, Sibal said,“What is the real role ofGhulam Nabi Azad ? A personwho flies an aircraft is an expe-rienced person. An engineeraccompanies him to detectand repair any malfunctioningin the engine. Ghulam Nabi jiis experienced as well as anengineer”.

Echoing similar sentimentsAnand Sharma also said,“There has never come such anoccasion after 1950 when thereis no representative of Jammu& Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha.This will be corrected”.

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Eligible Covid-19 vaccineaspirants in the country

will have to shell out �250 pershot — �150 cost of vaccineplus �100 service charge — ifthey opt to get themselvesinoculated at the designatedprivate hospitals during the sec-ond phase of the vaccinationdrive beginning March 1 tocover people aged above 60years and those over 45 withcomorbidities.

However, the Governmenthospitals will be providing thejab free, the cost to be borne bythe Centre. “The private hos-pitals can charge up to �250 perdose of Covid-19 vaccine.However, the jab will be givenfree of cost at Governmenthospitals across the States. Thecost will be borne by theCentre,” said Union HealthSecretary Rajesh Bhushan in astatement here.

“�250 will be the ceiling —�150 cost of vaccine plus �100service charge. This arrange-ment will remain effective tillfurther orders,” Bhushan said ina statement here following aninteraction with HealthSecretaries and MDs (NHM) of

States and UTs on the vacci-nation of age-appropriategroups through a video con-ference (VC) on Saturday.

“There would beGovernment health facilitieswhich will be used as Covidvaccine centres such as medicalcollege hospitals, district hos-pitals, sub divisional hospitals,CHCs, PHCs, Health SubCentres and Health andWellness Centres. Geo refer-ence maps with GPS coordi-nates of all these health facili-ties have been prepared thatwill serve as CVCs and theseGeo referenced maps are beingshared with the States,” a seniorhealth official added.

To ramp up the Covid vac-cination capacity manifold, sig-nificantly a large number ofprivate facilities are beinginvolved. “Around 10,000 pri-

vate hospitals empanelledunder Ayushman BharatPMJAY, over 600 hospitalsempanelled under CGHS andother private hospitals empan-elled under State Governments.

“Health Insurance Schemescan participate as CVCs. HealthDepartments of StateGovernments have already ini-tiated dialogue with these pri-vate hospitals so that they canbe encouraged to participate inthis drive as CVCs. A list of allthese private hospitals has beenuploaded on the website ofMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare and National HealthAuthority,” said the official.

So far, 77 per cent ofhealthcare workers have beenadministered with the firstdose and 70 per cent got thesecond dose, the official added.

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The Centre on Saturday advisedStates and UTs — Maharashtra,

Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telanganaand Jammu & Kashmir — to enforceCovid-appropriate behaviour by deal-ing firmly with violations and ensureeffective surveillance in case of poten-tial super spreading events so as not tolet the situation go out of hand.

These States and UTs have beenreporting a high Covid-19 active case-load or an increasing trend in new casesin the last week, noted CabinetSecretary Rajiv Gauba while chairinga high-level review meeting with ChiefSecretaries of States/UTs.

“They were advised not to lowertheir guard, enforce Covid appropriatebehaviour and deal firmly with viola-tions. It was strongly underlined thatthey need to follow effective surveil-lance strategies in respect of potentialsuper spreading events,” the UnionHealth Ministry said in a

statement.The need for effective testing,

comprehensive tracking, prompt iso-lation of positive cases, and quick quar-antine of close contacts were alsostrongly emphasised.

During the review meeting, Stateswere advised to undertake vaccinationon priority in districts reporting high-er cases and monitor strains and clus-tering of cases for early hotspot iden-tification and control.

They have also been asked toimprove the overall testing in districtsreporting a reduction in testing, andincrease RT- PCR tests in districts hav-ing high antigen testing.

The States and UT were directedto focus on surveillance and stringentcontainment in selected districts

reporting reduced tests/high positivi-ty and increased cases.

They have also been advised tocarry clinical management in districtsreporting higher deaths and promoteCovid-appropriate behaviour to ensureeffective citizen communication to not let complacency set in, especially in light of the vaccinationdrive entering the next phase.

Maharashtra reported the highestdaily new cases at 8,333, followed byKerala with 3,671 while Punjabreported 622 new cases in the last 24hours. In the last two weeks,Maharashtra has shown the highestrise in active cases from 34,449 onFebruary 14 to 68,810 currently, theMinistry said.

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As part of its effort to boostfarm exports, enhance

farmers’ income and raise ruraljobs, the Centre on Saturdayfinalised a list of products fromagriculture and allied sectorsunder the “One District OneFocus Product (ODOFP)”,scheme that will be promotedin a cluster approach in 728 dis-tricts across the country.

For instance, UttarPradesh’s Ballia district is to bepromoted as Bindi ( tikuli)cluster; Deoghar and Dumka inJharkhand for Peda productshub; Rajouri for spices;Anantnag for trout fish;Ayodhya for Jaggery; Auraiyafor food processing desi ghee;Srinagar for flowers; Budgamfor exotic vegetables; East Delhifor namkeens, and South-westDelhi for milk-based products.

Similarly, Kupwara is to bedeveloped for walnut;Ganderbal for honey;Bandipora for processed poul-try/mutton; Durg and Koriyain Chhattisgarh for tomato-based products; Surguja for

litchi; Batod in Gujarat forguava; Porbandar for gram-based products; North Goafor jackfruit; Ambala for onionand Kinnaur for fruit wineunder the ODOFP scheme.

According to the Ministry,the product chosen in the dis-trict for promotion, havingexport potential which willboost farm exports andenhance farmers’ income.Besides, also help to providejobs in rural sector.

The list includes 25 dis-tricts of Arunachal Pradesh; 38districts of Bihar; 28 districts ofChhattisgarh; 2 districts inGoa; 22 districts of Haryana; 12districts of Himachal Pradesh,24 districts of Jharkhand, 20districts of Jammu & Kashmir;31 districts of Karnataka; 14districts of Kerala; 52 districtsof Madhya Pradesh; 36 districtsof Maharashtra; 16 districts ofManipur; 30 districts ofOdisha, 23 districts of Punjab,4 districts of Sikkim, 36 dis-tricts of Tamil Nadu; 8 districtsof Tripura, 75 districts of UttarPradesh, and 18 districts ofWest Bengal.

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The State LegislativeAssembly on Saturday

unanimously passed aResolution on a ‘JagannathHeritage Corridor’ project.

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik presented three pro-posals in the Resolution in theHouse through a videoconfer-ence. The resolution was sup-ported by both opposition par-ties, BJP and Congress.

The first proposal was totake a vow to complete theShrimandira Parikrama Yojanawith dedication at the earliest.

The second proposal wasto have the participation andcontribution of all Odias anddevotees of Lord Jagannathfor the project.

The third proposal was toextend gratitude to people of

Puri town who have sacrificedfor the Shrimandira ParikramaYojana.

“The greatest identity ofOdia community is LordJagannath. Our history, culture,tradition and belief system areall centered on Almighty. He isthe symbol of Odia esteem andpride,” said the Chief Minister.

He said all devotees whocome to the temple have a

desire to see the Lord in apeaceful, beautiful and spiritualenvironment.

“Millions of devotees prayto visit the Jagannath Templeonce in a lifetime and get aglimpse of the Lord. It is theresponsibility of all of us toensure that all devotees returnwith a divine feeling,” he said.

Patnaik said three objectiveswere considered for Shrimandira

Parikrama Yojana when theJustice BP Das Committee hadrecommended for a Shrimandirsecurity corridor.

The recommendationswere: safety of the temple, safe-ty of millions of devotees vis-iting the temple and creation ofa spiritual atmosphere fordevotees.

“In general, theGovernment takes steps to

implement the plan. I firmlybelieve that this plan is not onlyfor the Government or for thetemple administration. It isthe plan of 4.5 crore Odias.Therefore, I consider myselfblessed to present the CorridorPlan of Shrimandira to the peo-ple of Odisha through you,”said Patnaik.

“This is a historic momentfor all of us. This moment

comes after ages. All of us, allthe people of Odisha, havecome together to share thisunique moment today,” he said.

“Shrimandira is the centre ofour spiritual heritage. We havepreserved this priceless treasurefor our future descendants in thelegacy,” Patnaik said.

Supporting the proposals,Leader of Opposition PradiptaKumar Naik (BJP) said hisparty wants that Puri is madea world-famous heritage site.

Congress Legislature PartyLeader Narasingha Mishra said,“It’s really an excellent work.Congress party supports theproject for maintaining theculture and heritage as well ashistory of Odisha.”

Mishra said the projectwould also boost economicactivities and attract tourists tothe State.

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Replying to the debate on the StateBudget 2021-22 in the State

Assembly on Saturday, FinanceMinister Niranjan Pujari stated thatOdisha has been deprived of �59,222crore from the Centre during last sixyears. This amount consists of theState’s legitimate claims based on therecommendations of FinanceCommissions and tax share.

Pujari said that from theDivisible Pool, 58% goes forConsolidated Fund of India andremaining 42% distributed amongthe States.

He expressed concern over theUnion Government’s deliberateattempt to scrap eight special pro-grammes with 100% Central assis-tance like Backward RegionDevelopment Fund, IntegratedAction Plan, etc. Odisha is going tolose Rs 54 crore for this. These spe-cial plans and programmes wererevised time and again with 90:10,75:25 and 60:40 per cent sharingbetween the State and the Centre.

Pujari informed that the StateGovernment also lost �732 crore

from normal Central assistance.While raising paddy procure-

ment issue, Pujari said that thoughthe FCI is mandated to procure var-ious crops, including paddy, butkeeping in view its failure to do so,the State Government has taken ini-tiative to purchase paddy bearing thesubsidy cost. However, the CentralGovernment is yet to provide �8,377crore in this regard to the State.

On the increasing loan burdenon the State, the Minister stated thatthe loan of the State this year is not�44,000 crore, but the Governmenthas to bear a net loan burden of�20,000 crore. He assured that giventhe positive trends in the economy,Odisha would soon be on the recov-ery path.

Pujari pointed out that becauseof economic shrinkage everywherein the globe for the Covid-19 pan-demic, Odisha’s growth had been hit,but the gap of the per capita incomeof the State and that of the nationallevel is decreasing.

While members from theTreasury Bench highlighted the State’sgrowth story, Opposition memberscornered the Government on issueslike the State’s increasing loan burden.

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SAMBALPUR: Amid theCovid upsurge scare, as manyas 25 students of the VSSUT(Veer Surendra Sai Universityof Technology), Burla here,have tested positive for coron-avirus.

The fresh cases weredetected in three hostels of theuniversity just in two days,informed university source onSaturday.

The infected students arecurrently undergoing treat-ment at different hospitals.

Following the detection ofnew positive cases in theVSSUT premises, the Vice-Chancellor has urged the stu-dents not to enter into the cam-pus as part of precautionarymeasures.

Last year, one of the pro-fessors of the premier educa-tional institution had lost herhusband to the Covid-19.

Later, the woman professorwas found positive for thevirus. PNS

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)*).*�,0BHUBANESWAR: The Stateregistered 86 new Covid-19cases in 21 districts and theState pool on Saturday, withwhich its total positive caseloadincreased to 3,37,104.

Of the new cases, 51 werefrom quarantine and 35 localcontacts.

Sundargarh district report-ed the day’s highest 10 cases.One case was reported from theState pool.

Currently, the number oftotal active cases in the Statestood at 673 and the cumula-tive samples tested were8,30,0449.

However, 56 patientsrecovered on the day, taking thetotal recoveries to 3,34,519 inthe State. PNS

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� What is your role in Ranju KiBetiyaan?

I play Guddu Mishra; he is fromMuzaffarpur, Bihar. He is someone who isrespectful of his father and because of hisfather’s wish to get married to a particularperson, even though he doesn’t agree tothis, he gets married to Ranju (played byReena Kapoor). She is timid and has novoice of her own. Ranju has four daughters.But my character is of a patriarchalmindset, he yearns for a son who can takehis family name forward. Even though herespects his father, he wants to break thenorm and achieve what he has wanted todo, dreaming of doing. Even though he hasa wife and daughters, he gets married toanother with whom he has two sons. Hissituation is unconventional but with aconventional marriage. This is a bit ofdichotomy. �How did you get this project?

I had earlier done a show for RashmiSharma Telefilms titled Shakti-Astitva KeEhsaas Ki. The show was about a eunuchchild. The role that was offered to me waschallenging. The show was quiteprogressive and hence had agreed to dothis show. I liked that my role was strongand all the twists and turns that happenare because of me.�What made you play Guddu Mishra?

Of course, the fact that while mycharacter finds himself in a conventionalmarriage, the situation is unconventional.Second, the more important one is that theshow is about a single working mother;something that is becoming prevalent inour society. More and more people arebreaking out and craving a life forthemselves. It is encouraging people tobelieve in their dreams and to strike outand make a living. �Was the fact that the role differentfrom what you had done in the past alsothe attraction of taking up Ranju...?

More than the character that I wasessaying, it was the concept of the showthat had me take up the project. Theconcept is very interesting. I felt that theshow is extremely progressive, that it hassomething to say. The part that has beenoffered here, I have something to say, therewas a certain amount of identifiability here.I thought that the audience would getsomething out of it. �Do you think that people get impactedby what a show wants to say?

Yes, it does. When you pick up asubject like Ranju.... when one wants tobreak the mindsets of people, if one triesto approach this aggressively, there is apossibility that one may be rejected. Attimes, at the cost of looking regressive, youslowly and gently push a thought process

forward and steer him towards a path thatis different from the present one. One hasto achieve a balance where you don’t loseyour audience and yet cater them towardsprogressive ideas.�You started off with films, what was theattraction of venturing into TV?

After doing films like Mrityudand,whatever that came my way after that wasnot all that exciting. The roles offered werenot doing anything for me. I waited for twoyears to get work. Then came a time whenI needed to work and met a person whowas making a show, he appeared to beprogressive with his ideas. He made theshow Muskaan (1999). Once I starteddoing TV I realised that the commitmentto TV is very heavy especially with dailysoaps. With weekly, one could still do films.Once daily started, it became difficult todo films and TV. But if your character wasnot pivotal, one could still manage but theminute your role became central to theshow, doing anything else, it was unfair tonot be committed to one platform.� Is that why you haven’t done moviesin the recent past?

The funny part is; it is ironic but thetruth is that every time I waited for a movieto come my way and it didn’t and I tookup a TV show, the very next day ofshooting of the TV, I would get an offerof doing a film. I don’t know whether it isluck or fate. Also, once you commit to aTV show, it requires full attention and onecannot plan in advance.�You have a film background. Was thereever a time when you wanted to besomething else besides an actor?

Yes, definitely. There was a time whenI wanted to be a fighter pilot — the wholeidea of having so much power under you!But then my mother threatened andbullied me, I am the youngest of thesiblings and since she could not bully them,she did it with me. I agreed not to pursueflying. But I have no regrets. � Is it important for an actor to find aconnection with the character he isessaying?

Actually, what an actor needs to havein his arsenal is to understand differentfacets of life and society. To be able tounderstand different thought processes.Also, to be able to understand charactersof people. If one is unable to do this, oneis just playing a part that people may ormay not be able to identify with. Onelearns a lot from society and people andan actor needs to learn from them.�What next?

I am open to any form of mediumto work in. It is just that whenever it

comes my way, I hope I am in a positionto take them up. Let’s see what is in store.

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Let’s talk about the positives first. It starts off ona good note. The opening scene tells you thatthere is more to come and it is bound to be

interesting — murder-crime thrillers are definitelya treat to watch. And this latest Parineeti Chopra filmis no different. A girl on the train who watches thelife of another woman and reminiscing her own andwishing it was her in place of that girl is normalenough . More so when our life is in shambles andnothing is going right. So far so good.

Unfortunately, as the movie progresses itstarts to spiral out of control and goes off track. Ofcourse the makers wanted to give a Bollywood feelto the film and hence the song and dance but there

was no need to let it deviate so much.If the makers had gone with the name and

copied most of the scenes, they might have stucktrue to the book by British author Paula Hawkins2015 novel of the same name. One doesn’tunderstand the need to go for a twist that doesn’tmake much sense because there are so many gapsthat are difficult to fill. However, if can manage towatch it like any other B-town movie and not lookfor answers that need to be addressed, The Girl OnThe Train manages to hold your attention. But thereis a condition— one should have neither seen norread the book by the same or watched the 2016movie staring Emily Blunt. The character in theHindi version is played by Chopra.

If by any chance one gas done either of theabove, it will be a lost cause even if there is adeviation at the climax which is definitely asurprise. *��+��

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The latest film by writer-directorDurba Sahay, who had made herdebut as a director with The Pen, is

a take on the guru-shishya parampara andhow one cycle ends and the next begins.With danseuse Shovana Narayan in thelead, the one-hour-and-56 minutes arespent exploring the beautiful relationshipthat a gurus have with their shishyas andhow sometimes ego and pride cone in theway of this beautiful and sacredrelationship. But the whole premise behindan art form is to surrender to the art and

there is no place for egos here.Through the four generations of passing

on the tradition of who will lead the nextgeneration of young dancers, Aavartan,which means a cycle, is interesting to watch— that a guru can be jealous of her pupil butmanages to over come her insecurities via astory told to her by her guru.

Narayan may not be a great actor butthere is no doubt where her skills lie — abrilliant Kathak dancer. Those who loveclassic dance forms, this movie is a treat towatch. To see Narayan dance so beautifullyeven though she us 70 years old is magical.It just goes to show that one can never takethe art form from the artist whatever be theage. The dual towards the climax where sheperforms is absolutely riveting. One can seeclearly why she is still the queen of her art.

Watch this one for some excellentfootwork by Shovana Narayan.

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The State Government hasrevised the week-long

home isolation orderannounced for travellers com-ing from other States.

Health and Family WelfareACS Pradipta KumarKMohapatra in partial modifica-tion to the instructions issuedon Friday has clarified that atpresent, the precautionary mea-sures may be limited to pas-sengers from five high-riskStates (instead of 12), namely,Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab,Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh.Mohapatra said

the situation is under watch; andsurveillance may be extended toother States in future if the sit-uation so warrants.

He said the seven-daymandatory home isolation forarrivals from the five high-riskStates can be dispensed with forasymptomatic passengers whohave RT-PCR negative reports(done not more than 72 hoursbefore boarding) or a Covidvaccination final certificate.

Earlier, the OdishaGovernment had made theseven-day home isolationmandatory for returnees fromMaharashtra, Kerala, TamilNadu, Chhattisgarh, MadhyaPradesh, Telangana, WestBengal, Punjab, Delhi,Chandigarh, Karnataka andAndhra Pradesh to Odisha.

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An Odisha Women’sFootball League is sched-

uled to start from Sunday withsix teams’ participation. Allmatches will be played in adouble header league basis.There will be a total of 30matches.

The league will concludeon March 27. The matches willbe played at Bhubaneswar(Kalinga Stadium practiceground and Capital HighSchool ground).

The teams are SportsHostel, SAI-STC, OGP CLUB,

Rising Student Club, East CoastRailway and Odisha Police.The champion team will qual-ify to participate in the ensuingprestigious IWL to be con-ducted by the All India FootballFederation.

The event is being jointlyorganised by the FootballAssociation of Odisha and theState Sports and Youth ServiceDepartment.

The Rising Student Clubhas the honour of being thechampion (2017-18) and run-ners-up (2016-17) of the IWL.Also, the Odisha Police has rep-resented in the IWL.

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In an unprecedented event,Chief Minister Naveen

Patnaik on Saturday joined avideoconference to bless anewly-wed HIV positive cou-ple in Gopalpur of Ganjam dis-trict.

Patnaik talked to the new-lyweds and extended his bestwishes on the occasion.

The wedding of Ravindraand Padma was solemnised bythe Ganjam district adminis-tration at the GopalpurShraddha Sanjivani DaycareHome. Earlier, the two were

staying at the daycare home fortheir education in the districtand are currently doing theirjobs in Hyderabad.

Collector Vijay AmrutaKulange was present at theevent among others and per-formed the Kanyadaan ritual.He also presented a bankcheque to the couple.

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The World Philosophy Day,a UNESCO event, was cel-

ebrated at the IIT Bhubaneswaron Friday with Prof RameshChandra Sinha, Chairman,Indian Council ofPhilosophical Research (ICPR),New Delhi as chief guest andpresided over by Prof RV RajaKumar, Director, IITBhubaneswar.

Prof Raja Kumar said theday is celebrated to promote aninternational culture of philo-sophical debate respectinghuman dignity and diversity.He emphasised the need toteach philosophy at all levels,especially to the students of sci-ence and technology, as hasbeen done at the IITBhubaneswar. He presented anoverview of the various cours-es being offered at the Schoolof Humanities, Social Sciencesand Management (SHSSM) at

IIT Bhubaneswar. Prof Sinha said that for

centuries, in every culture, phi-losophy has given birth to con-cepts, ideas and analyses, and,through this, has laid the foun-dation for critical, independentand creative thoughts.

He added that philosophyshould not be restricted toeminent scholars but should be

used for upliftment of thedowntrodden, the margin-alised, paving the path forbuilding a better society oftomorrow.

The programme alsoincluded a thought-provokingsession addressed by distin-guished professors from dif-ferent universities in the coun-try.

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Failing to sell paddy evenafter having a token, a

farmer consumed poison infront of Bandhagaon panchay-at office under the BhadrakRural police limits in Bhadrakdistrict on Saturday.

However, he was rushed tothe District HeadquartersHospital in critical condition.

As per reports, theRameswar Self Help Group

(SHG) was entrusted to pro-cure paddy from farmers in thepanchayat. One Rama KrushnaPanda had received a token tosell his paddy to the SHG. Evenafter repeated requests made byRama Krushna, the SHG didnot procure his produce.Depressed over not being ableto sell his crop, he attempted toend his life by consuming poi-son.

“Panda, a large-scalefarmer, has over 50 quintals ofpaddy,” informed a local.

Earlier in the day, a groupof farmers blocked NH-53 nearBasantia Chhak in Anandpurof the district alleging irregu-larities in paddy procurement.

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Wonder kid Ishan Debatahas done Odisha proud

yet again. Ishan has topped theInternational GeneralKnowledge Olympiad (IGKO).Organised by the ScienceOlympiad Foundation of Indiaevery year for school children,the IGKO is conducted across40 countries in various geo-graphies across the world.

As part of the felicitations,Ishan will be awarded the cov-etous International Gold Medalfor General Knowledge,Citations, Certificate of Meritand a cash award.

Out of 40 questions whichtraversed diverse areas like sci-ence, sports, history, geography,economy, technology, currentnational and internationalaffairs, Ishan managed to

obtain a perfect 40 out of 40. Son of Delhi-based media

entrepreneur Manash Debataand Swagatika Mishra, Ishan isa student of class 4 at KendriyaVidyalaya, Sec-8, RK Puram,New Delhi. “This wouldn’thave been possible without theblessings of my parents, grandparents and all my teachers.

Our HM sir Subhash ChandraTripathi and class teacherManju Rani have been veryinspiring and motivating,” saysIshan crediting his teachersfor the success. An elated Ishanrates this achievement as ‘veryspecial ‘ for him. However,Gold rush is not new to thiswonder kid. Earlier, he hadwon another InternationalGold Medal in Math Olympiadand a silver in ScienceOlympiad in standard 2.

Last year, he was the onlyboy from Delhi zone to havesuccessfully contested in all fivecategories of Olympiads i.e.,Math, Science, English, Cyberand General Knowledge aswell as National Level ScienceTalent Search Examination(NSTSE).

Ishan's family hails fromTikanpur village of KendraparaDistrict in Odisha.

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The State Government hasregularised as many as

9,665 eligible junior teachers aselementary teachers in Grade-V (A) after completion of theirsix years continuous service.

School and MassEducation DepartmentAdditional SecretaryRaghuram R Iyer has written aletter to the Director ofElementary Education in thisregard.

“As there is no existingvacancy in Level-V(A) gradeof the cadre, the Governmenthas been pleased to allowregularisation of 9,965 JuniorTeachers as Assistant Teacher,Level-V (A) in 30 districts ofthe State under non-planscheme of respective ZillaParishads by invoking theprovision of Rule 62 ofOdisha General FinancialRules (OGFR) to adjust thesaid Junior Teachers againstthe vacancy available forGraduate Teacher posts fordrawal of regular salary as atemporary measure for sixmonths with effect from theday following the date ofcompletion of six years ofcontinuous service as SikshyaSahayak/Junior Teacher,” theletter reads.

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The Excise DepartmentIntelligence unit busted a

fake liquor manufacturing unitat Truptinagar under the BadaBazar police station here onSaturday.

Acting on inputs, exciseofficials conducted a raid at theduplicate liquor productionunit and seized huge quantitiesof liquor, spirits, essence, fakestickers of reputed India MadeForeign Liquor (IMFL) brands,empty bottles and othermachinery.

Five persons were arrestedin connection and they wereforwarded to court later in the

day, said sources.The busting of the fake

liquor unit is part of a series ofraids on adulterated food man-ufacturing units which weresealed by the district adminis-tration. Earlier, units manu-facturing adulterated sauce,soft drinks and packageddrinking water were unearthedin Brahmapur.

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Border Security Force (BSF)personnel recovered a huge

cache of explosives from thePindamali-Bhitarpara forest inthe Narayanpatna area ofKoraput district on Saturday.

During a combing opera-

tion, jawans of the BSF’s 155Battalion recovered 60 gelatinssticks, 50 electric detonators, 30small iron pellets, electric wiresand 2.5 kg of gun powderfrom the forest.

It was suspected thatMaoists had stored the explo-sives to target security person-nel.

On February 23, BSF per-sonnel, while on a routinecombing operation in a forestof Malkangiri district, hadrecovered a huge cache ofexplosives, including five kg oftiffin bombs, two pressureIEDs, wires and batteries.Besides, a Maoist uniform wasalso recovered.

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The State Government onSaturday came under attack

from Opposition BJP andCongress over the deterioratinglaw and order situation acrossthe State.

The opposition membersraised issues like missing ofchildren, rape cases and polit-ical killings and alleged involve-ment of Ministers in severalcrimes.

However, Minister of Statefor Home Dibya ShankarMishra maintained that thelaw and order situation haslargely remained peaceful inthe State.

Initiating the debate on anAdjournment Motion, BJPMLA Mohan Charan Majhi

alleged that Bihar and UttarPradesh-like situations are nowprevailing in Odisha.

“Children are not safe. BJPworkers are being killed. In theMahanga double murder case,an FIR has been registeredagainst the Law Minister(Pratap Jena). But no action hasbeen taken,” said Majhi.

“Why the Chief Minister,who is claimed to be clean, issilent on the issue? Will theChief Minister ask the Ministerto resign?” asked the BJP leg-islator.

Senior BJP MLAJayanarayan Mishra said policeare being used for political pur-posea and he became a victimof this.

Congress Legislature PartyLeader Narasingha Mishracame down heavily on theState Government over thedeteriorating law and ordersituation.

“There is no law and orderin the State; there is only jun-gle raj. Cybercrimes havebecome a nuisance in the Stateand it’s a matter of concern.Detection in cybercrimes isabsolutely zero,” said Mishra.

Congress MLA SantoshSingh Saluja demanded resig-nation of the Law Minister in theMahanga double murder case.

Replying to the debate,Minister Dibya Shankar Mishrasaid law and order situation haslargely remained peaceful inthe State in 2020 and this yearso far.

Stating that the Maoist sit-uation has improved in theState, he said as many as 17 Redrebels were killed in 2020 includ-ing 16 during faceoff with secu-rity forces and one in people'sattack.

While 34 Maoists werearrested, 21 Red ultras surren-dered last year, he added.

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NTPC Kaniha ChiefGeneral Manager Sudip

Nag spoke about the executionof Flue-Gas Desulfurization(FGD) work, mine-void fillingand various performances ofthe unit. He addressed media-persons during a Power SectorFamiliarisation Programme onSaturday.

“With the commitment of

providing clean energy in a sus-tainable manner, the FGD workis under full progress at the sta-

tion,” Nag said.He also shared NTPC

Talcher Kaniha’s long term fuelsecurity plan to fulfill its coalrequirement and stated that thelatest introduction of theWagon Tippler has acceleratedthe coal unloading process andresulted in increasing produc-tivity of the station.

Speaking on the station’sperformance, Nag said, “TheNTPC Talcher Kaniha has per-

formed exceptionally well inthis Financial Year and is on itsway to achieve turn-out per-formance with several mile-stones in operation.”

He mentioned the station’sincreased focus on safety andthe measures taken to ensuresafe practices such as safetytraining for all workers, masspep-talk along with Covid-related awareness messages.Nag further highlighted the sta-

tion’s initiatives of enhancingash utilisation by providingdry ash to NHAI for construc-tion of roads and highways andthe MoU it recently signed withMCL for the mine-void fillingof Jagannath quarry-8.

GM (O&M) ShivamSrivastava, GM(TS) SMurugan, GM (Ash DykeManagement) Sarit Maheswariand GM(HR) Rajnish Rastogiwere also present.

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Athree-year old boy waskilled and his parents and

seven-year old sister sustainedinjuries when a tree beingchopped down by the districtadministration fell on theirbike at Jodipua Chhak in Jajpurtown on Saturday.

They were returning fromMa Biraja temple to their vil-lage Adia under Agarapada

police station in Bhadrak dis-trict when the mishapoccurred.

While the four personswere rushed to the DistrictHeadquarters Hospital atJajpur, the doctors declaredthe child, identified as RahulBindhani, to be dead. OthersSunanda Bindhani, his wifeSasmita Bindhani and theirseven-year old daughterJasmine who were injured were

under treatment and their con-ditions are stable.

Soon after the incident, thelocals blocked the main roadand demanded proper com-pensation and stern actionagainst the persons who areresponsible for the incident.Senior police officials rushed tothe spot to pacify the agitatorsand maintain law and order, saidAdditional Superintendent ofPolice of Jajpur Narayan Barik.

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In view of the vacancies ofdoctors in the sanctioned

posts in the State, theGovernment is consideringamending the Odisha Medicaland Health Services (Methodof Recruitment and Conditionof Service) Rules 2020 so thatdoctors from outside the Statecan be recruited.

Health Minister NabaKishore Das informed this inthe State Assembly on Saturdaywhile replying on a motionmoved by Leader ofOpposition Pradipta KumarNaik.

Das stated that because ofthe strict provisions in the ser-

vice rule of doctors, eligibledoctors from outside the Statewere deprived of getting job inOdisha.

With the increasing need ofdoctors due to the growingnumber of patients, theGovernment felt to amend theservice rule, he said.

“At present, we are short of2,330 doctors in the sanc-tioned posts of 8,719. Now,

6,389 cadre doctors are work-ing; so, the remaining postsneed to be filled up,” Das said.

As per the amendments, ifa candidate has not passedhigher secondary-level exam-ination with Odia as a subject,he/she must qualify in thisexam within four years of join-ing the job. Secondly, if a can-didate from outside the Statehas not registered in the OdishaMedical Council, he/she wouldhave to register before appoint-ment.

The Government hasurged the Odisha PublicService Commission (OPSC)to start a process for recruit-ment of 2,452 doctors thisyear.

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ATechnology BusinessIncubator (TBI) was estab-

lished at the Fakir MohanUniversity here in the presenceof Union Minister for Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) and Fisheries, AnimalHusbandry and DairyingPratap Chandra Sarangi andVice-Chancellor, FMUniversity Prof DinabandhuSahoo.

“I am happy that the FMUniversity is the first amongthe State-funded universities inthe State to establish aTechnology Business Incubatorand my Ministry will help in allpossible manners to the newlyestablished TBI,” said MinisterSarangi.

He said MSME can play amajor role in boosting theemployment potential of thecountry. He urged the stu-dents to rediscover their hiddentalent and use this for not only

their personal career develop-ment but also for develop-ment of the society.

He also said Odisha has alot of scope in the field of fish-ery and animal husbandry,where value addition and inno-vation can be made to createmore employments. Thus, theTBI would play a major role inthis direction, he said.

VC Prof Sahoo said estab-lishment of the TBI was longoverdue. The unit will help thestudents and youth in buildingentrepreneurship, incubating

new innovations and nurturingbig ideas, he said.

Professor Sahoo said, “Ourstudents will visit differentindustries and innovative hubsin the country and then will beguided at the TBI. A Section -8 Company will be formed tofacilitate and procure fundingfrom public and private sec-tors.”

On the occasion, theMinister and Vice Chancellordedicated Krishna ResidentialComplex in the name of riverKrishna inside the campus.

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Bolangir district CollectorChanchal Rana on

Saturday flagged off four vehi-cles, which are battery-operat-ed by transgenders, to collectsegregated wastes from threewards of the BalangirMunicipality.

There are two transgenderSelf-Help Groups (SHGs) in theBalangir Municipality and theirmembers have been trained tooperate the battery-run vehi-cles.

Although, initially, this ser-vice would be available in threewards of municipality, it wouldbe extended to all 21 wards,said the Collector.

With the involvement oftransgenders in waste man-agement, the effort wouldmake Balangir clean andgreen besides improving theireconomic condition andwould also help to main-stream them into the society, the Collector further.

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Over 1 lakh people havebeen infected with coron-

avirus in 13 tribals-dominateddistricts in Odisha, informed ST& SC Development, Minorities& Backward Classes Welfare

Minister Jagannath Saraka inthe State Assembly on Friday.

Replying to a query ofMLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik,the Minister said that byFebruary 23, 2021, total3,28,432 persons have beeninfected with the Covid-19 inthe State, of which 1,05,480were from 13 tribal districts.

Explaining the reasonbehind less number of Covid

infections among the tribalcommunities, the Ministerpointed out that very fewerpeople in the tribal areas comein contact with public due toinaccessibility. The people havecomplied with the Covid rulesin their areas. The awarenesscampaigns have been effec-tively carried out by healthworkers, Anganwadi Workersand panchayat-level officials.

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In the second phase of vacci-nation, the Central

Government has allowed pri-vate hospitals empanelledunder the Biju Swasthya KalyanYojana (BSKY) to be part of thevaccination process.

Accordingly, the OdishaGovernment has brought outthe list of private hospitalsempanelled under the BSKY.These 183 hospitals across theState would be allowed asPrivate COVID VaccinationCenters (PCVC) for vaccina-tion of eligible citizens.

ACS Health and FamilyWelfare PK Mohapatra hasbrought out the list of hospitalsacross the State and NodalOfficers have been listed outwith their contact numbers.

In fact people over the ageof 60 years and those below 60

but above 45 and have some co-morbidities would be vacci-nated.

While the list is out thesehealthcare oganisations havebeen advised to immediatelytake steps to verify that thefacility has the minimumrequirements of sufficient coldchain equipment and capacity.

Arrangements for suffi-cient rooms and space for wait-ing area, vaccination and obser-vation post vaccination are tobe done, said the order.

Private Hospitals areadvised to keep sufficient num-ber of trained vaccinators andverifiers.

These hospitals are advisedto built in the ability to man-age adverse events followingimmunisation as per normand guidelines issued by theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare.

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The Sadar police here arrest-ed a woman for assaulting

her octogenarian father-in-lawand septuagenarian mother-in-law with the help of her hus-band following a family feud.

The arrestee was identifiedas Minati Geru, wife of AkhayaGeru of Sujanagar.

According to KendrapadaSadar police station IICPramod Kumar Mallick, onFriday, Minati’s father-in-law,Rabindra Geru had invitedsome persons to repair thethatched roof. But his sonAkhaya allegedly opposed it,resulting in an altercationbetween them.

However, irate Akhaya andwife Minati went on assaultingRabindra and his wife later.Rabindra lodged an FIR againsthis son and daughter-in-law.The police registered a case andnabbed Minati, while Akahayafled the village. Minati was pro-duced before a local court.

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The State Government onSaturday issued fresh

Covid-19 guidelines for March,according to which opera par-ties and open air theatres canperform their shows adheringstrictly to the norms.

“Open air Jatra, operaswould be permitted by thelocal authorities subject tocompliance of Covid-19 safetyprotocols such as mandatorywearing of face masks, physi-cal distancing, provision ofthermal scanning. Keeping thesize of the ground or space inview , appropriate number ofpersons (subject to a ceiling of2,000 persons) will be allowed,”an official order stated.

For Jatra and open airevents, the organisers have toarrange multiple ticket countersand ensure online booking toavoid crowd. The organiserswill be held responsible for vio-lation of any of the norms pre-scribed by the government,

SRC letter stated.Ailing audiences having

respiratory disease, influenzaand Covid-19 symptoms wouldnot be allowed to enter the Jatraground.

However, the Special ReliefCommissioner (SRC) hasempowered the local adminis-tration to take a call on allentertainment activities in theirrespective areas.

Besides, hosts of marriageand funeral events would haveto provide masks to the par-ticipants who should notexceed more than 500. Theywould ensure proper use ofmasks by the guests during theentire duration of the function.

The guidelines furthersaid that the School and Mass

Education Department hasbeen authorised to develop adetailed SOPs for the reopen-ing of Primary Schools. Thedepartment may allow exami-nation for Classes-IX and XIgiving an option to the studentsfor online examinations.

The new guidelines haveempowered local administra-tion to take a call on worshipin religious places, based on theassessment of Covid-19 statusin their respective area.

Cinema halls, theaters,parks and swimming pools areallowed to open amid strictadherence to SoPs issued by theGovernment.Large gatheringand congregation would con-tinue to be prohibited acrossthe State, the SRC stated.

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The Odisha StateGovernment Employees’

Coordination Committee,Bhubaneswar unit, while sup-porting the all-India ProtestDay on Saturday, submitted amemorandum for CM NaveenPatnaik and PM NarendraModi with several demands tothe ADM here.

The demands include reg-ularisation of jobs ofWorkcharge, NMR, outsourc-ing and contractual employees,implementation of the old pen-sion scheme, pay revision everyfive years, payment of increasedDA pending since January2020 and dues in lieu of leavesurrender, release of 50 per centof arrear of increased salary,stopping sale of nationalized

assets like PSUs andGovernment Departments,controlling price rise, hikingminimum salary to Rs 18,000,paying HR hike money besidesuniting secular forces againstcommunalism.

Prasant Kumar Mohanty,Asila Kumar Brahma,Kshetramohan Das, SarojNayak, Bijaya Nayak, AkshayaKumar Jena and Kailash KumarBehera were preset.

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Two minor boys aged 4 and6 years of Gajapati district

were rescued from Coimbatoreof Tamil Nadu by a team ofpolice and Child ProtectionUnit officials of the Gajapatiadministration.

They were identified assons of Sudarsan Nayak ofBhalia Sahi of Mohana block.

Sudarshan who was staying inCoimbatore was recently arrest-ed in a domestic violence case.

Sudarsan's father KaranaNayak sought the help of thedistrict administration to res-cue the children. On February21, a team of police and officialsfrom Gajapati after keepingcontact with their counter-parts in Coimbatore left for theplace and rescued the children

from roads.For the rehabilitation of the

kids, the Collector and the SPGajapati meanwhile have takeninitiatives and the two boys arenow under the custody of theChild Welfare Committee,Gajapati. For their upbringingand studies, the district admin-istration will make necessaryarrangements, said DCPOArun Kumar Tripathy.

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Power generation from the Odisha PowerGeneration Corporation (OPGC) at

Banharpali here is on a growth trajectoryowing to the continuous rectification of ash han-dling system of Unit 3 and Unit 4 and better coalquality.

As per data received, the OPGC Unit 1 and2 are generating more than 350 MW combinedon an average while Unit-3 and Unit-4 are clock-ing average generation of 1,000 MW combined.Unit 3 is averaging a generation of 400MW whileUnit 4 is clocking 600 MW on an average againsta capacity of 660 MW.

Energy generation could not be done satis-factorily from Unit-3 and 4 in last few monthsdue to ash handling problems in these twoplants.

Due to constant efforts of experiencedEngineers and Government machinery, thegeneration from the two units is showingimprovements. The OPGC has entered PowerPurchase Agreement (PPA) with Gridco to sup-ply 928 MW of power from Units 3 and 4.Therefore, the OPGC management is also mak-ing arrangements to sell surplus energy gener-ated from these two units in open market.

By this, the State Government is expectedto earn more revenue from the power plants.

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Aday after Congress MLAs heck-led Himachal Governor

Bandaru Dattatraya in the Assemblycomplex, Deputy Speaker ofHimachal Pradesh Vidhan SabhaHans Raj called on the Governor atRaj Bhavan, here. It was describedas a courtesy call.

Later, Director General of PoliceSanjay Kundu, along with othersenior officers of the PoliceDepartment called on the Governor.In view of development occurringin the premises of the LegislativeAssembly, the Governor reviewedthe security arrangements withDGP.

The DGP expressed grief overthe inconvenience caused to theGovernor and said that it was unex-pected and unfortunate. He said thatas a first citizen of the State, thepolice administration has decided totake extra precaution and provide ahigh security system to theGovernor in their future activities.He said that he would be provided

'Professional Advice’ and a RoadClearing System to be developed.

At present there was only onePersonnel Security Officer (PSO)deputed during the functional activ-ity or in the movement of theGovernor but now, the systemwould be changed and ‘CloseProtection Team’ would be deployedin which more professional policeCommandos would be engagedand the current PSO system wouldbe changed.

He said that Advance Securitywould be provided in important andbig programs and efforts would bemade in such programs that boththe Add-de-Camp (ADC) of theGovernor would move together.He said that in the event of anyadverse situation, the officer post-ed under the protection of theGovernor could make the call forbackup and the police administra-tion was determined to providestrict security to the Governor andwould not allow any lapse in thisregard.

DGP said that the police

administration will try to provideDSP security facility in Raj Bhavanalso.

A day before, in the budget ses-sion of Himachal PradeshAssembly on Friday, five Congresslegislators including Leader ofOpposition Mukesh Agnihotri weresuspended for allegedly jostling theGovernor when he was leaving theAssembly complex after hisaddress. The Congress MLAs -Mukesh Agnihotri, Harsh VarhanChauhan, Sunder Singh Thakur,Satpal Raizada and Vinay Kumar,were suspended for the entire ses-sion till March 20. No CongressMLA was present in the House atthe time of suspension of the fiveMLAs.

The Congress MLAs hadallegedly tried to stop the Governorin front of the Speaker’s chamberwhen he was going towards his cav-alcade, accompanied by ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur afteraddressing the Assembly on theopening day of the budget session.

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Haryana Additional ChiefSecretary, Home, Rajeev

Arora on Saturday inaugurat-ed the third ‘Jail-Radio’ ofHaryana in the Central Jail,Ambala.

In his address, Arora, saidthat the main objective of start-ing Jail-Radio is to promote art,creativity and harmony amongthe inmates. On this occasion,DGP (Jails) K.K. Selvaraj wasalso present. Earlier, jail-radioshave also been started inPanipat and Faridabad in col-laboration with ‘Tinka-TinkaFoundation’.

Arora said that the CentralJail at Ambala is considered asa historic jail in India and isamong the three Central Jails ofthe state. He said that thougha Jail has a restricted environ-

ment but with the introductionof radio, its inmates will beinteracting with the outsideworld. He said that there are atotal of 19 jails in Haryana andthe state government plans tostart Jail-radio in almost all thejails in order to initiate theprocess of Jail reforms forinmates. He also shared that theauthorities concerned havebeen in dialogue with thefounders and office-bearers ofvarious NGOs regarding intro-ducing more Jail reforms.

Selvaraj said that the firstphase of installation of Jail-Radio in Jails has been com-pleted with the introduction ofradio in Ambala Jail and nowJail-Radio will be started in fourother jails of the state under thesecond phase. He said that hewas satisfied with the improve-ment in behaviour of inmatesin state jails.

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Road accidents claimedalmost three times more

lives than Covid-19 virus inJharkhand in 2020 despite sev-eral months of lockdown caus-ing a drop in traffic movementin cities as well as highways, fig-ures compiled by Governmentagencies reveal.

The latest report from theRoad Safety Authority statesthat as many as 3044 peopledied in road accidents inJharkhand from January 2020to December 2020.

As per figures compiled bythe NHM, Covid-19 virusclaimed as many as 1025 lives– around one-third of thenumber of road accident fatal-

ities – in the state untilDecember 31.

In 2020, as many as 4377

road accidents occurred in theState, highlights data with theRoad Safety Authority. While

3044 people died in these acci-dents, as many as 3303 peoplesustained injuries, the datafurther reveals.

At least 39 per cent of theaccidents involved two wheel-ers, 18 per cent involved fourwheelers and 16 per centinvolved heavy vehicles.WhileCovid-19 caused the highestnumber of deaths in EastSinghbhum, Khunti reportedthe highest number of roadaccident fatalities in 2020.Ranchi was the second worst-affected in terms of fatalitiescaused in road accidents andalso the second worst-hit interms of Covid casualties.TheCovid mortality rate inJharkhand on Saturday was0.90 per cent against the

national average of 1.40 percent. The state has reported62 more Covid fatalities in2021, taking the total count ofCovid deaths in Jharkhand to1087, reveals NHM data.Asper data compiled by theRoad Safety Authority, at least92 per cent of the road acci-dents in Jharkhand occurreddue to over-speeding, 2 percent occurred due to drunk-en driving, 4 per cent due todriving on the wrong sidewhile 1 per cent accidentsoccurred on traf f ic signals.

The Government has takenseveral initiatives recently toput a check on road accidentsand save lives of people whosustain injuries in such

mishaps.The state Cabinet last

month launched a GoodSamaritan Policy, which aims atrewarding life savers in cases ofroad accidents and allows themto take accident survivors tohospital without having to dis-close their own identity to thehospital authorities or the police.

“We are regularly workingon new measures to reduceroad accidents and fatalities.New policies are also beingframed to support families ofaccident victims through com-pensation,” said DisasterManagement Minister BannaGupta.Besides, the HemantSoren-led government is alsoplanning to set up trauma cen-tres in all the 24 districts.

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Nainital residentMohammad Hasim

became the first person in thestate to get treatment costingmore than five lakhs in theAyushman Bharat scheme.There is a limit of �5 lakhs ina year for the golden cardholders under the scheme butthe limit can be increased inexceptional cases.

Hasim, 62 years old, wassuffering from a type of heartfailure. He was admitted to theAll India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) Rishikeshrecently.

The associate professor at

department of cardiology, DrBarun Kumar said that to savethe life of this patient of heartfailure, it was very important toinstall a CRT-D device in hisbody.

“This device functions likea pacemaker. After all testsfound that the patient hasbreathing problems and hisheart function is not func-tioning properly and the heartsize has also become larger. Itwas decided to install CRT-Ddevices to save the life of thepatient.

This process of installingthe device has been done with-out making the patient uncon-scious,’’ he said.

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Uttarakhand Chief Minister TrivendraSingh Rawat on Saturday launched

"Gharoki Paachan, Chelik Naam" (daugh-ter's name is a home's identity) pro-gramme and development schemes worthRs 42 crore in Nainital.

Nainital MP Ajay Bhatt, alongwith various other officials, was present towelcome the chief minister in the town.During a programme organised at TRCDhartaal, Rawat launched "GharokiPaachan, Chelik Naam" (daughter's name

is a home's identity) scheme. T h i sscheme has been launched in Nainital andwill be extended to entire Uttarakhand inthe coming weeks. Rawat said the gov-ernment is working towards womenempowerment and 32,000 women groupsof the state are being linked with self-employment to make them self-reliant.

The chief minister also expressedconcern about revitalising the catchmentarea of Sukhataal Lake. He said the lake willbe revitalised and will undergo beautifi-cation. Not only will this serve as arecharge to Nainital Lake, but will add

towards tourist attraction at Nainital.Rawat said the government is working

sincerely for the overall development oftourism in the town.

He said the problem of lack of adequateparking space will also be resolved soon.

Addressing the issue of employment,the chief minister said today it is necessarythat we move forward in the direction ofself-employment and leave the fascinationfor government jobs. For this, the gov-ernment has implemented various publicwelfare schemes, which are beneficial tothe youth of the state.

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The charred body of a 22-year-old labourer was

recovered after a fire broke outat a warehouse in north Delhi'sPratap Nagar area in the earlyhours of Saturday, police said.

A 37-year-old manhas been detained in connec-tion with the incident, theysaid. The deceased has beenidentified as Upchand, a nativeof Bihar. Another labourer,named Sushil Kumar (22), aresident of the state'sKishanganj sustained minorinjuries, they said.

One of the firemen also suf-fered minor injury on his fingerduring the fire-fighting opera-tion and was given first aid atthe spot, a fire official said.A call about the blaze wasreceived around 3.47 am and 18fire tenders were pressed intoservice, he said. Later, 10more fire tenders were rushedto the spot and the flames were

doused and the cooling processwas carried out, he added.The fire broke out on the firstfloor of the warehouse andspread to the second floor.Plastic and nail polish materi-als stored in the warehousecaught fire and a charred bodywas recovered from the firstfloor, said Atul Garg, Director,Delhi Fire Service. The causeof the blaze is being ascer-tained, he said. Accordingto the police, nail polish, lip-sticks, gift packing and severalother materials were stored insmall rooms of the warehouse.A senior police officer said acase has been registered undersections of Indian Penal Code-- 435 (Mischief by fire orexplosive substance with intentto cause damage), 436 (Mischiefby fire or explosive substancewith intent to destroy house),304 (Punishment for culpablehomicide not amounting tomurder), and 308 (Attempt tocommit culpable homicide).

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The Delhi Commission forWomen (DCW) has issued

a notice to Delhi Police in con-nection with the stabbing of aboy in Kalkaji area of southDelhi when he confronted his

sister's stalker.The victim's sisterhas alleged that when sheapproached the police for lodg-ing a complaint, police officialsrefused to take any action. Asper the DCW Act, 1994 theCommission is mandated toinvestigate and examine all the

matters relating to the safe-guards provided for womenunder the Constitution and giverecommendations to the gov-ernment on the issue of women'ssafety.The DCW has requestedthe Delhi Police to provide acopy of the FIR registered in the

matter, a copy of complaintreceived from the girl (if any)regarding stalking and eve teas-ing and action taken thereon,details of the accused arrested inthe matter and detailed actiontaken report in the matter latestby March 3, 2021.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said the

Government has prepared a‘National Toy Action Plan’ thatincludes 15 ministries anddepartments to make theindustry competitive and pro-vide it with a global platform.

The Prime Minister saidthe ancient toy culture of thecountry reflects the practice ofreuse and recycling, which ispart of the Indian lifestyle.

He said India has thepotential to take the worldback to eco-friendly toys.

The fair that will continuefrom February 27 to March 2aims to bring together all stake-holders including buyers, sell-ers, students, teachers, design-ers, etc on a virtual platform tocreate sustainable linkages andencourage dialogue for theoverall development of theindustry, according to aGovernment statement.

Speaking at the India ToyFair 2021 here that he alsoinaugurated, the PrimeMinister said the Governmenthas prepared a National ToyAction Plan. It includes 15ministries and departmentsto make the industry compet-itive, ‘Aatmanirbhar’, and toprovide it with a global plat-form.

“This first Toy Fair is notjust a business or economicevent. This programme is alink to strengthen the coun-try’s age-old culture of sportsand gaiety. India toy culture isas old as the Indus Valley

Civilisation. The world hasstudied the toys of theMohenjo-Daro and Harappanera,” he said.

Prime Minister had in his‘Ma’am ki baat’ radio pro-gramme also stressed the roleplayed by the toys in shapingmind and reflected on therich and varied Indian tradi-tion of toy Making.

Addressing the Toy Fairthat he inaugurated, the PrimeMinister said that India hasgiven the world some of themost popular games like Chessand ludo.

“Chess, which is so popu-lar in the world today, was ear-lier played in India as‘Chaturanga or Chaduranga’.Modern Ludo was played as‘Pachisi’. In our scriptures too,there are descriptions of younglord Ram, and lord Krishna’stoys,” he said.

Modi said that even todayIndian toys are simpler andcheaper than western toys andappealed to the manufacturersto make toys that are better forboth ecology and psychology.

“Try to use less plastic intoys. Use such things that canbe recycled,” he said.

Indian toys, he said, con-tain elements of science, enter-

tainment and psychology.“Take Lattu (top) as an

example. When children learnto play with Lattu, they learnabout gravity and balance. Inthe same way, a child playingwith a slingshot inadvertentlystarts learning basics aboutkinetic energy and potentialenergy. Puzzle toys developstrategic thinking and prob-lem-solving thinking, “ PrimeMinister sight to explain.

Modi said that the newNational Education Policy alsoincorporates play-based andactivity-based education.

“This is an education sys-tem in which logical and cre-ative thinking can be increasedin children through riddlesand games. Special attentionhas been given to this,” he said.

The Prime Minister assert-ed that in the field of toys,India has tradition and tech-nology coupled with conceptsand competence.

“We can take the worldback towards eco-friendlytoys. The National Toy ActionPlan has been prepared whichincludes 15 ministries anddepartments to make theindustry competitive,Aatmanirbhar and take India’stoys to the world,” he said.

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Union Minister for MinorityAffairs Mukhtar Abbas

Naqvi on Saturday said herethat the “Hunar Haat” is play-ing “phenomenal and perfect”role in making “Vocal forLocal” campaign a “massmovement” and as of nowgiven employment to over fivelakh people and ‘still counting.’

Speaking at the “HunarHaat” in Jawaharlal NehruStadium here Naqvi said that“Hunar Haat” has been becom-ing “Kumbh of backers of bril-liance”.

Naqvi said that more than12 lakh people have visited the“Hunar Haat”, started from20th February and become“Proud Promoter” of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s“Vocal for Local” campaign bypurchasing handmade prod-ucts of indigenous artisansand craftsmen worth crores ofrupees.

The number of visitors islikely to go above 16 lakh inthe next two days, he said. This“Hunar Haat” will be con-cluding on March first, 2021.

The 10-day “Hunar Haat”was inaugurated by DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh.

Several Ministers, MPs,senior government officials,various Diplomats, renownedindustrialists have come hereto encourage the artisans and

craftsmen. More than 600 artisans

and craftsmen from more than31 States and UTs participat-ing in the “Hunar Haat”.Artisans and craftsmen fromAndhra Pradesh, Assam,Bihar, Chandigarh,Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa,Gujarat, Haryana, HimachalPradesh, Jammu-Kashmir,Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala,Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland,Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab,Rajasthan, Sikkim, TamilNadu, Telangana, UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, WestBengal etc are participating inthe “Hunar Haat to display andsale of their indigenous hand-made products.

Naqvi said that indige-nous handmade products suchas Applique work, dry flowers,jute-cane, brass products,wooden and clay toys, AjrakhBlock Print, Blue Art Pottery,Pashmina Shawl, Khadi prod-ucts, Banarsi Silk, WoodenFurniture, ChikankariEmbroidery, Chanderi Silk,Lac bangles, Rajasthani jew-ellery, Phulkari, Oil Painting,Leather products, Khurja pot-tery, Sandalwood artefactsfrom Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,Jute products from WestBengal, rare antiques made ofglass, mats and carpets etcwere available for sale and dis-play at the “Hunar Haat”.

Naqvi said that the visitorsalso enjoyed traditional deli-

cacies from every region of thecountry at “Bawarchikhana”section.

Besides, different culturaland musical programmes weredaily presented by renownedartists of the country such asVinod Rathore (21 Feb);Nizami Brothers (24 Feb);Sudesh Bhonsle (26 Feb); SlKailash Kher (27 Feb) andothers.

Naqvi said that the “HunarHaat” has, as of now, provid-ed employment and employ-ment opportunities to morethan 5 lakh 30,000 artisans,craftsmen and artists .

The Union Ministry ofMinority Affairs will provideemployment and employmentopportunities to 7 lakh 50,000artisans and craftsmenthrough 75 “Hunar Haat”which will be organised bycompletion of 75 years of thecountry’s independence.

The “Hunar Haat” is avail-able on virtual and onlineplatform http://hunarhaat.organd on GeM Portal also wherethe people of the country and abroad can buyproducts of indigenous arti-sans and craftsmendigital/online.

Next “Hunar Haat” will beorganised in Bhopal (12 to 21March 2021); Goa (25 Marchto 04 April); Kota (9 April to18 April); Surat (23 April to 2May).

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The Election Commission(EC) has decided to keep in

abeyance Assam Government’sdecision of transferring andposting over a dozen policeofficers after the announce-ment of poll schedule.

The poll body has writtento chief secretaries and chiefelectoral officers of five States—West Bengal, Kerala, TamilNadu, Assam andPuducherry—going for thepolls, drawing the particularprovisions of model code ofconduct to the party in powerand immediate enforcementof the MCC.

According to the EC, theAssam Government orderedthe transfer of 12 IPS and 6APS officers on the day theelection schedule wasannounced. The Commission,therefore, decided to keep thetransfer/posting of these policeofficers in abeyance till furtherorders. In West Bengal, the pollbody replaced the top cop incharge of law and order for theState. Jag Mohan, who waspreviously DG (Fire Services),has been named as the newADG and IGP (Law andOrder), replacing JawedShamim “with immediate effectand in the interest of public ser-vice”. Shamim will now takeover the DG (Fire Services)position.

In a letter, the EC said“…the particular provisions ofModel Code of Conduct relat-ing to the ‘party in power’which inter alia says that theparty in power whether at theCentre or in the States con-cerned, shall ensure that nocause is given for any complaintthat it has used its officialposition for the purposes of itselection campaign”.

“The Ministers shall notcombine their official visit with

electioneering work and alsoshall not make use of officialmachinery or personnel duringthe electioneering work.” Thereshall be a total ban on use ofofficial vehicle by any politicalparty, candidate or any otherperson connected with election(except officials performingany election related officialduty) for campaigning, elec-tioneering or election relatedtravel during elections. Thegovernment transport includ-ing official air-crafts, vehicles,machinery and personnel shallnot be used for furtherance ofthe interest of the party inpower,” the EC said in its com-muniques.

The EC also stated thatpublic places such as maidansetc., for holding election meet-ings, and use of helipads for air-flights in connection with elec-tions shall not be monopolisedby itself. Other parties andcandidates shall be allowed theuse of such places and facilitieson the same terms and condi-tions on which they are used bythe party in power,” it said.

The EC further points outthat rest houses, dak bungalowsor other government accom-modation where elections havebeen announced or are takingplace can be given to the polit-ical functionaries who are pro-vided security by the State in Zscale or above or equivalent byvarious State Governments or

the Central Government underprovisions of their laws, onequitable basis.

“This shall be subject tocondition that such accommo-dation is not already allotted oroccupied by election relatedofficials or Observers. Suchpolitical functionaries shall notcarry out any political activitywhile staying in theGovernment GuestHouses/Rest Houses or otherGovernment accommodationetc,” it said.

The poll body further saidthat no advertisements shall beissued in electronic and printmedia highlighting the achieve-ments of the government at thecost of public exchequer. “If anyadvertisement has already beenreleased for telecast/broadcastor publication in the printmedia, it must be ensured thatthe telecast/broadcast of suchads on electronic media isstopped forthwith and that nosuch ad is published in anynewspapers, magazines, etc.,i.e. in print media, from todayitself and it should be immedi-atelywithdrawn,” it said.

The MCC is a set of rulesput in force by the ElectionCommission of India to guar-antee free and fair elections. Itis a set of norms that haveevolved with political partiesconsenting to abide by theprinciples embodied in the saidcode.

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India and Bangladesh onSaturday decided to finish

the early completion of borderfencing and tackle the menaceof cross-border terrorism. Atthe virtual Home Secretarylevel talks, headed by UnionSecretary Ajay Kumar Bhallaand Bangladesh Mostafa KamalUddin, Senior Secretary, PublicSecurity Division, it was reit-erated that either countryshould not be used for anyactivity inimical to each other’sinterests.

“The 19th HomeSecretary Level Talks (HSLT)between India and Bangladeshwere held virtually today inthe backdrop of‘MujibBarsho’and 50 years ofBangladesh Liberation Warand establishment of diplo-matic ties between the twocountries. The Indian delega-

tion was led by Shri AjayKumar Bhalla, Union HomeSecretary.Sh. Mostafa KamalUddin, Senior Secretary,Public Security Division,Ministry of Home Affairs ofBangladesh led theBangladesh delegation.

“India and Bangladeshattach highest importance totheir bilateral relations. BothSecretaries reiterated theircommitment to furtherexpand and strengthen mutu-al cooperation in the securityand border related issues. Bothsides reaffirmed not to allowthe territory of either countryto be used for any activityinimical to each other’s inter-ests. Both sides discussed earlycompletion of pending fencingalong the Indo BangladeshBorder (IBB) as agreed by thePrime Ministers of the twocountries,” said Union HomeMinistry in a statement.

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The NIA on Saturday filed achargesheet against four

persons in a case relating tohuman trafficking in the guiseof running placement agenciesbefore the NIA Special Court,Ranchi under various Sectionsof the IPC, Provisions of theInter- State Migrant Workmen(Regulation of Employmentand Conditions of Service) Act,1979 and the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection) Act,2015.

Those charged are PannaLal Mahto, Sunita Devi(absconding), Gopal Oraonand Shiv Shankar Ganjhu.

The case was initially reg-istered as FIR No. 07/2019 atAHTU police station in Khunti,Jharkhand on July 19, 2019 inwhich the accused Panna LalMahto, aged about 37 years, ofvillage Ganaloya under Murhupolice station, Khunti wasarrested for running a HumanTrafficking network inJharkhand and New Delhi.

The NIA had taken overthe investigation on June 13 lastyear after re-registering thecase as RC-09/2020/NIA/DLI.

“During investigation, itwas revealed that Panna LalMahto, the kingpin of humantrafficking racket, along with hiswife, Sunita Devi, was operat-ing a Human Trafficking net-work in the guise of sixPlacement Agencies in Delhi.They used to traffic poor andinnocent minor boy and girlsfrom Jharkhand on the pretextof providing them jobs in Delhiand neighbouring States.However, the victims wereexploited and were never paidthe promised remunerations,”the NIA said in a statement.

During the investigation,two other accused Gopal Oraonand Shiv Shankar Ganjhu, bothresidents of Khunti districtwere arrested. Both were closeassociates of the kingpin PannaLal Mahto, and were activelyinvolved in trafficking vulner-able persons from Jharkhand, itsaid.

Investigation has alsorevealed that both were ownersof three Placement Agencies inDelhi, involved in human traf-ficking racket. Another accusedSunita Devi, wife of arrestedaccused Pana Lal Mahto, isabsconding.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has

attached immovable assets(agricultural and non-agri-cultural land, buildings, resi-dential flat and factories)worth �84.40 crore held byKanva Group of companies)and related entities besidesthose of Founder Directorand President of Bengaluru-based Sree Kanva SouhardhaCo-Operative Credit Limited(SKSCCL), Harish S.

The accused individualsand the entities had collected� 650 crore from the publicand total attachments in thecase is about �340 crore.

The attached assets are sit-uated at Nelamangala,Koratagere, Chikkabalapura,Srirangapatana and Bengaluruin Karnataka and atMadakasira in AndhraPradesh.

The ED initiated investi-gation on the basis of a com-plaint received from the Officeof the Registrar ofCooperative Societies,Bengaluru and various regis-tered FIRs wherein it wasalleged that the entity hascollected �650 crore depositsfrom the members of public,assuring high rate of interestthrough commission agents,without maintaining requiredliquidity.

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Battling insolvency pro-ceedings, The Pioneer

media group is gearing up toundergo a major facelift. Thegroup is planning to augmentits revenue, improve its con-tents, and radically change itsdigital presence through theintroduction of new technolo-gy, new marketing strategyand revamping of its circula-tion.

The senior employees ofthe newspaper both from themanagement and the editorialside met on Saturday under theleadership of NCLT-appointedInterim Resolution Professional(IRP) Ranjeet Kumar Vermawhere it was decided to effec-tively tackle the “existential”challenge the one of the oldestmedia houses in the country isfacing.

“I am here as a representa-tive of the court and my mainobjective is to keep The Pioneergroup as a going concern. I’veno score to settle or no axe togrind. I want the cooperationof everyone to make ThePioneer a vibrant brand again,both in Hindi and English,”Verma said during the courseof an exchange of idea session.He added that he expected thecompany operation to return tonormal in a short while.

The IRP assured theemployees that their prioritywould be look into a range of

serious issues flagged by themregarding their remunerationand staff shortage. “I will doeverything possible to create aproper atmosphere so thateveryone can contribute to therevival of the company,” he said.

He said he didn’t believe ina witch-hunt, but he expectedeveryone to help him imple-ment the court’s order in letterand spirit.

The Delhi bench of theNational Company LawTribunal (NCLT) last monthinitiated insolvency proceed-ings against the CMYKPrintech , which runs the oper-ation of The Pioneer newspaper,following a plea by one of itsdirectors.

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The Congress Saturdayaccused the Modi

Government of ignoring thewoes of common man andasked it to shed its “arrogance”and reduce the tax imposed onpetrol, diesel and LPG.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, Congress spokesper-son Abhishek Singhvi said thegovernment should immedi-ately roll back the additionaltaxes of �23.78 and �28.37 perlitre on petrol and dieselrespectively, which will helpbring down fuel prices.

He quoted Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s words asGujarat Chief Minister to urgethe government to reduce thehigh tax components on petro-leum products. Singhvi said thecommon man is already hurtdue to rising inflation and job-lessness amid a decline in theeconomy post-pandemic.

The PM may ignore theCongress’ demand, but heshould at least listen to his ownwords as Gujarat CM duringthe UPA regime at the Centre,or may heed RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das’s advice thatthe rising fuel prices will havea cascading effect, the Congressleader said.

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Khadi and Village IndustryCommission’s (KVIC)

foray into the online market-ing segment has foundtremendous public patron-age. Testimony to this is thegross turnover of over Rs1.12 crore in just 8 months ofthe launch of Khadi’s e-por-tal www.khadiindia.gov.in.

Launched on July 7, 2020,Khadi e-portal has deliveredorders to over 10,000 cus-tomers out of the 65,000 peo-ple who visited the e-portaltill date. The KVIC has alsodelivered more than 1 lakharticles/commodities to thesecustomers. During this peri-od, the average online pur-chase has recorded at Rs11,000 per customer, which isan indication of Khadi’s ever-growing popularity and thediversity of its product range.

Minister of MSME NitinGadkari has lauded Khadi’ssuccessful e-commerce ven-ture saying this provided awide marketing platform forvarious Khadi and villageindustry products to a largerpopulation. “E-marketing ofKhadi is proving to be agame-changer. Our effortsshould be to reach a turnoverof Rs 200 crore per year,”Gadkari said.

KVIC has developed thee-portal in-house withoutspending a single rupee onweb-developing. Unlike otheronline portals, the KVICtakes care of all logistics andinfrastructure support likecataloguing, product photo-shoot, maintaining onlineinventory and packaging andtransportation of goods tothe customers’ doorsteps. Thissaves Khadi artisans, institu-tions and PMEGP units man-

ufacturing Khadi productsfrom any financial burden.“All expenses incurred onoperating Khadi e-portal isborne by the KVIC. While incase of other e-commercesites, product cataloguing,packaging and dispatch arethe responsibility of therespective sellers, KVIC hasa policy that the Khadi insti-tutions and PMEGP units areexempted from any suchfinancial and logistical bur-den. This saves them a lot ofmoney and, therefore, Khadi’se-portal is a unique platformfor lakhs of Khadi artisans,”KVIC Chairman VinaiKumar Saxena said.

Khadi’s online sale thatstarted with just Khadi FaceMasks during the Covid-19lockdown, has evolved into afull-fledged E-market plat-form with nearly 800 prod-ucts.

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People who took statins —widely used cholesterol-

lowering medications – mayhave reduced risk of develop-ing severe Covid-19 disease, ateam of researchers saidadding that they were approx-imately 50 per cent less likelyto die if hospitalised for theinfection.

“Our study is one of thelarger studies confirming thishypothesis and the data laythe groundwork for futurerandomized clinical trials thatare needed to confirm thebenefit of statins in Covid-19,” said Aakriti Gupta, car-diologist atN e w Yo r k P r e s b y t e r i a n /Columbia University IrvingMedical Center and one of theco-lead authors of the studypublished in the Nature

Communications.“If their beneficial effect

bears out in randomized clin-ical trials, statins could poten-tially prove to be a low-costand effective therapeuticstrategy for COVID-19,” addsco-lead author Mahesh VMadhavan, cardiologist atN e w Y o r k -P r e s b y t e r i a n / C o l u m b i aUniversity Irving MedicalCenter.

Gupta, Madhavan, andthe study’s leadership groupare cardiologists who caredfor hospitalized Covid-19patients in the spring andsummer of 2020 when thefirst wave of the pandemicswept through New York City.

“We obser ved thatpatients who got very sick andrequired hospitalization hadhigh rates of hyperinflamma-tion and clotting,” says Elaine

Wan, the Esther AboodiAssistant Professor ofMedicine in Cardiology andCardiac Electrophysiologyand a cardiac electrophysiol-ogist at NewYork Presbyterian/Columbia University IrvingMedical Center, one of thestudy’s senior authors.

“As cardiologists, statinsnaturally came to mind,”Gupta says. “In addition totheir well-known cholesterol-lowering effect, statins areknown for their anti-inflam-matory, anticoagulant andimmunomodulatory proper-ties.”

Based on their observa-tions, the authors looked atoutcomes for 2,626 patientswith Covid-19 who wereadmitted to a quaternary aca-demic medical center inManhattan during the first 18weeks of the pandemic.

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New Delhi: People from all agegroups have been enjoying the34th edition of the GardenTourism Festival.The event was graced by His

Excellency, Walter J. Lindner-German Ambassador to India.Over the first week of theevent, visitors were seen expe-riencing the floral arrange-ments, and unique displays ofhanging baskets, dahlias, cutflowers, recycled floral displayand tray gardens. Many were keen on gainingexperience to create their ownhome gardens and were seen

interacting with buyers at theGarden Bazaar while purchas-ing products.

With the objective to cre-ate awareness about the envi-ronment and showcase therich floriculture of Delhi, thethree-week extravaganza isthemed ‘#Colours of Naturethis year.

Unlike a three-day formatthat was being followed previ-ously, Delhi Tourism hasextended the festival to threeweeks, to give a safe, sociallydistanced and memorableexperience to its visitors.

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The e-market portal unveiledby Khadi and Village

Industries Commission(KVIC) has achieved a grossturnover of over Rs 1.12 crorein just eight months of itslaunch, the MSME Ministrysaid on Saturday.

“Launched on 7 July2020, Khadi e-portal has deliv-ered orders to over 10,000 cus-tomers out of the 65,000 peo-ple who visited the e-portal tilldate. KVIC has also deliveredmore than 1 lakh articles/com-modities to these customers,”an official statement said.

During this period, theaverage online purchase hasbeen recorded at Rs 11,000 percustomer. MSME MinisterNitin Gadkari has lauded

Khadi’s successful e-commerceventure saying this provided awide marketing platform forvarious khadi and villageindustry products to a largerpopulation. He said e-mar-keting of Khadi is proving to bea game-changer. Gadkari alsosaid the effort should be toreach a turnover of Rs 200 croreper year.KVIC Chairman VinaiKumar Saxena said all expens-es incurred on operating Khadie-portal are borne by KVIC.

“While in case of other e-commerce sites, product cata-loguing, packaging and dis-patch are the responsibility ofthe respective sellers;

KVIC has a policy that theKhadi institutions and PMEGPunits are exempted from anysuch financial and logisticalburden,” Saxena said.

New Delhi:The Governmenton Saturday said it has finaliseda list of products from agri-culture and allied sectors thatwill be promoted in a clusterapproach in 728 districts acrossthe country as part of its effortto boost farm exports andenhance farmers income.

The agriculture min-istry, in consultation with foodprocessing industries ministry,has finalised the products for‘One District One Focus

Product’ (ODOFP), an officialstatement said.

Inputs from the States/UTsand Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR)have also been taken to preparethe list.

“The products have beenidentified from agricultural,horticultural, animal, poultry,milk, fisheries and aquaculture,marine sectors for 728 districtsacross the country,” the state-ment said.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday exhorted

toy manufacturers to use lessplastic and more eco-friendlyand recyclable material in a bidto increase the share of thedomestic industry in the glob-al market.

Inaugurating the first IndiaToy Fair, the Prime Ministersaid, “We have to becomeAatmanirbhar in the toy sectorand also cater to the globalmarket”.

Observing that India’sshare in the USD 100 billionglobal toy market is very small,and 85 per cent of the toys inthe country are sourced fromabroad, Modi said there is aneed to change this situation.

“In the field of toys, Indiahas tradition and technology,India has concepts and com-petence. We can take the worldback towards eco-friendly toys.Through our software engi-neers, computer games can

bring the stories of India to theworld,” he said.

While referring to the tra-ditional toy industry, the PrimeMinister underlined the needfor promoting Handmade inIndia.

If there is a demand forMade in India today, then thedemand for Handmade inIndia is also increasing equal-ly, he said, adding “today peo-ple do not only buy toys as aproduct, but also want to con-nect with the experience asso-ciated with that toy. So, we haveto promote Handmade in Indiaas well”.

The Prime Ministerappealed to the manufacturersto make toys that are better forboth ecology and psychology,using less plastic and more ofsuch things that can be recy-cled.

Referring to the initiativesof the government, Modi saidthe countryhas now gradedthe toy industry in 24 majorsectors.

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The Government has fixedfifty lakh registered users as

the threshold for defining ‘sig-nificant social media interme-diary’, which will have toadhere to additional obligationsand compliance under the newIT rules that seek to crackdown on misuse of socialmedia platforms.

The new rules, announcedearlier this week, require ‘sig-nificant social media interme-diaries’ to follow additionaldue diligence, including theappointment of a chief com-pliance officer, nodal contactperson and resident grievanceofficer. All three officials willhave to reside in India.

They will have to publish amonthly compliance reportand details of the contentsremoved proactively.

At present, the countryhas 53 crore WhatsApp users,44.8 crore YouTube users, 41crore Facebook subscribers,21 crore Instagram clients,while 1.75 crore account hold-ers are on microblogging plat-form Twitter.”...The Central

Government hereby specifiesfifty lakh registered users inIndia as the threshold for asocial media intermediary to beconsidered a significant socialmedia intermediary,” the noti-fication said.

Earlier on Thursday, thegovernment announced thetightening of the rules govern-ing social media and streamingcompanies, requiring them totake down contentious contentquicker, appoint grievanceredressal officers and assistinvestigations.

The move aims to makesocial media platforms likeFacebook, WhatsApp, Twitterand Instagram - which haveseen a phenomenal surge inusage over the past few years inIndia - more accountable andresponsible for the contenthosted on their platform.Socialmedia companies will have toremove contentious contentflagged by the government orcourt orders within 36 hoursand take down posts depictingnudity or morphed photoswithin 24 hours of receiving acomplaint, as per the latestintermediary rules.

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Wholesale growth isexpected to continue for

tractors, passenger vehicles andtwo-wheelers said equityresearch firm Emkay.

As per its sectoral update,channel checks indicate betterretail sales for tractors andPVs, while it remains subduedfor 2Ws on a YoY basis.

“Tractor industry whole-sales should grow strongly atmore than 25 per cent on bet-ter retails and channel filling.”

“Volume growth is expect-ed to be positive acrossregions.”

According to the update,PV industry volumes are like-ly to remain in the positive ter-ritory, with industry growth atover 15 per cent.

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The Centre on Saturday saidthat the list of One District

One Focus Product (ODOFP),which will be promoted in acluster approach through con-vergence of the variousschemes, has been finalised.The products have been iden-tified from agricultural, horti-cultural, animal, poultry, milk,fisheries and aquaculture,marine sectors for 728 districtsacross the country.

Fruits have been identifiedfor 226 districts, the highest inthe list while vegetables for 107ditstrics and spices for 105districts are at the second andthe third position in the list.The chief food crop paddy hasbeen identified for 40 districtswhile wheat for 5 districts.

The Ministry of

Agriculture and FarmersWelfare in consultation withthe Ministry of FoodProcessing Industrieshasfinalised the products for OneDistrict One Focus Product ,said an official statement.

The list of products havebeen finalised after takinginputs from the States/UTsand Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR).

These products will bepromoted in a cluster approachthrough convergence of theGovernment of India schemes,to increase the value of theproducts and with the ultimateaim of increasing the income ofthe farmers. These identifiedproducts will be supportedunder the PM-FME scheme(PM Formalisation of Microfood processing EnterprisesScheme) of the Ministry of

Food Processing Industrieswhich provides incentives topromoter and micro-enter-prises.Many products alsoinclude convergence ofresources and approach fromthe other departments. TheMinistry of Agriculture andFarmers Welfare will supportODOFP from its ongoing cen-trally sponsored schemes suchas Mission for IntegratedDevelopment of Horticulture(MIDH), National FoodSecurity Mission’ (NFSM),Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana(RKVY), Paramparagat KrishiVikas Yojna (PKVY).

The implementation ofODOFP by State Governmentswill benefit farmers and pro-vide support for realizing theexpectations of value additionand subsequently enhancingagricultural exports.

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The new series of SovereignGold Bonds 2020-21 will

be opened for the periodMarch 1-5, 2021.

The issue price of theBond during the subscriptionperiod shall be Rs 4,662 pergram.

The Settlement date underthe Series XII scheme hadbeen fixed for March 9.

The Government in con-sultation with the ReserveBank of India has decided toallow discount of Rs 50 pergram from the issue price tothose investors who applyonline and the payment ismade through digital mode.

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Improved economic environ-ment in 2HFY21 and the

Centre’s focus on higher spend-ing especially on infrastructurewill give a boost to FY21 cred-it growth, India Ratings andResearch (Ind-Ra) said.

The agency’s February2021 edition of its credit mar-ket tracker showed an upgradeto its FY21 credit growth esti-mates to 6.9 per cent from 1.8per cent.

Accordingly, the agencysaid that amid the pandemic,the credit offtake in the bank-ing system has remainedmuted, which led to lesserissuances of certificates ofdeposits (CDs).

“The CD issuances forJanuary 2021 increased forpublic sector banks, whereasthat for private banks haveremained muted.

Concurrently, the CD yieldacross maturities was confinedto a narrow range, amid sub-dued issuances. Similarly, theissuances of commercial paper(CP) by corporates have fallen,due to a lesser requirementamid fewer rollovers.

“The CP yields howeverhave largely seen an upwardrevision, owing to the ReserveBank of India’s announcementof the restoration of liquiditymanagement operations.”

Besides, demand fromfund houses for corporatebonds and short-term fundshas increased by “Rs 52 billionand Rs 10 billion, respective-ly”.

On the other hand, theagency said that CP issuancesby non-banking financial com-panies and housing financecompanies have remainedencouraging, both in terms oftotal amount and volumes.

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Country’s petrol and dieselprices continued its north-

ward march on Saturday, aftera three-day break, taking itsretail rates to unprecedentedlevels and burning holes in theconsumers pockets.

Oil marketing companiesraised the pump price of petroland diesel by 24 paise and 15paise per litre on Saturday.

With this, petrol is nowpriced at Rs 91.17 a litre anddiesel Rs 81.47 a litre in thecapital.

Across the country as wellthe petrol and diesel pricesincreased between 20-30 paiseper litre depending on thelevel of local duty at the statelevel.

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The Indian Car Of TheYear (ICOTY) 2021 and

the Indian Motorcycle OfThe Year (IMOTY) 2021awards were announced at aglittering ceremony here inDelhi.

The winner of the ICOTYwas the Hyundai i20 and theIMOTY award went to theRoyal Enfield Meteor. TheICOTY award, which is cel-ebrating its 16th year thisyear is well-established asIndia’s top car award andsimilarly IMOTY is India’sleading two-wheeler award.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Yogendra Pratap, Editor ofAuto Today and theChairman of the ICOTY jurysaid that ICOTY will alwaysremain as India’s top caraward and not just because of

its name, “the fact that wepartner with multiple publi-cations which look at various

aspects of

motoring,some are targeted at enthusi-asts and other are targeted atpracticality.

This in addition to theindependent judges whocome from various otherpublications and almost all ofus have been evaluating carsfor at least a decade makesthis award the most influen-tial in India.

Our judges have over 350years of combined experienceevaluating cars and becausewe are not part of a ‘single’publication, I believe ICOTY

carries much more weightwith Indian automotive man-ufacturers as well.”

Speaking to The Pioneer,Aspi Bhatena, Editor of BikeMagazine and Chairman ofthe IMOTY jury said that theaward was proof of howIndian manufacturers haveprogressed. “In all the yearswe have given this award, wehave not given it to a ‘lemon’,all our winners have enjoyedimmense commercial suc-cess and some like the 2019winner, the Royal EnfieldInterceptor have hadimmense global success.”

At a function held at theAndaz attended by the seniormanagement of several auto-motive companies, bothawards firmly establishedthemselves as India’s leadingand most credible awards forthe industry.

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Police in Myanmar escalatedtheir crackdown on demon-

strators against this month’smilitary takeover, deployingearly and in force on Saturdayas protesters sought to assem-ble in the country’s two biggestcities and elsewhere.

Security forces in someareas appeared to become moreaggressive in using force andmaking arrests, utilising moreplainclothes officers than hadpreviously revealed themselves.Photos posted on social mediashowed that residents of atleast two cities, Yangon andMonywa, resisted by erectingmakeshift street barricades totry to hinder the advance of thepolice.

Myanmar’s crisis took adramatic turn on the interna-tional stage at a special sessionof the United Nations GeneralAssembly on Friday when thecountry’s UN ambassadordeclared his loyalty to the oust-ed civilian government of AungSan Suu Kyi and called on theworld to pressure the militaryto cede power.

There were arrestsSaturday in Myanmar’s two

biggest cities, Yangon andMandalay, where demonstra-tors have been hitting thestreets daily to peacefullydemand the restoration of thegovernment of Suu Kyi, whoseNational League forDemocracy party won a land-slide election victory in

November. Police have increas-ingly been enforcing an orderby the junta banning gatheringsof five or more people.

Many other cities andtowns have also hosted largeprotests against the Feb. 1coup. Police in Dawei, in thesoutheast, and Monywa, 135

kilometres northwest ofMandalay, used force againstprotesters. Both cities, withpopulations of less then200,000 each, have been seeinglarge demonstrations.

Social media carriedunconfirmed reports of a pro-tester shot dead in Monywa.

The reports could not imme-diately be independently con-firmed but appeared credible,with both photos and identifi-cation of the victim. The reportsfrom Monywa also said dozensor more people were arrested.

The military takeoverreversed years of slow progresstoward democracy after fivedecades of military rule. Suu Kyi’sparty would have been installedfor a second five-year term inoffice, but the army blockedParliament from convening anddetained her and President WinMyint, as well as other topmembers of her government.

At the General Assembly inNew York, Myanmar’s UNambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun,declared in an emotionalspeech to fellow delegates thathe represented Suu Kyi’s “civil-ian government elected by thepeople” and supported the fightagainst military rule.

He urged all countries toissue public statements strong-ly condemning the coup, and torefuse to recognise the militaryregime. He also called forstronger international mea-sures to stop violence by secu-rity forces against peacefuldemonstrators.

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Myanmar’s UN ambas-sador strongly opposed

the military coup in his coun-try and appealed for the“strongest possible action fromthe international community”to immediately restore democ-racy in a dramatic speech tothe UN General AssemblyFriday that drew loud applausefrom many diplomats in the193-nation global body.

Ambassador Kyaw MoeTun began his statement sayinghe represented Aung San SuuKyi’s National League forDemocracy “civilian govern-ment elected by the people” inNovember, and supported theirfight for the end of military rule.

He urged all countries toissue public statements strong-ly condemning the militarycoup, and to refuse to recognizethe military regime and ask itsleaders to respect the free andfair elections in November

won by Suu Kyi’s NLD party.He also urged stronger inter-national measures to stop vio-lence by security forces againstpeaceful demonstrators.

“It is time for the militaryto immediately relinquishpower and release thosedetained,” Tun said, agreeing

with UN Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres “that mili-tary coup is not acceptable inthis modern world and thecoup must cease.”

“We will continue to fightfor a government which is ofthe people, by the people, forthe people,” he vowed.

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President Joe Biden saidFriday that Iran should

view his decision to authorizeUS airstrikes in Syria as awarning that it can expect con-sequences for its support ofmilitia groups that threaten USinterests or personnel.

“You can’t act with impuni-ty. Be careful,” Biden said whena reporter asked what messagehe had intended to send with theairstrikes, which the Pentagonsaid destroyed several buildingsin eastern Syria but were notintended to eradicate the mili-tia groups that used them tofacilitate attacks inside Iraq.

Administration officialsdefended the Thursday nightairstrikes as legal and appro-priate, saying they took outfacilities that housed valuable“capabilities” used by Iranian-backed militia groups to attackAmerican and allied forces inIraq.

John Kirby, the Pentagon’schief spokesperson, said mem-

bers of Congress were notifiedbefore the strikes as two AirForce F-15E aircraft launchedseven missiles, destroying ninefacilities and heavily damagingtwo others, rendering both“functionally destroyed.” Hesaid the facilities, at “entrycontrol points” on the border,had been used by militia

groups the US deems respon-sible for recent attacks againstUS interests in Iraq.

In a political twist for thenew Democratic administra-tion, several leading Congressmembers in Biden’s own partydenounced the strikes, whichwere the first military actionshe authorized.

Damascus: Attackers struck agas pipeline in eastern Syria onSaturday, leaving it ablaze butcausing no casualties, state newsagency SANA reported, the lat-est incidence of sabotage againstSyria’s oil and gas infrastructure.

As in the past, no oneclaimed responsibility for theattack. Syria’s nearly 10-yearconflict, which has killed abouthalf a million people, has alsobadly affected oil and gas fields,

many of which are outsidegovernment control.

SANA said the attackoccurred in the area known asAbu Khashab in the easternprovince of Deir el-Zour thatborders Iraq.

Sleeper cells of the IslamicState group are known to beactive in the area and have tar-geted government forces andUS-backed Kurdish fighters ineastern Syria. AP

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As many as 140 Democraticlawmakers have reintro-

duced a legislation in the USCongress to prevent futureMuslim bans and prohibit dis-crimination on the basis of reli-gion.

The Muslim travel ban,introduced by former USPresident Donald Trump, tar-geted several Muslim-majoritynations and restricted the entryof people from Iran, NorthKorea, Syria, Libya, Yemen,Somalia and Venezuela.President Joe Biden ended theMuslim ban on his day one inthe office last month.

In the House ofRepresentatives, the NationalO r i g i n - B a s e dAntidiscrimination forNonimmigrants (NO BAN)Act was reintroduced on Fridayby House Judiciary CommitteeChairman Jerrold Nadler andJudy Chu, while in the Senate

it was done by Senator ChrisCoons. Indian-American law-makers Ami Bera, Ro Khanna,Pramila Jayapal and RajaKrishnamoorthi are amongthose who are supporting thebill. The legislation strengthensthe Immigration andNationality Act to prohibit dis-crimination on the basis of reli-gion, and restores the separa-tion of powers by limitingoverly broad executive authority to issue future travelbans.

“When the TrumpAdministration issued itsxenophobic Muslim ban, itwas immediately apparent thatit was unconstitutional, dis-criminatory, and morally rep-rehensible,” said Nadler.

“I am grateful thatPresident Biden took boldaction on day one to repeal thisban and reunite families, butwe cannot risk the possibility ofany future President reinstatingthis heinous policy,” he said.

Dubai: Iran’s impoverishedsoutheast experienced wide dis-ruptions of internet service overthe past week, internet expertssaid Saturday, as unrest grippedthe remote province after astring of fatal border shootings.

Several rights groupsreported in a joint statementthat authorities shut down themobile data network in therestive provinces of Sistan andBaluchistan, calling the dis-ruptions an apparent “tool toconceal” the government’sharsh crackdown on protests.

The reports of internet inter-ference come as Iranian author-ities and semi-official news agen-cies increasingly acknowledgethe turmoil challenging localauthorities in the southeast — ahighly sensitive matter in acountry that seeks to repress allhints of political dissent. Forthree days starting Wednesday,the government shut down themobile data network acrossSistan and Baluchistan, where 96

percent of the population access-es the internet only through theirphones, rights groups said, crip-pling the key communicationtool. Residents reported arestoration of internet access.

“This is Iran’s traditionalresponse to any kind of protest,”Amir Rashidi from MiaanGroup, a human rights orga-nization that focuses on digitalsecurity in the Middle East, toldThe Associated Press onSaturday.

“Shutting down the internetto block news and pictures get-ting out makes (authorities) feelmore comfortable opening fire.”The week saw a series of esca-lating confrontations betweenpolice and protesters. Crowdswith light arms and grenadelaunchers descended on Kurincheckpoint near Iran’s borderwith Pakistan, Abouzar MehdiNakhaie, the governor ofZahedan, said in commentscarried by Iran’s semi-officialISNA news agency. AP

Islamabad: Terrorists attacksare on the rise in Pakistan amida growing religiosity that hasbrought greater intolerance,prompting one expert to voiceconcern the country could beoverwhelmed by religiousextremism.

Pakistani authorities areembracing strengthening reli-gious belief among the populationto bring the country closer togeth-er. But it’s doing just the opposite,creating intolerance and openingup space for a creeping resurgencein militancy, said MohammadAmir Rana, executive director ofthe independent Pakistan

Institute for Peace Studies.“Unfortunately, instead of

helping to inculcate better ethicsand integrity, this phenomenonis encouraging a tunnel vision”that encourages violence, intol-erance and hate, he wroterecently in a local newspaper.

“Religiosity has begun todefine the Pakistani citizenry.”Militant violence in Pakistanhas spiked: In the past weekalone, four vocational schoolinstructors who advocated forwomen’s rights were travellingtogether when they weregunned down in a Pakistanborder region. AP

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Haitian authoritiesannounced Friday that

more than 400 inmates escapedand 25 people died in a prisonbreakout, making it the coun-try’s largest and deadliest onein a decade, with the prisondirector and a powerful gangleader among those killed.

Some believe on Thursday’sjailbreak at the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison in north-east Port-au-Prince was to freegang leader Arnel Joseph, whohad been Haiti’s most wanted

fugitive until his 2019 arrest oncharges including rape, kid-napping and murder.

Joseph was riding on amotorcycle through theArtibonite area in the town ofL’Estère on Friday a day afterhis escape when he was spot-ted at a checkpoint, policespokesman Gary Desrosierstold The Associated Press. Hesaid Joseph pulled out a gunand died in an exchange ofgunfire with police.

Joseph ruled Village deDieu, or Village of God, ashantytown in downtown Port-

au-Prince, and other commu-nities, including some inArtibonite, which is Haiti’slargest department.

Authorities have not yetprovided much details on thebreakout except to say that 60inmates have been recapturedand the investigation is ongo-ing. State Secretary FrantzExantus said authorities havecreated several commissions toinvestigate who organized thebreakout and why. Amongthose killed was the prisondirector, identified as PaulJoseph Hector.

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UK Prime Minister BorisJohnson has reiterated

Britain’s support to Afghanistan inits fight against the Taliban, as partof the wider North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)alliance.

In a phone call from DowningStreet in London with AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani on Friday,Johnson also agreed on the impor-tance of making progress in peacetalks to secure a sovereign, demo-cratic and united Afghanistan.

“He [Johnson] reiterated theUK’s longstanding support forthe Afghan government’s fightagainst the Taliban as part of theNATO coalition,” a DowningStreet spokesperson said.

In February last year, the USand Taliban signed a peace agree-ment in Doha, Qatar, which pro-visioned withdrawal of allAmerican and NATO troops fromwar-torn Afghanistan by May 1.

“They agreed on the impor-tance of making progress in peace

talks to secure a sovereign, demo-cratic and united Afghanistan,and to preserve the gains made bycivil society and women and girls,”the Downing Street spokespersonsaid.

The US-Taliban PeaceAgreement also mentioned apledge from the Taliban to preventmilitant forces from operating inits areas, and dialogue between theTaliban and the Afghanistan gov-ernment.

Besides regional matters,Johnson and Ghani discussed theCovid-19 crisis and global effortsaround access to vaccines to com-bat the pandemic.

“The Prime Minister andPresident Ghani also discussedglobal efforts to tackle the pan-demic and the rollout of vaccinesin Afghanistan and the UK,”Downing Street said.

The conversation between thetwo leaders comes amidst a reviewof the US-Taliban peace deal by theJoe Biden-led US administration,creating uncertainty over thefuture course of events.

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AUN investigation into theattack on a humanitarian

convoy in Congo that killed theItalian ambassador, his body-guard and driver will look intowhether the long-planned mis-sion’s security protocols werefollowed and whether infor-mation might have leaked tothe unknown gunmen involvedin the ambush.

The deputy communica-tions director of the WorldFood Program, Greg Barrow,told an online briefing Fridaythat the February 22 mission tobring Ambassador LucaAttanasio to a WFP schoolfeeding program in easternCongo had been in the workssince 2020.

Advance planning andsecurity meetings as well assecurity briefings took place upto the moment the seven-member team took off fromGoma, in Congo’s east, in atwo-car convoy bound for theprogram in Rutshuru, he said.

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Alegislation has been intro-duced by a group of influ-

ential Republican senators toend China’s access to 10-yearmulti-entry visas until it iscertified that Beijing has ceasedits campaign of economic andindustrial espionage againstthe US.

The legislation, VisaSecurity Act, was introduced bySenators Marsha Blackburn,Tom Cotton, Rick Scott, TedCruz, and Marco Rubio onFriday. It would prohibitChinese nationals from receiv-ing 10-year B-1/B-2 visas untilthe Secretary of State certifiesthat China has ceased its cam-paign of economic and indus-trial espionage against theUnited States and ended itsprovocative and coercivebehaviour towards Taiwan.

The B-1/B-2 visas areissued to those who come tothe US for business, visit ortourism purposes.

Under this legislation,Chinese citizens would be eli-gible for one-year multi-entryvisas. This policy would repre-sent a return to the pre-2014visa status quo and does notapply to Taiwan or certain res-idents of Hong Kong.

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Washington: The White Househas said that through theairstrikes in Syria, President JoeBiden protected US personneland facilities, and deterred therisk of additional attacks “overthe coming weeks”.

On Thursday, airstrikes inSyria targeted facilities belong-ing to a powerful Iranian-backed Iraqi armed group,reportedly killing one fighter and wounding severalothers.

The strikes came in the

wake of recent attacks on USinterests in Iraq, including arocket attack last week whichkilled a civilian contractor andinjured a US service memberand other coalition troops.

“The president is sendingan unambiguous message thathe’s going to act to protectAmericans, and when threatsare posed, he has the right totake action at the time, and inthe manner of his choosing,”White House Press SecretaryJen Psaki told reporters. PTI

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Veteran batsman Chris Gaylehas returned to the West

Indies squad forthe first time innearly two yearsfor the three-match T20I seriesagainst Sri Lanka,beginning onMarch 3.

The 41-year-oldtop-order batsmanwas recalled to the14-man squad underKieron Pollard on thebasis of his good per-formances in recenttournaments, includ-ing the IPL andPakistan SuperLeague.

Senior fast bowlerFidel Edwards, 39, isalso back in the nation-al squad after a nine-

year hiatus.The three matches of the

T20I series will be played onMarch 3, 5, and 7 at the

Coolidge CricketGround in Antigua,which will be makingits Internationaldebut.

The big-hittingGayle last played forWest Indies in theirhome series againstIndia in August

2019 after

the 50-over World Cup thatyear.

He had earlier said that the2019 World Cup matches wouldbe his last appearances for WestIndies.

“Chris Gayle has performedvery well in recent tournamentsand the selection panel thinksthat he can still add great valueto our team,” Roger Harper,Cricket West Indies’ (CWI)lead selector, said.

“As we build towards thedefence of the T20 World Cup,the opportunity is being takento determine our best teamand squad as we go forward.”

The selection panel alsonamed the squad for the ODIseries against the visting SriLankans to be played betweenMarch 10-14 at the Sir VivianRichards Stadium in Antigua.

All-rounder Andre Russellis recovering from contractingCovid-19, and despite testing

negative over a week ago hasbeen ruled out of the T20 series.

A West Indies spokesmanadded that fast bowlers SheldonCottrell and Oshane Thomas,along with batsman ShimronHetmyer and all-rounderRoston Chase have all failed toreach the minimum fitnessstandard in time to be consid-ered for selection.T20I squad: Kieron Pollard(c), Nicholas Pooran, FabianAllen Dwayne Bravo, FidelEdwards, Andre Fletcher, ChrisGayle, Jason Holder, AkealHosein, Evin Lewis, ObedMcCoy, Rovman Powell, LendlSimmons, Kevin Sinclair.ODI squad: Kieron Pollard (c),Shai Hope, Fabian Allen, DarrenBravo, Jason Holder, AkealHosein, Alzarri Joseph, EvinLewis, Kyle Mayers, JasonMohammed, Nicholas Pooran,Romario Shepherd, KevinSinclair.

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Veteran medium pacerShikha Pandey was on

Saturday dropped from India’sODI and T20 squads that willtake on South African women ina twin series starting March 7.

The most debatable decisionby the Neetu David-led selectioncommittee, however, was theexclusion of teenage battingsensation Shafali Verma in theODI squad which has plodderslike skipper Mithali Raj andPunam Raut, whose strike-rateshave come under the scannertime and again.

With 19 T20 Internationalsunder her belt and an amazingWomen’s T20 World Cup lastyear, Shafali is a box-officecricketer.

“It will be interesting toknow whether skipper MithaliRaj, who herself loves to bat atthe top of the order and con-sumes more deliveries than per-missible, had at all wantedShafali in the ODI squad,” asenior BCCI official, whosounded miffed with the move,told PTI.

“Her absence means thatIndia lack firepower saveHarmanpreet and Smriti. Welost out on a big hitter,” he added.

The selectors, though, haveincluded a lot of rookies basedon their last season’s domesticperformances as well as A andB team series againstBangladesh.

Rookie keeper-batsman

Shwetha Verma, along with theseasoned Sushma Verma, are thetwo keepers in both formats.

Pandey’s exclusion wasmore to do with the selectorswanting to check out the pacebowling bench strength androokie right-arm medium pac-ers C Prathyusha and MonicaPatel were included in both thesquads.

There is also young seamerSimran Dil Bahadur, who is partof the T20 Internationals team.

Left-arm spinner YastikaBhatia has made way for EktaBisht in the 50-over squad whileVeda Krishnamurthy, after aprolonged lean phase, has beendropped from both squads.ODI squad: Mithali Raj(Captain), Smriti Mandhana,Jemimah Rodrigues, PunamRaut, Priya Punia, YastikaBhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, DHemalatha, Deepti Sharma,Sushma Verma, SwethaVerma, Radha Yadav,Rajeshwari Gayakwad, JhulanGoswami, Mansi Joshi,Poonam Yadav, C Prathyusha,Monica PatelT20I squad: HarmanpreetKaur (Captain), SmritiMandhana, Shafali Verma,Jemimah Rodrigues, DeeptiSharma, Richa Ghosh,Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma,Nuzhat Parveen, Ayushi Soni,Arundhati Reddy, RadhaYadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad,Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi,Monica Patel, C Prathyusha,Simran Dil Bahadur.

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Skipper Shreyas Iyer’s fluent116 and an impressive show

by India speedster ShardulThakur powered Mumbai to a67-run win over Rajasthan in anElite Group D game of the VijayHazare Trophy here onSaturday.

This was Mumbai’s fourthsuccessive win, having earlierdefeated Delhi, Maharashtraand Puducherry.

Opting to bat at the KLSaini stadium, Mumbai rode onIyer’s 103-ball knock to post acompetitive 317/7. The elegantright-handed batsman led fromthe front before his bowlersbundled out the opposition for250 with Thakur (4/50) doingthe bulk of the damage.

Iyer anchored the inningsbefore toying with the Rajasthanattack, scoring his second cen-tury of the tournament with thehelp of 11 fours and three sixes.

He found able partners inSarfaraz Khan (30) and

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Acommunity coronavirusoutbreak in Auckland has

forced New Zealand cricketbosses to hastily reschedule twoT20 matches against Australia asother affected sports assessedtheir options. A New Zealand

Cricket spokesman said thethird match in the current T20series, to be played in Wellingtonon Wednesday, will go ahead butwithout spectators. Game four,scheduled for Auckland onFriday, has been moved toWellington and, again, will beplayed behind closed doors.

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India off-spinner Ashwin Ravichandran onSaturday said that the talk around the pitch-

es being used in the ongoing Test series againstEngland is “getting out of hand.”

India edged ahead in the four-match serieswith a 10-wicket win over England in the thirdTest at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, anda major talking point in the match was thepitch which offered sharp turn from day one.

While several former England crick-eters questioned the nature of theAhmedabad pitch, Ashwin questionedthe narrative that is emerging.

“I think I have said that in thepast as well, everyone is entitled totheir opinion and I am not here tosay that your opinion is right andit is wrong. The fact remainsthat the talk about the surfaceis getting out of hand,” saidAshwin in a virtual press confer-ence on Saturday.

“Why would you talk aboutthe surface and sell that to us timeand time again? Is there anyinstance where the pitch has beentalked about this much when wehave played games in othercountries.

“I somehow find itfunny that whenthey speakabout thesurface, itimmediatelygets quotedall over inour pressand this isthe issuehere. Therehave beeninstances,we havebeen toN e wZ e a l a n d ,where boththe Tests gotover in a totalof five days.”

Ashwin said that the talkaround the pitch is unnecessaryand there is no set rule on how acricket pitch should behave overthe course of a Test match.

“The bowler wins the game,the batsmen need to bat well toscore runs. Who defines what agood surface is? Seam on thefirst day, then bat well in thenext couple of days and spinon the last two days, comeon, who makes theserules?

“We need to get over it and if you are ask-ing whether the pitch in the third Test was a goodsurface, I do not see any players of England com-ing out and complaining. You should be hopingfor a good cricket match, not the surface,” he said.

Ashwin also cited a press conference of ViratKohli during a South Africa tour where the Indiacaptain refused to blame the pitch for the results.

“There is a video doing the rounds whereVirat Kohli is talking in South Africa and he

says I am not here to talk about the pitch.That is how we have been taught to playcricket, that’s why I say let them sellthoughts, buying is our choice,” he

added, similar to the tweets he had put outon Friday.

The 34-year-old off-spinner, who hasbecome second-fastest to 400 Test wick-

ets, tweeted about “ideas being sold” toform public opinion.

“I am not disturbed with thingsbeing taken out of context. That is

what has been happening for thelast decade, if not more. That is

why I put out the tweets I didyesterday (Friday). People

need to get the context andwhat is happening,” saidAshwin.

“There have beenpeople messaging methat the match has fin-ished in two days.Every pink-ball gamewe have played hasended within threedays. I do not knowwhat to say, unfor-tunately, many peo-ple have not playedthe pink-ball game,so they will notunderstand thisfacet of the game.

“My angstagainst the

whole thing isthat someonesays onething, thereare so manyp e o p l ewatching thesame picturebut are notable to painta differentone as com-pared tos o m e o n ewho is dri-ving a certaincase and sell-ing a certain

case to us. Thisneeds to stop,”

he added.

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Ravichandran Ashwin hasstopped bothering aboutlandmarks “long, long

time back” as his only endeav-our currently is to work on hiscraft and be useful every timewhen he plays for India.

Ashwin has become thefourth Indian bowler to com-plete 400 wickets in Test crick-et and was asked if surpassing‘Peak 619’ could be a reality incoming years.

“If you look at it pragmat-ically, it’s 218 wickets away,”Ashwin, who is always goodwith words answered.

“For me, I have stoppedthinking about all those land-marks and all long, long timeago.”

He said he is looking tobecome a better cricketer, everytime he stepped on the field.

“It’s been about what I cando, how I can get better, whatmore I can offer to the team

because every time you comeback into this setup, especiallynow that I am only playing Testcricket, it’s important to comeback and offer to the team.”

Ashwin wants to be in thishappy zone and enjoy his craftas he always does.

“I am looking to get betteras an individual and cricketer.That’s probably one of the rea-sons why I am really, reallyhappy and I am enjoying mygame and probably the best Ihave done in the last 15 years.I would like to continue thisphase and not think about toomuch else,” the bowler added.

Ashwin has been in thebio-bubble since the IPL andthen has been part of theAustralia series and the ongo-ing England series, and hesaid that is incredibly hard tobe without family but in thesame vein said that the teambonding has got better.

“I think without them(family) around it can be

incredibly hard. Yes, we get larg-er hotel spaces. We do get ourentertainment area. We bondmuch better. One thing thatstands out is that the fact thatbecause of this bio-bubble theplayers are getting togethermore than ever. I think the team

bonding has gotten better,” hesaid.

Ashwin also said there wasno apprehensions about playingthe Pink Ball Tests.

Asked have the playersspoken about the apprehensionto the board about playing

pink-ball Tests, Ashwin said:“There is no apprehension. Ifthere was apprehension, wewould have expressed.”

He said it was all aboutadapting.

“This is a new facet that hasbeen introduced to the game.We are used to playing with thered ball. We are conditioned toplaying with the red-ball andnow all of a sudden, they havegot in the pink ball. The pinkball has got a new dimensionto the game, so it’s about adapt-ing,” he said.

“You play more and moreand get used to it, the playersare going to adapt better. Thesame thing with one-dayers.We were used to playing withthe red ball and then shifted tothe white ball. Initially, thewhite-ball was doing a lot.Now, it does nothing. That’show this format will alsoevolve. Anything new is goingto have a lot of challenges,” heelaborated.

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Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrahwill miss the fourth and

final Test against England,beginning here on Thursday,as he was released from theIndian squad, owing to per-sonal reasons.

The BCCI said no additionto India’s squad will be made

for the final Test at Motera.“Jasprit Bumrah made a

request to BCCI to be releasedfrom India’s squad ahead of thefourth Test owing to personalreasons,” BCCI Secretary JayShah said in a media release onSaturday.

“Accordingly, the fastbowler has been released andhe will not be available forselection for the fourth Test.”

Bumrah has already beenrested for the limited-overseries, comprising five T20Isand three ODIs, beginning onMarch 12 here as part of theteam’s extensive workload man-agement programme.

The 27-year-old Indianpace bowling spearhead hasbeen inside bio-secure bubblesince August prior to the IndianPremier League in the UAE.

England all-rounder ChrisWoakes also has left the Testtour without playing a matchas part of the ECB’s rotationpolicy.

��

The Motera track may havereceived a lot of flak after the

pink ball Test ended inside twodays but it is unlikely to attractany severe sanctions from thegame’s governing body ICCwith the pitch for the finalgame set to be a batting beau-ty.

With India 2-1 up in thefour-Test series and needing adraw to qualify for the WorldTest Championship final atLord’s from June 18-22, anoth-er turner is currently out ofquestion as the home team willbe aiming to take minimal risksas far as the track is concerned.

“Expect a good hard surfacewhich will be firm and evenbounce. It will be a batting beau-ty and since its a traditional redball match, one can expect avery high scoring contest herefrom March 4-8,” a senior BCCIofficial privy to the develop-ments told PTI.

Also the BCCI bigwigsalong with the team manage-ment understands the fact thatanother dust bowl won’t augur

well for the new venue which isexpected to host a lot of impor-tant matches during IPL as wellas ICC T20 World Cup.

“If there are two matchesplayed at the same venue, youcan’t hold one result in isolation.Let the final Test be over andthen only based on match ref-eree Javagal Srinath’s report canICC decide its course of action.Also as of now, the Englandteam hasn’t lodged any officialcomplaint,” the BCCI official

said.If there has been one good

and one bad pitch at the samevenue, the ICC is unlikely totake any action. While Indiawould be happy with a 3-1 mar-gin, they will not require a resultoriented turner as a draw wouldsuffice their purpose.

Also the Indian team man-agement doesn’t want to preparea track that can ideally backfireon them in a very high-stakegame of cricket.

Suryakumar Yadav (29), whoplayed their roles to perfection.

For Rajasthan, left-arm spin-ner Shubham Sharma (3/59) didthe bulk of the damage.

Chasing 318, Manender Singh(40) and Mahipal Lomror (76)tried to take the game deep withtheir 101-run third-wicket stand,but medium pacer Akash Parkarbroke the partnership after trap-ping Singh in front of the wicket.Shardul castled Lomror to leaveRajasthan at 160/4.

From thereon, it was an uphilltask for Rajasthan and they wereeventually bowled out for 250.

In other matches of the group,India opner Shikhar Dhawan’s 153helps Delhi beat Maharashtra bythree wickets at Sawai MansinghStadium. While Puducherry win by104 runs against HimachalPradesh.

PRERAK SLAMS 174Kolkata: In Group E clash, middle-order batsman Prerak Mankadtook Eden Gardens by storm witha sensational 174 to power

Saurashtra to a 62-run win overChandigarh. The 26-year-old plun-dered six sixes and 16 fours in hisknock from 130 balls to propelSaurashtra to a massive 388 for 7after Chandigarh opted to bowl.

In reply, Chandigarh, whohave been impressive in theirdebut Elite season with three winson the trot, could manage 326 for7.

The win helped Saurashtraconsolidate their lead with 16points, four clear of Chandigarh toclose in on a quarterfinal spot.

The No 4 batsman paced hisinnings brilliantly taking 53 ballsfor his half-century before hestepped up to race to his secondList A century in the next 39 balls.

There was no stopping Prerakas he took another 27 balls to cruiseto 150. He was dismissed by JagjitSingh in the final over but the dam-age had been done.

Chasing the target,Chandigarh skipper Manan Vohra(50) and Arslan Khan (61) put ona century-plus stand and thenAnkit Kaushik chipped in with 54

but it proved too little in the end.In other games, Services beat

Haryana by 112 runs and Bengalwin by 82 runs against Jammu &Kashmir.

UK, ASSAM WINChennai: Uttarakhand notchedup their fourth straight win beat-ing Mizoram by eight wickets intheir Plate group match.

Uttarakhand are currently ontop of the standings with 16 pointsfrom four matches, sharing theposition with Assam, who wontheir match against Sikkim byfour wickets.

Leg-spinner Dikshansu Negitook 6 for 21 in a brilliant bowlingperformance to help Uttarakhandbundle out Mizoram for a paltry117.

In reply, Uttarakhand knockedoff the required runs in just 10.5overs.

In another match, Assamchased down a target of 246 set bySikkim in the 48th over to main-tain their all-win record in thegroup.

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In the last one year, our lifestyles andhabits have changed forever. The way welive, eat, play, work is all altered. Theresulting lockdowns of countries hasbrought national economies to a stand-

still. Salary and job cuts are happeningthroughout the world. Lives versus livelihoodis a constant debate. No one living in thesetimes has experienced a crisis that can beremotely equated to this one. And things arestill unfolding.

When we are not going out to eat out butcooking more at home; when we prefer ser-vices at home rather than going out; when weneed high speed internet to work from home,when masks are the new fashion statement; allthese changes in our behaviour shape the waydifferent industries are leading their waythrough the crisis and changing the core strate-gy. Covid-19 has impacted every sphere of thecorporate world.

The pandemic has had a varied impact ondifferent industries. Across the globe, therehave been industries where revenue has gonenegative; for some it has even gone down tozero. Industries like travel which relied on peo-ple physically moving around even needed torefund future bookings. Entertainment likephysical events, movie ticketing, are in thesame category. It is not sure when revenue isgoing to return. Some of these industries fall inthe bucket of ‘putting off for the future’. Forexample, people are putting off the visit to thehairdresser and are likely to go back when thecrisis eases. These industries are shifting theirpresent revenues into the future. The immedi-ate focus is on cash conservation.

During this crisis, we have all indulged insome kind of hoarding. Be it toilet paper in thewestern countries or Maggi noodles in India;industries selling products which are essentialsand non-perishable are seeing their future rev-enues brought forward as people buy for thenext quarter and at some point in future, thepresent day spends will impact the futurespends.

On the other end, being stuck and homeand having a lot of time at hand; people arefinding time to take up new hobbies; cooking,gardening and other isolation friendly activi-ties. Baking banana breads became a hugetrend. Companies that help provide these vir-tual classes or sell the raw materials one needsfor these activities are attracting a large share

of discretionary spends of customers. This isnew revenue for the companies but not neces-sarily brought forward from the future.However, the growth that these industries areseeing may not sustain once people begin tostep out for leisure and entertainment.

And then there are big winners in thiscrisis. Industries like video conferencing,online grocery delivery, digital paymentshave seen a huge spike in adoption and havereached levels they would have otherwiseexpected to reach in order of months toyears. These are likely fundamental customerbehaviour changes and expected to stay evenwhen the crisis eases. These industries arenot only making a lot of revenue during thecrisis. And when the crisis is over, the newnormal of these industries will be at a higherlevel. These are industries that are mostlyconstrained on their supply side to handlethe exponential growth in demand.

Few years down the line, leadership andbusiness lessons from this crisis will be taughtas crisis management case studies in B-schools.Which of these lessons will be permanentarmours for future leaders for dealing with anycrisis? And do the learnings differ dependingon which side of the revenue curve a companyfinds itself. Does leadership need to be reac-tive? Here are the top 5 lessons coming directlyfrom senior leaders across different industriesand organisations.

��Ever since the world reported its first case,

every day has been a roller coaster ride.Situations on the ground have evolved rapidly.Every day has been different from the previousone.

A week before, leaders were checking thesales numbers and reviewing their 2020 plans.A week later, supply chains were disrupted andbusinesses asked to temporarily shut until fur-ther notice. A day before, all our employeeswere safe. A day later, an entire department gotinfected. The time horizon of major events wasseverely shortened.

In a crisis situation, dealing with uncer-tainty needs less planning, more execution.This is not the time to draw a productroadmap, a 5-year vision or long-term strate-gies. Leaders are embracing speed, mitigatingthe short to mid-term consequences to stabi-lize the situation and stay afloat. COVID-19

has delivered a crash course in agility fororganisations of all stripes.

�� It is said that innovation and creativity love

crises and constraints. Crisis brings out con-straints and makes innovation almost a forcingfunction. Leaders often leverage consultants toget a fresh, outside perspective on their organi-sations to find opportunities to innovate. A cri-sis can have much the same effect, putting thespotlight on vulnerabilities, problem areas;great and small, that we’ve been ignoring or arejust plain unaware of. When a crisis hits, weare forced to confront the truth about how oursystems work (or don’t). The places wherethings could be done better or more efficientlybecome glaringly obvious. All of a sudden,opportunities for innovation are staring us inthe face.

The current crisis is bringing a whole newset of innovations. Services like medicine, edu-cation, industrial plant set ups are all goingdigital. Google and Apple are collaborating oncontact tracing. Dunzo is working with brandsto get the products delivered at one’s doorstep.ITC’s personal care team deserves recognitionfor introducing a range of new health andhygiene products for households. Its hospitalityteam curated a gourmet menu, which recreatesthe ITC dining experience for our customersin the comfort of their homes. While these arejust a couple of examples, leaders across indus-tries continue to strive to change and innovateto ensure that they deliver nothing short ofexcellence in their products and services to ourcustomers, despite the pandemic.

��While it may sound obvious, crises are

crises because people suffer. In a situationwhere emotions and anxieties run high, leadersconnect with employees and other stakeholdersand acknowledge the personal and professionalchallenges they are going through. Impactfulleaders convey their vision in a manner thatthe employees feel aligned, motivated and ral-lied against.

Effective crisis management requiresintegrity, accountability, and moral courage.Thoughtful, frequent, and empathetic commu-nication signals that the leaders share withtheir organization show they care and aretogether in the journey that employees go

through. These messages are delivered with“bounded optimism” — hope combined withrealism.

��What makes a leader is not just thinking

about self but for the larger community. Be itgiving back to the community in cash or kindor even gestures where one takes care of peoplewho are not directly on the organization’s pay-roll but on the frontline; leaders showcase howit is not enough if the organization alone pro-gresses. No true leader sees crisis as a time tocarve out a competitive advantage; definitelynot at the cost of a struggling competitor.Compassion is leadership, leadership is com-passion — compassion not just for self but foreveryone else, especially ones where one hasno self-interest whatsoever. If anything, the cri-sis will make leadership more humane andabove self-interest.

��In times of crisis, the acceptance of failure

and moving on from there to the next step andthe next is a critical leadership trait. These aretimes when given the dynamicity of the situa-tion, decisions need to be made based on thelimited information available and many timesin decentralized manners. Fail fast is moreimportant than learning and waiting to makethe right decision. Different business modelsare prototyped and many of them may notwork. It’s ok. Leaders move on.

There are often external circumstancesbeyond one’s control. Leaders are kind to your-self and to their teams. They repivot as manytimes as necessary. They collaborate with com-petitors. Leadership is not about the outcome— it is about the process. Even a decision ofshutting down the business may look like afailure looking outwards. But the process ofarriving at that decision, accepting, communi-cating and executing the failure can demon-strate leadership. Being open to failure is thebiggest lesson from turbulent times.

The onus of leadership lies with each oneof us. We all need to lead ourselves, our lovedones, our societies, organisations and countriesout of this and every crisis.

The writer is a corporate professional andauthor of 4 books. Her latest book, InflectionPoint – Leadership Lessons from Turbulent

Times, has been published by Rupa Publications

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LEADERSHIP LESSONSFROM TURBULENT TIMES

Once the summer capital ofundivided Bihar, known forits wild beauty and cool

weather, Ranchi now looks like theposter boy of an unplannedurbanised over-populated city.Despite being the capital of a rela-tively new state, Jharkhand, townplanning is noticeably missing here.

As the state tourism is workingto put the state on a larger travelmap, there do exist some hiddengems of history waiting to be discov-ered.

Close to the old Hazari BaghRoad’s Netaji Nagar locality (atKantatoli Chowk), and right behindthe old bus stand, a small piece ofhistory sleeps in oblivion. This isRanchi Commonwealth WarCemetery, where many fallen sol-diers of Second World War got theirfinal resting place. These soldierslost their lives in India and Burmawhile protecting the glory of theQueen of England.

Interestingly, of the eight WorldWar cemeteries in India, easternstates such as Manipur, Nagaland,Bengal, Assam and Jharkhand house

five. This reflects the impact of thewar on the region as a maximumnumber of Allied soldiers were sta-tioned here to protect India from aprobable Japanese invasion in theearly 1940s.

One needs to go back in the his-tory to recall that the fall ofSingapore and Rangoon in 1942 inthe hands of Japan, had caused greatpanic in British India. By 1944, theAxis forces had already enteredIndia, with Netaji Bose’s INA, andhad overtaken a large area nearImphal, Manipur. The eastern partof India had a very weak defencewith only seven divisions of thearmy and almost no air fields.

By May 1942, the Allied forceshad started amassing their armyfrom the Commonwealth coun-tries and started building logisticsinfrastructure in form of new airstrips and army bases. By the end of1944, places such as Calcutta,Guwahati, Kohima and some otherfrontiers of Assam and Bengal wereflooded with the American andCommonwealth soldiers arrivingfrom Canada, Australia, Great

Britain, New Zealand and India. Around the same time, a secret

army training camp was opened atRamgargh near Ranchi where

British and American Army officersgave training to the Chinese soldiersback from the front. Clearly Ranchiwas abuzz with action. The suburbs,

however, remained unaffected dur-ing the war.

Elsewhere in Assam, Manipur,Arunachal and even Calcutta, there

were high casualties of soldiers.Many a brave-hearts lost their lives.Only some got decent burials asmany returned home as badly muti-lated bodies. It was a dark momentin time.

As it did at the end of the FirstWorld War, Commonwealth WarGraves Commission began organ-ising the Army cemetery across theglobe. The project in Ranchi wasundertaken in 1952. Relics of thefallen soldiers were taken to Ranchifrom various battle fields and othermilitary and civil cemeteries and asmall war cemetery was designedwith all international features. Thisplace was well organised and openedto visitors in 1952. 704 graves fromacross India were identified andshifted here. Today, the cemetery has51 gravestones of Indian soldiers, ofwhich four belong to the BiharRegiment. This cemetery housesthree non-war graves as well. Thereare 200 graves from 12 other civilcemeteries.

Green open field lends a sadbeauty to the cemetery. At the cen-tre, stands a long freestanding Latin

cross called the “Cross of Sacrifice”,a very common feature in anyWorld War cemetery with morethan 40 graves. This cross of sacri-fice was designed by ReginaldBlomfield. Row upon rows of head-stones tell a saga of pain, pangs andexcoriated sacrifices.

Every headstone mentions thename of the soldier, his designationand his age at time of death. Everyheadstone is decorated with the reg-imental badge of the dead and a per-sonal line dedicated to him by hisfamily.

The cemetery is the final rest-ing place of soldiers belong to reg-iments such as the Royal AustralianAir Forces, Royal Canadian AirForces, East Yorkshire Regiment,West African Army, Royal ArmyOrdinance, East LancashireRegiment, Westmorland &Cumberland Yeo, among othersthat lost their lives to lost cause. Itis heart breaking to see that manysoldiers were as young as 20 yearsold. The pain of the loved ones isreflected in the memoriam linesetched on the stones.

Though the cemetery is not easyto locate and gets only few visitors,it is very well maintained. So nexttime you visit Ranchi, do make timeto visit this piece of history. As readsa message at one of the restingplaces: Thoughts go back to bygonedays. Life moves on but memorystays.

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Amar prem ki nagari mein aapkaswagat hai (welcome to the cityof eternal love), a green-coloured board greets us as weenter Mandu, a small town 100

km west of Indore in Madhya Pradesh.Myths, legends and Mandu seem to be

made for each other. As you drive throughlush green fields dotted with palaces andpavilions it is easy to lose yourself in thetown’s stories of romance, courage andbetrayal.

The most fascinating of all tales is theroyal love story of Baz Bahadur, the last sul-tan of Malwa (1555-1562) and his beau-tiful consort Roopmati. In these parts, BazBahadur and Roopmati are no less thanRomeo-Juliet, Heer-Ranjha or Laila-Majnu. Legend has it that once when BazBahadur was on a hunting trip, he saw abeautiful woman singing. He was so smit-ten by her beauty and melodious voice thathe asked her to accompany him to his cap-ital, Mandu. Roopmati agreed but had onlyone condition, she needed to set eyes onher beloved river Narmada every day.Thus, two canopies were built on top of awatch tower within 48 hours (if our guideis to be believed) so that Roopmati couldsee the river Narmada, 23 km away, comerain or shine.

Unfortunately, for the lovers, theirromance was short lived. In 1562, Mughalemperor Akbar decided to invade Manduand sent his general Adam Khan to cap-ture Mandu. Baz Bahadur’s small army wasno match for the great Mughal army.Mandu fell easily and Baz Bahadur escapedto Mewar. Adam Khan who had heard ofRoopmati’s beauty requested to meet her.Sensing her fate, she poisoned herself andavoided capture but not before she wrotethe following poem:

Chitt Chanderi, sabe Malwa,Jiyo bhayo udas,Kyonki bhag gaye Bahadur Baz,Preet meet ke din gaye,Gaye Bahadur Baz,Ab na jiyo jaat hai, Yahan kahan hai kaz(My heart is sad seeing the sunrise in

Mandu since Baz Bahadur has run away.The days of meeting my lover are over. It’sdifficult for me to live now and I have nomore work to do here).

History or legend? The love story lives

on giving rise to poetry and folklore. As I climb up Rani Roopmati’s pavil-

ion, I imagine her standing under one ofthe canopies gazing at her belovedNarmada on the one side and at the BazBahadur palace on the other. RaniRoopmati’s pavilion which is on top of ahill was originally a watch tower. Besidesthe two canopies, Baz Bahadur built awater reservoir (Rewa Kund) so thatNarmada water could be provided toRoopmati. The water was supplied in thewhole building through an aqueduct.

There is a clear view of Baz Bahadur’spalace from Roopmati’s Pavillion. Thepalace is a medley of Rajasthani andIslamic styles of architecture. Whilestrolling through the long corridors,arched entrances and domed pavilions Icould sense the echoes of a glorious past.

It was to acquaint the visitors to thishistoric past of Mandu — as also art, cul-ture and heritage — that Madhya PradeshTourism Board recently organised a two-day festival. One that I was apart of.

��The first written inscription about

Mandu is from the sixth century. But overthe years, it changed hands several times.The Parmar rulers moved their capitalfrom Dhar to Mandu in 1261, seeminglyto take advantage of its strategic locationon top of a plateau. The weakening of theParmar rule and the attacks from Delhiintensified in the last years of the thirteenthcentury and in 1305, Alauddin Khilji cap-tured Malwa. Another hundred yearslater, when Delhi was being ruled byMohamed Shah Tughlaq, his governorDilawar Khan Gori and his son HoshangShah ruled Mandu for several years andrenamed it Shadiabad or the City of Joy.

It was they who turned the town intoan architectural marvel by building icon-ic structures like the imposing JamiMasjid, modelled after the UmayyadMosque in Damascus (Syria). Consideredone of the finest and largest models ofAfghan architecture in India, the red sand-stone mosque has a sprawling courtyardenclosed by huge colonnades with perfect-ly symmetrical archways, pillars, baysand domes. The variety of domes are notmeant only for ornamental purposes butensured that the Imam’s voice could be

heard during prayers all across the largemosque.

Jami Masjid is no longer an activemosque but in its heydays it could accom-modate over 5000 people.

The tomb of Jami Masjid’s creator,Hoshang Shah, lies next door to it.Considered the first marble mausoleum,local folklore claims that Shahjahan wasinspired by this tomb while constructingthe Taj Mahal.

Whether that’s true or not, HoshangShah’s tomb built entirely in white marbleis a beautiful structure with lattice-work,arched openings, domes and jalis givingit an elegant look.

One of the most striking structures inMandu is the Jahaz Mahal built by SultanGhiyasuddin Khalji, supposedly to househis harem of 15,000 women. It is believedthat Mughal Emperor Jehangir, who vis-ited Mandu in 1617 and spent nearly sevenmonths there, writing extensively aboutMandu in his memoirs Jehangirnamacalled the palace Jahaz Mahal because builtbetween two lakes — Munja and Kapur —its shadow looks like a ship. The beauti-ful palace with its gorgeous halls, ceno-taphs, and striking pools is an architectur-al wonder.

The Jahaz Mahal is part of a larger com-pound that includes the very interesting

Hindola Mahal, named thus because itssloping outer walls give the impression thatthe palace is swaying. As per our guide, thestructure is built without a foundation andto ensure that it remained standing for cen-turies it was built at a 77 degree angle.During the monsoons swings were hung inthe main hall for the queens to sway.Hindola Mahal has an elegant façade andbeautiful symmetrical arches.

Because Mandu changed rulers somany times various structures were built,destroyed and rebuilt. It has over 3,000structures from the 12th to the 16th cen-tury in a 26 sq km area. You cannot walkmore than a 100 feet without spotting abeautiful monument, that tells its own storyadding to the agelessness of the place.

It was Mandu’s geographical locationwhich made it such an important city. Itprospered greatly under the Sultans ofMalwa for nearly 200 years. At its peak,Mandu had a population of over 9 lakh peo-ple. The small town today has a populationof just 15,000. Built primarily as a fort, mul-tiple ancient gates herald you every fewmetres, transporting you to a bygone era.

��

If the numerous monuments in Manduwill take your breath away, the presence ofseveral baobab trees, native to Madagascarand mainland Africa, will leave you won-dering. These massive, towering treesbereft of leaves and with bulbous trunks dotthe Mandu landscape leaving one bewil-dered. Where did they come from? Thereseems to be no satisfactory answer.

My guide says it was probably giftedby a traveller from those regions in themid-15th century but there doesn’t seemto be a record of the same. While the pres-ence of the trees surprises tourists like me,for the locals they have always beenthere. The baobab tree’s fruit is sold in thelocal market as ‘Mandu ki imly’. Break openthe elongated fruit and you find a clusterof white-coated seeds. The texture ispowdery and not fiberous like imly but itis tangy.

As I leave Mandu, I imagine it in allits glory as it lives on in its palaces andpavilions, its ballads and legends and I takea bit of its charm and romance back homewith me.

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��HOW TO GET THERE

Mandu is located about a 100 kmfrom Indore and the only way to get thereis by road.

HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEEDYou can cover Mandu’s main sights

including the Jahaz Mahal, HindolaMahal, Roopmati Pavilion, Baz Bahadur’sPalace and Jami Masjid in a day trip fromIndore, if you are prepared to walk quitea bit. If you wish to slow down the paceand explore some of the lesser knownmonuments, then you can spend two days.

WHERE TO STAYThere are a few hotels in Mandu and

most are fairly basic. The best option isthe MPTDC Hotel — Malwa Retreatlocated next to one of Mandu’s Lakes.

WHEN TO GOThe peak season in Mandu is the

monsoon, when there is lush greenery allaround. Besides that the weather is pleas-ant in the winter months from November-February.

HOW TO GET AROUNDMandu doesn’t have autos or cycle

rickshaws as of now and so to get aroundyou need to have your own vehicle or thehotel can organise it for you.

WHAT TO EATDo try ‘Mandu ki imly’. It’s sold at stalls

outside Jami Masjid.

MUST WATCHThe light and sound show at Hindola

Mahal is a must watch. The half an hourshow provides a good overview ofMandu’s history and legends.

THINGS TO KNOWNetwork is a major issue but if the

plan is to be cut-off from your daily lifeand enjoy Mandu’s serenity then it works.There are a couple of ATMs in the mainmarket. But digital payments are accept-ed by most. Hotels accept credit cards.

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'��1�,��1��The Mahinda Rajapaksa

Government in Sri Lanka isin trouble again. The horrors ofthe three decades of LankanCivil War are revisiting theGovernment. The two brothers— Mahinda and Gotabaya —are holding the two crucialposts, Prime Minister andPresident, respectively.

Earlier, Mahinda servedas the President from 2005 to2010, when Gotabaya was theDefence Secretary. During thisperiod, both the brotherscrushed the Liberation Tigersof Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and putan end to the longest Civil Warin the country.

However it was the lead-ership of former LieutenantColonel Gotabaya, who final-ly led the Lankan Army to thesuccessful war against thedreaded LTTE leadership ofVelupillai Prabhakaran in 2009.It was good that an ethnic ter-ror movement came to an endthat took the lives of many inthe past. And the armed forcesof this tiny island nation and itspolitical leadership breathed asigh of relief. Prabhakaran’storture regime was over withhis killing in May 2009 at thehands of the Lankan Army.

This had not only shatteredthe command structure of theTamil Tigers, but also pushedthe outfit to the brink of clo-sure. The organisation had lostboth its firepower and man-power. The LankanGovernment forces too hadreceived severe casualtiesthough the forces receivedabundant supply of arms fromChina.

The end of the war broughtthe most vital question to thefore — the massive violation ofhuman rights by the LankanArmy. Though the RajapaksaGovernment had justified thewar, the humanitarian con-cerns emerging from the num-ber of dead, missing and post-war rehabilitation of the Tamilcivilians exposed the extremelevel of brutalities that theLankan forces resorted to.

Both the Rajapaksa broth-ers turned out to be heroesamong the majority Sinhalesepopulation, but questions of theviolation of fundamental rightsof the Tamils in the North andEastern part of the countryremained unanswered.

And this has been haunt-ing the Rajapaksa Governmentsince the end of the Civil Warand now also with the return-ing of the duo to power.

Sri Lanka is facing a newUN Resolution at the UNHuman Rights Council(UNHRC), calling on thehuman rights abusers toaccount and asking the coun-try’s Government to deliverimmediate justice to the vic-tims. Britain and others havecirculated a draft of the reso-lution among the members ofthe UNHRC.

It is expected to be adopt-ed at the end of the four-weekSpring Session of the UN’s tophuman rights body. The sessionbegan on February 22 inGeneva.

Both the Tamil Tigers andthe Lankan Army were accusedof massive violations of human

rights during the war.Therefore, the UN humanrights office blames both forcarrying out unparallel brutal-ities against the innocent civil-ians during the war.

Germany and Canada areamong the six countries thatformed the core group alongwith Britain to bring the reso-lution on Lanka. Lord Ahmad,Britain’s Minister of State forSouth Asia and theCommonwealth, said: “Thevictims from all communitiesof Sri Lanka’s brutal Civil Warare, a decade later, still await-ing justice for loved ones mur-dered or missing and dealingwith the repercussions of vio-lence and conflict”.

He further commentedthat the current resolutionmoved by his country in theUNHRC is a vital step towardsreconciliation and peaceful

relations among all of SriLanka’s diverse communitiesand faith groups. This willbring an added pressure on theLankan Government, but thenhow Colombo will respondmay only decide the future ofthe families of the victims.

UN Human Rights chiefMichelle Bachelet has submit-ted her report on Sri Lanka tothe UNHRC. While introduc-ing the report to the Council,she said the effect of the con-flict on thousands of survivorsfrom all communities was dev-astating.

She highlighted that 12years after the end of thearmed conflict in Lanka, thedomestic efforts to ensure jus-tice for victims have failed.Further she stated, “Despitecommitments made in 2015,the current Government, likeits predecessor, has failed to

pursue genuine truth-seekingor accountability processes…Moreover, the systems, struc-tures, policies and personnelthat gave rise to such grave vio-lations in the past remain andhave recently been reinforced”.

This has put the RajapaksaGovernment in the dock. Allefforts are on to pressuriseColombo so as to offer justiceto the families of thousands ofvictims and missing persons inthis devastating war.

As per the records madeavailable by the internationalmedia and human rights agen-cies, the war killed about1,00,000 people, including40,000 Tamil civilians, massa-cred by the Lankan Army inthe final onslaught.

However, the RajapaksaGovernment completely deniesthese allegations. An estimat-ed 1,50,000 people were

trapped on the coast at the endof the war. Besides thousandswent missing and the Lankansecurity forces were blamed forthe disappearance of the Tamilrebels who either surrenderedor captured.

Recently in a meeting witha UN envoy, Lankan PresidentGotabaya acknowledged forthe first time that more than20,000 people who disappearedduring the country’s Civil Warwere dead.

Further his office releaseda statement that steps would betaken to issue death certificatesfor those missing. This has cer-tainly dampened the hopes ofthose who were expecting apositive response from theGovernment.

Sri Lanka, the islandnation, had witnessed thescourge of terrorism for aboutthree decades. The terrorfuelled by the monstrous LTTEhad claimed many lives, includ-ing the civilians, soldiers andhigh-profile political leaderswithin and outside the country.

The LTTE under the lead-ership of Prabhakaran wassimply running a parallelGovernment in the North-Eastern parts of Lanka. Today,the Tamils and other minoritygroups like the Muslims andChristians are alleging massiveviolation of human rights bythe Lankan forces in the finalwar against the LTTE in 2009.But the international commu-nity must not forget the reignof terror brought byPrabhakaran and his team overinnocent civilians across theisland.

The LTTE, formed on May5, 1976, by Prabhakaran wasonce used to be the only terrorgroup in the world possessingits own military. Its politicalheadquarters was inKilinochchi, situating at a dis-tance of 200 miles north ofLanka’s capital city of Colombo.And this military consisted ofthree distinct branches — theTigers (Infantry), Sea Tigers(Sea Wing) and Air Tigers(Air Wing). It had graduallyemerged as the most lethal andwell-organised terror group.

In fact, the Federal Bureauof Investigation (FBI), in itsreport published in January2008, stated that the LTTEwas one of the most dangerous

and deadly extremist outfits inthe world and the world shouldbe concerned about the outfitas they had inspired networksworldwide, including the al-Qaeda in Iraq. The brutal tac-tics and the employment ofchild soldiers by the LTTEwere causing concerns acrossSouth Asia in its heydays.

Further some reports indi-cate that women were alsoforced to join the organisation.Only after seven years of its for-mation in 1983, the organisa-tion opened its Women’s Frontof the Liberation Tigers underthe leadership of Vithusha.Like many other African terrorgroups, the LTTE used torecruit children for combatforces.

As per the estimates of theSri Lankan Directorate ofMilitary Intelligence, as muchas 60 per cent of the outfit’sfighters were below 18 years. Itwas also revealed that the fight-ers of the Tamil Tigers whowere killed in the war weremostly between 9 and 18 years.

These were some of theharrowing episodes of theLTTE that rightly underlineshow the terror organisationwas simply twisting and under-mining the epithets of basichuman rights. Initially, itseemed to be an endless saga ofterror, violence, torture and aparallel state run by an author-itarian leader.

Today the Tamils are call-ing for accountability and jus-tice for the crimes committedduring the Civil War by theLankan forces. It is hard timefor the Rajapaksa duo torespond to the Tamil minori-ty in their country and to theworld Tamil diaspora on thissensitive issue. What is expect-ed from Colombo is quickredressal of the grievances ofthe minorities in the North andEastern part of the country.

It is time to accept theresponsibility of war crimes onthe part of the LankanGovernment. It is time to healthe wounds. Else, relationshipbetween the Sinhalese major-ity and rest of the minoritycommunities, particularly withthe Tamils, would further dete-riorate.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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The ongoing global pan-demic of coronavirus dis-

ease 2019, caused by severeacute respiratory syndromecoronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),has been declared as a publichealth emergency of interna-tional concern (WHO, 2020).

Several research studiesacross the globe have con-firmed that SARS-CoV-2ribonucleic acid (RNA) hasbeen detected in faeces of notonly symptomatic but alsoasymptomatic patients. It hasalso been seen that sewers orsewage treatment plants (STPs)can provide near-real-timeoutbreak data because theyconstantly collect human fluidsshed by infected population.

Thus, wastewater-basedepidemiology (WBE) is apromising approach to under-stand the prevalence of virus-es in any given wastewatertreatment plant (WWTP)catchment population.

A densely populated coun-try like India will require con-stant vigilance to containCovid-19 infection hot spots,unless and until either a vaccineis proven to be effective or herdimmunity is achieved, to com-bat the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Real-time communitysewage detection can be takenas early as possible to restrictthe movement of the localpopulation, working to min-imise the pathogen spread andthreat to public health.

This could help the timely

determination of whether thereare Covid-19 carriers (bothasymptomatic and sympto-matic) in an area to enable pre-ventive measures such as rapidscreening and quarantine, evenbefore the residents of that cityhave been tested.

In India, the pandemicsteadily rose from April 2020with peaking in mid-August2020. The cumulative con-firmed cases have significant-ly lowered at present.

Several research groupsacross the globe have reporteddetecting novel coronavirusSARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.In Switzerland, ÉcolePolytechnique Fédérale deLausanne (EPFL) researchers,working in association with theSwiss Federal Institute ofAquatic Science andTechnology (EAWAG) onwastewater sampling andanalysis developed a study inMarch 2020, which acts as anearly warning signal for spreadof SARS-CoV-2 in communi-ties. Similarly, in April 2020,sewage sampling across greaterParis (France) for more thanone month, researchers havedetected a rise and fall in novelcoronavirus concentrationsthat correspond to the shape ofthe SARS-CoV-2 outbreak inthe region.

Other researchers have alsoreported detecting novel coro-navirus SARS-CoV-2 in waste-water in countries such as:Australia (Ahmed et al, 2020),

Cyprus (Michael-Kordatou etal, 2020), Ireland (Cahill et al,2020), Italy (La Rosa et al,2020), Japan (Haramoto et al,2020), South Africa (Street etal., 2020), The Netherlands(Dutch Water Sector, 2020),Spain (Chavarria-Miró et al,2020), USA (Peccia et al andHart & Halden et al, 2020), andIndia (Kumar et al and Aroraet al., 2020).

For effective dissemina-tion of knowledge created bythe current research efforts, andto empower collaboration on aglobal scale for wastewater-based epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2, there are various ongo-ing initiatives such as theEuropean Union’s NORMAN -SCORE Joint Initiative (SewageAnalysis CORe group Europe)(score-cost.eu/), COVID-19WBE Collaborative(covid19wbec.org/), BiobotAnalytics (biobot.io/), NSFResearch CoordinationNetwork (RCN)(sites.nd.edu/rcn-wastewater-sarscov2/), COVIDPoops19(https://twitter.com/COVIDPoops19?s=20), Global WaterPathogen Project (GWPP)(waterpathogens.org/) and others.

In IIT Gandhinagar, India,Kumar et al, 2020, for the firsttime, detected the presence ofthree SARS-CoV-2 genes(ORF1ab, N and S virus) inwastewater. The samples werecollected in May 2020 from OldPirana WWTP in Ahmedabad

(Gujarat) to understand theapplication of WBE surveil-lance in India.

The WWTP has a capaci-ty of 106 MLD receiving efflu-ents of Civil Hospital treatingCovid-19 patients. The numberof gene copies was found com-parable to that reported in theuntreated wastewaters ofAustralia, China, and Turkeyand lower than that of the USA,France, and Spain. A similarstudy was conducted byresearchers of Dr B Lal Instituteof Biotechnology (Rajasthan)with samples from hospital wastewater as well asfrom WWTPs of Jaipur, which has been a pandemichotspot (red zone) since April2020.

To analyse the presence ofSARS-CoV-2 in the commu-nity wastewater of differentcatchments in Chennai city inIndia, a group of scientists ledby Chakraborty et.al from SRMInstitute of Science andTechnology, Mu GammaConsultants Pvt Ltd (MGC)and The Energy and ResourcesInstitute (TERI) jointly imple-mented an intensive waste-water surveillance study, thefirst-of-its-kind in the southernregion of India.

The study entailed partiallockdown and post lockdownsurvey along the wastewaterdischarge points in Adayarand Cooum Riverine belt flow-ing through the densely popu-lated region of Chennai to

develop an early signallingspread of Covid-19 in com-munities during partial andpost-lockdown periods in 2020.This study gave interestinginsights for informing policyactions.

The wastewater surveil-lance study in Chennai has thepotential for replication inother Indian cities like Delhi aswell as upscaling it for largergeographic areas covering alarge population. Also, it couldpotentially be one of the basesfor scientifically informed deci-sions to implement publichealth intervention strategiesconsistent with legal and ethi-cal considerations in India.

At present, Delhi has 41Sewage Treatment Plants(STPs) with a cumulative treat-ment capacity of 3,149 MLD.Out of 41 STPs, 32 STPs (2,775MLD) are operational and 9STPs (373 MLD) are non-operational . Also, important-ly, 75 per cent of pollution iscontributed by three majordrains (Najafgarh,Supplementary and Shahdara)out of all the drains falling intothe river Yamuna. Given thecurrent sewage managementscenario of Delhi, a waste-water surveillance study (sim-ilar to the one conducted bySRM IST, MGC and TERI inChennai) can be taken up in the national Capital to track the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the wastewatersamples from major drains

falling into the Yamuna riverand select STPs.

The advantages of waste-water surveillance in Delhiwill include the monitoring ofwastewater samples fromsewage treatment plants andmajor drains of the Yamunariver in Delhi can help in esti-mating the number of infectedindividuals, and hence providerobust scientific evidence forinformed decision making atthe policy level.

This is an early, cost-effec-tive, unbiased community-levelindicator of the presence ofCovid-19 and of “hot-spots”within a community. It willsupport risk mitigation deci-sions for the communities, andguide decisions about whereand when to impose or relaxmore targeted restrictions onmovement and activity. It willhelp alert asymptomatic infec-tions in the communitythrough real-time communitysewage detection could bedetermined.

It will be very useful forpositioning resources and trig-gering public actions forimproved health outcomes. Itwill also alert second and sub-sequent waves, and developpreparedness towards outbreakof other pandemics in thefuture.

To track any resurgence ofCovid-19, national wastewatersurveillance programmes arebeing implemented in variouscountries like the USA,

Finland, Germany, theNetherlands, and Pakistan. Thesame can be planned for India.In the past, WBE has played animportant role in the eradica-tion of polio in 2011 in India,and at present, wastewater sur-veillance continues at 52WWTPs and unregulatedcatchment areas for detectionof poliovirus.

This surveillance networkcan be a viable resource for thedetection of SARS-CoV-2 inwastewater in the country,including the national CapitalDelhi.

There is a need to identifythe key issues and challengesrelated to the development ofvalidated methodological pro-tocols for the quantitativeanalysis of SARS-CoV-2 inwastewater.

The data generated fromthe SARS-CoV-2 wastewatermonitoring system in Delhimight be used to show aroadmap for tracking disease,intensifying testing, re-introducing public ordersrelated to social distancing orquarantines (if needed), andeven lifting restrictions once acessation of infection is confirmed.

(Paromita Chakraborty isAssociate Professor, SRMInstitute of Science &Technology, and Girija K Bharatis director, Mu GammaConsultants Pvt Ltd,Gurugram)

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There are two working tools of theDhyana process — an imagery tofocus upon and a mantra related to

the image — as has been explained in theprevious issue. Mantra is usually a set ofsyllables placed in a logical sequence tocreate a particular sound effect. It couldbe just a seed letter, syllable, word, or aset of words, which as a sequel to stresscreated and uttered by mouth, is heardby ears, and apprehended by mind.Mantra is so called, because it involves amental process. The word as such com-prises of ‘man’ out of ‘manana’ and ‘tra’out of ‘trãna’. Mana stands for mind;manana implies reflection in mind; andtrana stands for liberation.

So, chanting of mantra helps attainliberation from mental limitations. It,thus, serves a great purpose, as mantrahappens to be a radiant energy, rather asound-body of consciousness, set in cor-respondence with the consciousness ofthe related imagery. Following repeatedchanting of the mantra with focus on therelated imagery, consciousness of theseeker, in the first place, comes to termswith that of the mantra and the imagery.Eventually the seeker’s consciousnessbecomes one with the eternal element of

consciousness over a period of time.Pursuing the process doesn’t happen

without meeting difficulties on the way.Invariably, the seeker is confronted withdistracting thoughts that drift our atten-tion away from our focal point, againand again. Don’t confront those distract-ing thoughts. If you ever do that, theywill stay put in mind, and keep visitingagain and again. The only way out istraining one’s mind to remain disen-gaged from them. Mind it; unless youpay attention to something, it won’taffect you.

Keep chanting the mantra and try tobring back attention to the imagerysought after again and again. Gradually,the distracting thoughts will go out ofreckoning, and you may be able toremain focused for a longer stretch oftime. Let me add here that when thesound notes of the mantra resonate tothe imagery in focus, over a period oftime, one gets so involved that distract-ing thoughts if any are left far behind.When one gets fully established in theprocess, mind becomes one pointed. Inthe process, one also inculcates a valuesystem, coming as it may with the educa-tive import of the imagery in focus.

SAMÃDHI: As one gets established inthe dhãranã process, the seeker is inharmony with the imagery and its relat-ed educative import, as well as the res-onating mantra. We, thus, enter into astate of dhyana. Pursuing the processfurther, a stage is arrived at whenmantra gets dropped. Eventually allthoughts drop but one remains steadfastwith the concept synonymous with theimagery in focus. This state is termed asbeing in savikãr samãdhi (immersed inthe iconic figure targeted). Furtherdown the line, even the iconic figuredrops. Following which the mantra, theimagery, and the mind become oneseamless awareness, which meansattaining the state of nirvikalpa (form-less) samãdhi.

In samãdhi, mind, free from anythought input, becomes quiet. For, allthoughts prevailing in mind, whichotherwise condition one’s mind, getdropped. These very thoughts holdthe key to your futuristic aspirationsalso. You are free from any sense ofthe past or future. So, there remainsnothing in hand to process, and henceat peace. It is a state of being whenyou are just enjoying your present

moment in ‘as is where is’ condition.The question now is: If all about life,

including the mind, is manifestation ofnature driven energy orchestra, whichwould be continuously pulsating, howcomes mind gets into a state of no activ-ity for becoming at peace with the self?Well, mind can never get into an inac-tive state the way a running vehicle ishalted. But pursuing the dhyãnaprocess, a state is arrived at when mindis in perfect harmony with the elementof consciousness. The unitary mindthen submerges with the cosmic mind.Evidently then, mind becomes an inte-grated part of cosmic flow, and so is atpeace with the self and the rest. It issomething like someone standing onearth plane not able to have a feel oftremendous speed at which the latterwould be spinning. For, the person andthe earth are synonymous. This is whatmay be termed as being in a state ofYoga. In the state of Yoga, mind entersan infinite domain having no distinctiveexistences.

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