01-02-2022 The Asian Independent

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Vol : 06 : #84 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

THREE-JUDGE SC bench to hear plea

against Hindu Succession Act's Sec 15

New Delhi : A three-judge bench

of the Supreme Court will examine the

constitutional validity of Section 15 of

the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.

On Monday, a bench of Justices

D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant

said the matter should be heard by a

three-judge bench and scheduled the

matter for hearing on February 10.

"List the petition on February 10,

2022. Learned counsel for the

parties would be at liberty to file their

written submissions before the next

date of listing and a copy of the submissions

in the PDF format," its order

said. The plea, filed by Kamal Anant

Khopkar through advocate-on-record

Manju Jetley, has argued that the

Act's Section 15, discriminates in connection

with the devolution of property

in case of a woman dying intestate,

when compared with the devolution of

property of a man dying intestate.

The plea contended that discrimination

in the provisions is only based on

gender and not on family ties.

Section 15 of the Act details on

general rules of succession for Hindu

females and sub-section (1), says that

property of a female Hindu dying

intestate shall devolve according to

rules set out in Section 16, which deals

with the order of succession and manner

of distribution among heirs of a

Hindu female.

These list firstly, the sons and

daughters (including the children of

any pre-deceased son or daughter) and

the husband, secondly, the heirs of the

husband, thirdly, upon the mother and

father, fourthly, the heirs of the

father, and lastly, upon the heirs of the

mother. In 2019, the court had issued

notice on the petition noting that it

raised an important question on gender

equality.

K'taka hijab row: Students defying

govt order sent out of classrooms

Udupi (Karnataka) : The

protesting Muslim girl students of the

Government Girls Pre-University

College here, who attended their

Class wearing 'hijab' thereby defying

the Karnataka government order,

were sent out of the respective

Classrooms on Tuesday.

The entry to media has been prohibited

in the premises of the college

and security has been beefed in the

campus to avoid any untoward incident.

The government recently issued

an order to maintain the status quo in

the college until the high-level committee

submitted a report on allowing

hijab along with uniform.

Incidentally, February 1 is celebrated

as World Hijab Day. Aliya

Assadi, one of the protesting students,

said on her social media platform

that the protesting girls will

come to the college wearing hijab,

which is their religious and constitutional

right. "The college is being run

on the tax money that we gave to the

government. There is no necessity for

anyone's interference. Our judicious

fight can't be sidelined by threats."

BJP MLA Raghupathy Bhat had

earlier stated that the police have

been informed about the matter and

no outer persons, including those

from the Muslim as well as Hindu

organisations will be allowed into the

campus as the hijab row has put the

academic career of the 1,000 students

studying in the college at stake. The

students have to be ready for examinations,

which are going to be held in

another two months.

He further stated after holding a

meeting that the students, who are

protesting for wearing hijab in

Classrooms, are being told to come

to the college campus only if they

decide to shun hijab. "Otherwise, we

have clearly told them not to come to

the college and spoil the academic

environment," he said. On the other

hand the students have moved a petition

in the High Court seeking relief

in this regard.

"We have told them clearly to

come to the college only if they have

decided to come to class without a

hijab. They can't come to the premises

of the college and spoil the college

academic environment. We have also

informed the police regarding the

entry of media and other organisations

into the campus," he stated.

"In another 2 months exams are

nearing. Parents are complaining that

every day, international media is

coming, various Muslim organisations

and Hindu organisations are

visiting. There will be no entry to the

college from Tuesday. They can submit

the memorandum to the Deputy

Commissioner," he said.

One among the protesting students

moved the state High Court seeking

relief. Resham Farooq, the student

has said the 'wearing of hijab as a

fundamental right under Articles 14

and 25 of the Indian constitution'.

The student has sought interim order

from the High Court regarding students

attending classes wearing

hijab.

US pauses Masood

Khan's appointment

as Pak Ambassador

New Delhi : The US State

Department has been taking unusually

long to process the appointment of

Pakistans Ambassador-designate to

Washington, Masood Khan and the

delay has triggered an impression of a

pause in the process, Dawn reported.

Khan, who served as President of

Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) till

last August, was nominated as

Ambassador to the US in November.

He had previously served as

Pakistan's Permanent Representative

to the UN in Geneva and New York

and as Ambassador to China.

Khan was to replace the outgoing

Ambassador of Pakistan in

Washington Asad Majeed Khan.

The request for agrement for

Masood Khan had been sent to the

State Department in the second week

of November, a Pakistani diplomat

said. The agrement is the approval of

a designated diplomat by the receiving

state. Normally, the State Department

took four to six weeks to issue agrement

for Pakistani ambassadors in the

past, a former foreign secretary said.

"This time they are taking unusually

long," Dawn news quoted another

diplomat as saying.

The delay has occurred at a time

when ties between the two allies have

turned increasingly frosty due to the

geo-political environment. The US

interest in Pakistan has waned after it

pulled out of Afghanistan. Moreover,

Washington looks at ties with Pakistan

from the prism of its strategic competition

with China, although Islamabad

has repeatedly said that it was not part

of any camp politics.

"While I'm encouraged that the

State Department has reportedly

placed a pause on approving Masood

Khan as the new ambassador from

Pakistan, a pause is not enough. I urge

you to reject any diplomatic credentials

presented to you by Masood

Khan and reject any effort by the government

of Pakistan to install this

jihadist as Pakistan's ambassador to

the US," Scott Perry, a Congressman,

wrote to President Joe Biden.

People in the Foreign Office

believe that the delay was because of

Masood Khan's last position as the

president of PoK.

2

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS

www.theasianindependent.co.uk

Bail plea of Union Minister Rane's son

and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane rejected

Sindhudurg (Maharashtra) : In

yet another setback to BJP MLA

Nitesh Rane, the son of Union MSME

Minister Narayan Rane, a court in

Maharashtra's Sindhudurg on Tuesday

rejected his bail plea in an attempt to

murder case.

Terming Rane's application "premature",

that bail would hamper

incomplete investigations, and his custodial

interrogation is necessitated

considering the case facts and circumstances,

Additional Sessions Judge

R.B. Rote said that Rane is facing 11

criminal cases including offence

against public servants and 2 other

accused in the case are still absconding.

His order came after the Supreme

Court last week directed Maharashtra

Police not to arrest Rane for 10 days in

the case and asked him to surrender

before the trial court in Sindhudurg to

seek regular bail in the matter.

On January 17, the Bombay High

Court declined to grant anticipatory

bail to the two-time legislator Rane on

various grounds, after which he had

moved the apex court.

Arguing for pre-arrest bail, Rane's

lawyers Satish Maneshinde and S.D.

Desai said that the weapon was a

paper-cutter and the injuries were not

serious, the case was politically motivated

and a story was concocted,

Ankara : Turkey's tourism

revenue rose by 103 per cent

year-on-year in 2021 and

reached $24.48 billion despite

setbacks, the country's

Statistical Institute said.

The country's tourism

income increased significantly

Team AI :

Devinder Chander

Editor-in-chief

Columnists

V.B. Rawat

Farzana Suri

Arun Kumar

Rahul Kumar

Head Office

Samaj Media Enterprise Ltd.

46 Summer Road

Erdington, Birmingham UK

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Turkey's tourism revenue doubled

in 2021 despite setbacks

in the fourth quarter last year,

registering a 95 per cent surge

to $7.63 billion, Xinhua news

agency reported.

It added that personal expenditures

constituted 19.68 billion

dollars of income in 2021,

while package tour expenditures

earned $4.8 billion.

Turkey's tourism was hit

hard by the Covid-19 pandemic-related

restrictions last year,

particularly when Russia halted

all flights to Turkey for about

three months due to the soaring

daily cases in the country.

The Russian market was significantly

important for

Turkey's coastal regions, especially

for the Mediterranean

province of Antalya.

In July and August 2021,

multiple massive wildfires that

gripped the world-renowned

tourism spots along the Aegean

and the Mediterranean coasts

while the statement of an other

accused was taken forcibly, Rane was

ready to cooperate with the investigations

and he had recorded his statement

on December 24.

Opposing Rane's plea, Special

Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said

no notice was served to the prosecution

before filing the bail application

under Section 438 of the CrPC, Rane's

anticipatory bail applications had been

already rejected earlier, and his custody

was required for a just and proper

investigation.

He also contended that the SC had

allowed Rane to surrender before the

trial court and then apply for regular

bail, and the 10 days interim protection

was breathing time to prepare him

for giving himself up. Observing that

Rane was not "falsely implicated due

to political reasons", Judge Rote said

he is the "main accused" and his prima

facie involvement has been shown, a

of Turkey also stunted tourism

revenues, forcing many travellers

to cancel their plans.

Last year, the country was

also struggling against the

depreciation of the Turkish lira,

which lost 44 per cent of its

value to the dollar.

Meanwhile, the country's

vaccination efforts against

Covid-19 have been continuing

at full pace, and more than 141

million vaccine doses have

been administered to date.

The rate of double-vaccinated

people aged 18 and above

hit 84.38 per cent as of

Monday, according to the latest

data released by the Health

Ministry.

Turkey generated a total of

$34.5 billion in revenue after

receiving 45 million tourists in

2019, but it suffered losses of

over 70 per cent in 2020

because of the pandemic.

conspiracy was hatched to teach the

victim a lesson, and hence, his custodial

interrogation was necessary for

proper and effective investigation.

Rane is charged for the alleged

December 18, 2021, attack on Shiv

Sena activist Santosh M. Parab while

campaigning for the Sindhudurg

District Cooperative Bank polls on

December 31, though the BJP leader

has consistently denied any involvement.

According to Parab's police

complaint, when he was returning

home that evening, his motorcyle was

hit by a SUV without number plates,

one person stepped out, and assaulted

him with a paperknife.

Later, the assailant said that Gotya

Sawant and Nitesh Rane should be

informed of this incident, called up

someone, and sped off in the SUV.

Police subsequently arrested six

accused - Chetan Pawar, Karan B.

Kamble, Anil Nakka, Karan D.

Kamble, Deepak N. Waghode and

Sachin Satpute - all from Pune, while

two other accused Dnyaneshwar D.

Devnur and Dheeraj Jadhav are still

absconding.

As per the probe, Karan B. Kamble

revealed the weapons used in the

offence which were recovered and the

attack was commissioned by Devnur

and Jadhav for Rs 150,000 of which

they were paid Rs 20,000. The probe

revealed that Satpute and Rane had

allegedly hatched the conspiracy on

August 28 last year with the latter

wanting to teach Parab a lesson for targeting

the Rane family.

Meanwhile, Maneshinde told

media persons this evening that

nobody can touch Rane till he enjoys

the court's protection and he would

soon move the Bombay High Court

challenging the Sindhudurg court

order.

Abide by Indian law or pack

up: Andhra HC to Twitter

Amaravati : The

Andhra Pradesh High

Court (HC) has issued a

stern warning to social

media giant Twitter to

either abide by Indian

law or else move out

from the country.

The HC's warning

came in connection

with Twitter not following

the orders of withdrawing

abusive content

against judiciary

from the social media

platform. The matter

has been posted for

hearing on February 7.

A bench headed by Chief

Justice Prashant Kumar

Mishra and Justice M.

Satyanarayana Murthy on

Monday said that Twitter must

explain why 'cease and desist'

orders must not be initiated

before the next hearing.

It also stressed that Twitter

can't play "hide and seek" with

Indian law and should abide by

the law of the land if it wants

to operate on Indian soil.

The bench said it is a clear

case fit for contempt and criminal

proceedings could be initiated

against Twitter. The bench

also referred to a recent judgment

against Google where an

FIR has been registered.

Submitting the abusive content

to the bench, Assistant

Solicitor General S.V. Raju,

who appeared for CBI,

brought to the notice of the

court that such social media

posts are still visible on

Twitter, despite the court's

clear directions for withdrawal.

S.V. Raju said that Twitter

removes abusive content from

the social media accounts of

those who are Indian nationals.

However, the abusive content

is still not removed from those

who reside in India and declare

their nationality with some foreign

country. There is no problem

with YouTube and

Facebook, this has been the

case only with Twitter, he

added.

Counsel for Twitter Saransh

Jain, appearing for senior

counsel Arvind Datar, said that

the technology has been

designed to work in that way

and it applies to all social

media platforms.

YouTube's senior counsel

maintained that the videostreaming

platform has taken

down all contentious URLs

given by CBI.

* The Asian Independent and people associated with it are not responsible for any claims made by the advertisers and do not endorse in any products or services advertised. Please visit www.theasianindependent.com/tc for more information.


ASIA

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

3

Railways to sensitise people against dropping

food on tracks to prevent jumbo deaths

Chennai : The Southern Railway

has decided to sensitise people and

create awareness among commuters to

not drop food leftovers and garbage on

rail tracks, for the safety of elephants

A study conducted by Kerala's

retired Principal Chief Conservator of

Forest, K. Harikumar, has shown that

elephants and other wild animals get

attracted to the railway tracks by the

smell of food leftovers dropped by the

passengers.

Several NGOs in Coimbatore and

Podannur area had already complained

to the Railways about elephants

getting killed by speeding

trains near Tamil Nadu's

Madhukkarai.

These NGOs, which study wildlife,

have found that one of the reasons for

the elephants and other wild animals

getting hit by speeding trains is the

smell of food leftovers dumped by

commuters, that attract them to the

tracks. They have, therefore, recommended

the Railways to create awareness

among passengers on this.

K. Kalidas of Osai Environmental

Organisation, which studies wildlife,

told IANS: "Passengers are knowingly

HC grants bail to 2 in murder

case during Delhi riots

New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail

to two persons arrested in connection with the murder of an

octogenarian woman during the riots that broke out in the

national capital in February 2020.

A bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad granted bail to Arun

Kumar and Ravi Kumar while their co-accused Vishal Singh

was denied bail.

The FIR was registered under sec. 302--punishment for murder,

307--Attempt to murder, 396 --Dacoity with murder, 148--

Rioting, armed with a deadly weapon, 149--unlawful assembly,

436--Mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to

destroy house and147--Punishment for rioting.

According to police, Akbari Begum, 85, who lived with her

family on Gamri Road in the Bhajanpura area of northeast Delhi,

died of suffocation and asphyxiation when a mob attacked and

set her house afire on February 25, 2020.

An FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by

Saeed Salmani, her son."While other family members climbed

to the rooftop, the elderly woman could not and died of suffocation,"

as per the police.

Her body was recovered from the second floor of the house

after the fire was extinguished by the fire department personnel.

"The body was found lying on a folding bed," the police said.

"On the ground and first floors was a garment workshop. The

family of the complainant was living on the second and third

floors of the four-story house. The police rescued the family

members from the rooftop. But the deceased couldn't be rescued,"

the Crime Branch had said in a statement.

or unknowingly throwing away food

waste and garbage on the railway

tracks and it is rampant between

Palakkad and Podanur where the

Madukkarai area falls. Several elephants

and other wild animals got

killed by speeding trains and lost their

lives due to this and we found that

most of the wild animals are reaching

the tracks at the smell of food waste."

However, noting that passengers

are compelled to throw their waste

itmes on the rail track, as dustbins in

the train compartments are often overflowing,

he said that the Railways

must build specific points in railway

stations for waste disposal and ensure

that there are proper bins in every train

compartment.

Elephants are spotted in the reserve

forest area in a two-km stretch of track

A and a three km stretch of track B.

Railway officials said that the number

of staff deployed to clear the track

during the day and at night will also be

increased to prevent elephants and

other wild animals from reaching the

track.

In November 2021, three elephants

including a calf, had lost their lives

after being run over by a speeding

Mangalore-Chennai mail train.

An arguments had erupted between

the Tamil Nadu Forest Department

and the Railway officials in Palakkad

over this issue and the forest officials

were even gheraoed by the Railway

staff.

A senior Railway official said that

announcements are being made now at

Palakkad railway station to educate

people not to throw waste in forest

area as it could attract wild animals

including elephants to the track thereby

endangering their lives.

Global Imams Council

takes on CHINA

New Delhi : The Chinese government

has launched a defamatory and libellous

campaign to discredit the Global Imams

Council (GIC) and to character assassinate

whoever advocates for the freedom of the

Uyghur people, the GIC has said.

"We are China's latest victims. We consider

these false allegations, manipulations,

and accusations a provocation by

the Chinese government," the GIC said.

"Through our Imams, which exceed

1,300 members, we oversee the affairs of

over 800 centres, mosques and organisations

globally. We will not be intimidated,

and we shall multiply our efforts by ensuring

that the most leading Grand

Ayatollahs, Muftis and Islamic Authorities

in the Muslim world, Sunni and Shia,

issue independent statements against the

Chinese government's violations of

human rights," the body said.

On January 28, Chinese state media participation in the 2022 Beijing Winter Islamic authorities. Furthermore, we

Global Times published an article titled Olympics.

issued a separate statement assuring

"NGO of Muslims fooled by anti-China "This is a lie, as we have an active Muslims that we supported sporting activities

but were only opposed to an event

WUC to call for 'boycott' of Beijing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

Games", containing lies and fabrications with the WUC, and we share the concerns that served the interests of the Chinese

with the sole intention of distracting the of the Uyghur people that the Chinese government," the statement said.

public from its violations of human rights, government is persecuting. The statement The third claim was that the President

and to defame this Council, the GIC said. was our initiative and was not requested of the Global Imams Council, Imam al-

This statement is not a response to by the WUC," it said.

Budairi, was interviewed by a journalist in

Global Times, as their agenda, ownership The second claim was that the Muslim Iraq where he had supposedly stated that

and history of justifying injustice are leaders carbon copied onto our statement the World Uyghur Congress funds this

clear, it said.

had opposed our statement.

Council.

Instead, these clarifications are for the "This is also a lie. Chinese Embassies This is another lie because not only was

vulnerable readers they may have threatened and pressured two of the mentioned

Muftis to deny signing the state-

the President of this Council was never

the name of the interviewer not disclosed,

deceived, the GIC statement said.

The first claim was that the Global ment, despite the fact that a ‘CC' does not actually interviewed on this matter, nor

Imams Council was "fooled" by the World mean ‘signature'. We then clarified this did he meet with a journalist, the GIC

Uyghur Congress (WUC) to ban Muslim matter and personally contacted those statement said.

4

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 ASIA


War displaced families return

home in Afghanistan's Nangarhar

Kabul : Afghan families who

were forced to leave their homes in

Nangarhar province's Shinwari area

during the 20-year conflict are finally

returning, the media reported.

Shinwari is a large area located

alongside the Durand Line - the defacto

border between Afghanistan and

Pakistan, reports TOLO News.

The area comprises six districts --

Spin Ghar, Nazian, Achin, Haska-

Mina, Dor Baba and Ghani Khel.

The displaced families include the

residents of Asadkhel of Spin Ghar

district who were forced to leave their

homes after the US dropped the "the

mother of all bombs", to target tunnels

used by the Islamic State (IS) terrorists.

Nasir Khan, a resident of the village,

said that he returned after a period

of two years, adding that many

homes in the village have become

ruins.

"No one has the capability to

reconstruct their residences. When the

mother of all bombs was used here,

dozens of residences were destroyed,"

he told TOLO News.

The relentless conflict has inflicted

heavy financial loss in addition to

human casualties in the districts of

Shinwari, according to the residents.

"We call on the Islamic Emirate

and international community to consider

our situation and help us. There

is no clinic and school here," said

Khan Por, another resident.

The provincial department of

refugees said it has been attempting to

provide assistance to the residents of

Shinwari districts.

"We are in contact with foreign

organisations to provide help for

schools, clinics and dams for agriculture,"

said Dunia Gul Shinwari,

deputy head of the Nangarhar

refugee's department.

The incumbent Taliban government

has launched a process to transfer

the war-displaced people back to

their home areas.

But the families complained about

the lack of support and aid, which

makes life difficult back in their home

areas.

Pubs in Hyderabad told to

check drug consumption

Hyderabad : The Telangana government

on Monday asked the managements

of all pubs in Hyderabad to

take all the steps to check usage of

drugs in their premises.

Minister for Prohibition and

Excise V. Srinivas Goud held a meeting

with managements of all pubs and

gave them instructions in the wake of

the state government declaring a

crackdown on narcotic drugs.

The pub owners were told that

they will be held responsible if drug

abusers were found to be using their

premises. They have been asked to

observe movements of customers,

check if anything is mixed in cigarettes

and keep an eye on other suspicious

activity.

The pub managements were told

that they can install CCTV cameras in

the smoking area to keep a check on

their customers for any suspicious

activity. The minister told pub owners

not to be afraid while dealing with

drug peddlers or abusers, even if they

are influential. He assured them that

the government will give them all the

support and even a special incentive.

Srinivas Goud also stated that serious

action will be taken against those

operating through dark web and other

courier services to transport drugs.

The minister said foreign students

booked for drug abuse will be repatriated

to their respective countries and

their passport will be seized.

Referring to complaints about

sound pollution caused by pubs, the

minister directed them not to play

loud music. He warned that pubs

playing loud music will be booked

and their equipment will be seized.

The complaints about noise pollution

can be made to the Excise

Department on toll free number 1800-

425-2523. Pub owners were also

asked to display the toll free number

inside the premises.

Excise Department officials will

undertake inspections to check if the

pubs are following the instructions on

noise pollution.

Monday's meeting came close on

the heels of the state government

announcing an action plan to eradicate

the menace of drugs.

At a meeting with police and

excise officials on January 28, Chief

Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made

it clear in the narcotic drug cases, the

accused will not be spared however

high and mighty they may be.

He also directed officials to cancel

licenses of the pubs and bars if they

are found allowing drug consumption.

FIA alleges Farooq Zahoor

partner of Dawood Ibrahim,

pointing to Don's presence

in PAKISTAN

New Delhi : In a big

embarrassment for

Pakistan, the country's

Federal Investigation

Agency (FIA) has alleged

that Gulf-based Pakistani

businessman Umer Farooq

Zahoor is a partner of

Dawood Ibrahim.

A You Tube video

uploaded in Pakistan by Rizwan Razi

has said that Farooq Zahoor is a partner

of wanted terrorist, Dawood

Ibrahim.

While Pakistan has maintained

that Dawood is not in Pakistan, India

has been consistently maintaining

otherwise. Razi said that the investigation

was filed by Pakistani police

officer and FIA chief Sanaullah

Abbasi to allege that Zahoor is a partner

of Dawood.

This may lead to Interpol asking

Abbasi as several notices have been

issued while Pakistan has been claiming

that Dawood is not there, Razi

said. Razi said in a blog that Abbasi

will be in big trouble after this

expose. He also said that Pakistan

will not know where to hide after this

as its long-standing policy of maintaining

secrecy on Dawood has been

breached.

The News has earlier reported that

Zahoor, a suspect wanted in financial

crimes in Norway who is now being

linked with former DG FIA Bashir

Memon, has been found attending

high-profile meetings

during the Imran Khan

government, officially

released pictures show,

and he travelled to

Pakistan on more than 60

occasion in 14 years

(2006-2019), according

to FIA records. The

record further suggests

that Interpol cancelled red notice

against Zahoor after Norwegian

authorities didn't respond to the

queries of Interpol within due period

and that Memon had only forwarded

the application, he received from

Zahoor when he (Memon) was the

DG, FIA. It has been learnt that FIA

plans to implicate its former boss in

another inquiry in case efforts to

penalise Zahoor's case doesn't yield

result, the report said.

Zahoor is a close confidante of an

important member of a Middle

Eastern state's royal family, and has

featured in different pictures together

with the royal family member while

meeting or attending important

events in Pakistan.

Now, as the government is set to

tighten the noose around Memon for

going public against the unlawful

order he disclosed having received

from the Prime Minister's office, his

picture with Zahoor is being used as

evidence. In it, the royal family member

was also present, The News

reported.


NEWS

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

5

ICICI Bank UK PLC to facilitate home loans

in India for Indian diaspora based in the UK

ICICI Bank UK PLC is now

facilitating home loans in India

through its parent, ICICI Bank

Ltd India (ICICI Bank), for NRI

(Non

Resident

Indians)/Overseas Citizen of

India (OCI)/ Persons of Indian

Origin (PIO) based in the United

Kingdom (UK).With ICICI

Bank’s India home loans,

NRIs/OCI/PIO living in the UK

can avail home loan to buy properties

in India (residential as well

as commercial) without travelling

to India.

ICICI Bank India has a portfolio

of pre-approved properties,

accessible online on

www.home.icicibank.com that

makes the selection process easy

and efficient. ICICI Bank UK

PLC has a dedicated team based

in the UK to assist homebuyers

who are looking to avail a home

loan in India. Customers can

also transfer their existing loan

from other lenders to ICICI

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Over 3.5mn child

Covid cases reported

in US in January

Washington : Over 3.5 million child Covid-19 cases were

reported in the US in January, marking "a dramatic spike" during

the Omicron variant surge, according to a new report.

The report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

and the Children's Hospital Association released on Monday

said that more than 11.4 million children in the country have

tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic in

early 2020, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nearly two million of these cases have been added in the past

two weeks. For the week ending January 27, over 808,000 additional

child Covid-19 cases were reported in the country, said

the AAP, adding child cases this week remained "extremely

high", triple the peak level of the Delta surge in 2021.

This marked the 25th week in a row child Covid-19 cases in

the US were above 100,000.

Since the first week of September 2021, there have been

almost 6.4 million additional child cases, according to the AAP.

'Not in nation's interest': SC on judicial

interference in mega foreign-funded projects

New Delhi : The Supreme

Court on Monday said delay in

mega projects, which are funded

by foreign countries under a

bilateral agreement, "may not

be in the larger public interest,

and also not in the nation's

interest".

The top court's stance came

as it set aside a Delhi High

Court judgment, directing

National High Speed Rail

Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) to

consider the bid of Montecarlo

Ltd, for construction and development

of a depot in connection

with the Mumbai-

Ahmedabad bullet train project.

A bench of Justices M.R.

Shah and A.S. Bopanna said:

"Such an interference by the

courts midway and delay in the

projects like these which are

funded by the foreign countries

on bilateral mutual understanding/agreement

by the developed

country to a developing

country may affect the future

investments/funding.

"Any delay in execution of

such a mega project, which is a

very important project for the

developing country like India

may not be in the larger public

interest and in the nation's

interest."

It pointed out that the high

court ought to have appreciated

that it is always advisable that

in such a foreign-funded mega

project, delay may have a cascading

effect and many a time,

lead to financial burden.

"Therefore, there shall be

minimal interference and/or no

interference till the entire tender

process or till the award of

contract is completed," said

Justice Shah, who authored the

82-page judgment on behalf of

the bench. The bench emphasised

there shall be different

considerations so far as the

judicial interference is concerned

between foreign-funded

contracts and the ordinary public

works contracts funded

from public exchequer.

It noted that it is difficult for

a developing country to go

ahead with such a high cost

project unless a developed

country is ready to fund, more

particularly, when the developed

country is ready to fund a

huge amount at a minimal concessional

rate of interest and on

suitable terms and conditions

of repayment.

The bench said: "Before

entertaining the writ petition

with respect to such mega projects

funded by the foreign

countries, one has to appreciate

that funds of such mega projects

by the foreign country is

followed by a detailed discussion

between the Prime

Ministers of both the countries

and to strengthen bilateral

cooperation in the rail sector."

The NHSRCL had rejected

Montecarlo's bid and awarded

the contract to another firm.

Montecarlo moved the high

court claiming that no reasons

were assigned while rejecting

its bid.

The bench said: "We are also

of the opinion that in a mega

project, which is funded by a

foreign country, there shall not

be any interference with the

tender process midway till the

final decision is taken to award

the contract."

It said it is required to be

noted that a conscious decision

was taken by JICC/JICA holding

that the bid submitted by

the original writ petitioner suffers

from material deviation

and the same cannot be said to

be a substantially responsive

technical bid, and emphasised

it was not open for the high

court to interfere with this decision.

"When the JICA has

agreed to fund such a huge

amount and the terms and conditions

of the tender document

are finalised by the JICC/JICA,

and, therefore, when conscious

decision has been taken by the

JICC/JICA, the same was not

required to be interfered with

by the High Court lightly and

when such a decision of the

High Court would have a cascading

effect on such a foreignfunded

mega project," said the

bench.

6 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 ASIA


WMO certifies two mega

flash lightning records

Geneva : The World Meteorological

Organization (WMO) has established two

new world records for mega flashes of lightning

in notorious hotspots in North and South

America.

WMO's Committee on Weather and

Climate Extremes, which maintains official

records of global, hemispheric and regional

extremes recognized the longest single flash

that covered a horizontal distance of 768 Â± 8

km (477.2 Â± 5 miles) across parts of the

southern US on April 29, 2020.

This is equivalent to the distance between

New York City and Columbus Ohio in the US

or between London and the German city of

Hamburg. Similarly, other record was for the

greatest duration for a single lightning flash of

17.102 Â± 0.002 seconds was from the flash

that developed continuously through a thunderstorm

over Uruguay and northern

Argentina on June 18, 2020.

The new record for the longest detected

mega flash distance is 60 kilometres more

than the previous record, with a distance of

709 Â± 8 km (440.6 Â± 5 mi) across parts of

southern Brazil on October 31, 2018. Both the

previous and new record used the same maximum

great circle distance methodology to

measure flash extent while the previous

longest duration mega flash record was of

16.73 seconds, which was derived from a

flash that developed continuously over northern

Argentina on March 4, 2019, 0.37 seconds

shorter than the new record, the WMO said in

a release. The findings were published in the

Bulletin of the American Meteorological

Probe ordered into death

of cows in MP's Berasia

administration had booked Nirmala

Devi Shandilya, the proprietor of cowshed

in Berasia. She is said to be associated

with the BJP.

While a number of cows were found

dead, skeletons of cows were found

near the same cowshed.

Shandilya had been running a cow

shelter in Berasia for the past 30 years.

The matter came into light on Sunday

after some villagers shot video of carcasses

of cows that were left abandoned

in a dry well near the shelter and posted

on social media.

Later, a team led by district collector

Avinash Lavania visited the shelter.

"During the visit, we found about 60

carcasses of cows. Most of them were

Bhopal : A day after a number of

cows were found dead at a cowshed in

Berasia near Bhopal, the Madhya

cows had died due to several reasons

like old age, pneumonia and liver failure.

"The case of death of cows at a private

fully decomposed. About half a dozen

cows were killed in the past one week

and their carcasses were sent for post-

Pradesh government on Monday

cowshed in Berasia is sad. The mortem to know the reason behind the

ordered a magisterial probe into the

matter.

The government has also directed to

set up a medical camp for providing

treatment to the cows, and instructed the

officials to shift them to other cowsheds.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister

Narottam Mishra said on Monday that it

was learnt after the post-mortem that the

state government will now take proper

care of the cows by taking the operation

of this gaushala in its own hands,"

Mishra said at a press conference.

The minister said that a 'private party'

has been operating cowshed on the government

land, which now will be made

encroachment-free.

On Sunday, the Bhopal district

deaths. The FIR was registered for not

disposing of the carcasses. A camp was

also organised to check the health condition

of the rest of the cows... around

200 in number," Lavania said.

It has also been learnt that in the last

two years, the state government has

provided over Rs 21 lakh for the cowshed

-- Bharati gaushala in Berasia.

Society.

"These are extraordinary records from single

lightning flash events. Environmental

extremes are living measurements of the

power of nature, as well as scientific progress

in being able to make such assessments. It is

likely that even greater extremes still exist,

and that we will be able to observe them as

lightning detection technology improves,"

said Professor Randall Cerveny, rapporteur of

Weather and Climate Extremes for WMO.

"Lightning is a major hazard that claims

many lives every year. The findings highlight

important public lightning safety concerns for

electrified clouds where flashes can travel

extremely large distances," said WMO

Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas.

The new record strikes occurred in hotspots

for Mesoscale Convective System (MCS)

thunderstorms, whose dynamics permit

extraordinary mega flashes to occur - namely,

the Great Plains in North America, and the La

Plata basin in South America.

Many lightning scientists acknowledged

that there are upper limits for the scale of

lightning that could be observed by any existing

LMA. Identifying mega flashes beyond

these extremes would require a lightning mapping

technology with a larger observation

domain.

BSF apprehends Pak

fisherman from Sir Creek,

seized three boats

Gandhinagar : The Border Security Force on Monday

apprehended a Pakistani fisherman in the Sir Creek area, and

seized three boats, officials said.

According to the BSF Gujarat Frontier, a BSF patrol in the

general area of Lakhpatwari Creek which is at the mouth of Sir

Creek, observed movement of some Pakistani fishing boats

with 4-5 fishermen, attempting to enter into Indian territory by

taking the advantage of rough seas.

The alert patrol party intercepted the Pakistani intruders the

moment they tried to enter Indian territory, and the latter, seeing

the BSF personnel, tried to escape. The BSF patrol chased

them and apprehended one man and seized three Pakistani

fishing boats, while rest of the fishermen managed to escape

back into their territory, taking advantage of marshy terrain.

All the three seized boats were searched but nothing suspicious

has been recovered from them.

The BSF also said that a thorough search operation of the

area has been launched and is still underway. However, nothing

suspicious has been recovered from the area so far.


ASIA

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

7

Battle for UP: BSP raises issues via social media

Lucknow : The Bahujan

Samaj Party's (BSP) social

media campaign, aimed at cornering

the Samajwadi Party

(SP) and BJP, has started raising

issues related to alleged

encounter killings of Brahmins,

harassment of Dalits, minorities

and deaths of over 700

farmers during the agitation

against the anti-farm laws.

The

campaign,

#JawabKaunDega, saw several

senior party members tweeting

on harassment of innocents and

seeking accountability.

It has been designed to raise

the party's political pitch before

Mayawati's first political rally

in Agra on February 2.

BSP MP and General

Secretary S.C. Mishra tweeted:

"The farm laws forcefully

implemented by the dictatorial

BJP government witnessed

deaths of more than 700

protesting farmers. This is

extremely shameful. Due to the

terrible law and order situation

under SP and BJP, people from

the SC/ST community have

suffered harassment for 10

years. The casteist mindset of

SP and BJP also led to killings

of Brahmins. We need an

answer,"

The campaign is raising

questions like "500 Brahmanon

ki hatyaon ka jawab kaun

dega?",

"Dalitonalpasankhyakon

par ho rahe

atyacharon ka jawab kaun

dega?" and "700 plus kisanon

ki maut ka jawab kaun dega?".

Party spokesperson M.H.

Khan also tweeted: "By giving

the slogan of 80:20, the Chief

Minister, who occupies a constitutional

post, has only

worked for marginalisation of

Dalits and minorities."

Another spokesperson

Dharamveer Chaudhary also

tweeted on the deaths of 700

protesting farmers, while BSP

MP Ritesh Pandey asked:

"Who is answerable for harassment

of Dalits and minorities

from Hathras to AMU?"

This is the first time that the

BSP is expanding its social

media presence through various

platforms.

MAYAWATI pits

Dalits against

Akhilesh, Shivpal

Lucknow : In a shrewd political move, the Bahujan Samaj

Party (BSP) has fielded Dalit candidates against Samajwadi

Party president Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle -- Pragatisheel

Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav.

BSP's Kuldeep Narayan will contest against the SP president

from the Karhal seat in Mainpuri while Brajendra Pratap Singh

will contest against the PSPL chief from the Jaswantnagar

Assembly seat in Etawah.

Both Karhal and Jaswantnagar are unreserved seats and considered

the stronghold of the Samajwadi Party. The SP has been

winning Karhal and Jaswantnagar seats since 1993.

A BSP leader said, "Narayan and Singh will be contesting the

Assembly elections for the first time. Both belong to the Jatav

community and have been working for the party at the grassroots

level, strengthening the support base of the party in

Mainpuri and Etawah."

BSP chief Mayawati decided to field Kuldeep Narayan and

Brajendra Pratap Singh against the political heavyweights in

order to give a message to party cadres that committed workers

will be given preference in the Assembly elections.

The BSP hopes to mobilise the younger party cadre at a time

when most of the senior leaders have deserted the party, he said.

Mayawati, on Thursday released the party's list of 53 candidates

for the third phase of UP Assembly elections where polling

will be held on February 20 in 59 Assembly constituencies in 11

districts. Among the 11 districts -- Mainpuri, Etawah, Firozabad,

Etah, Hathras, Kasganj, Kannauj, Farrukhabad and Aurraiya --

are called the strongholds of the Samajwadi Party.

Of the 53 candidates, 18 belong to the other backward classes

(OBCs), 17 are Dalits, 15 belong to the upper caste and three

are Muslims. The 11 districts (in which third phase Assembly

election will be held) have a large backward and Dalit population.

Keeping caste equations in consideration, the BSP chief

has fielded maximum candidates from both the communities.

Under the social engineering formula, Brahmin and Rajput candidates

have also been fielded in the upper caste majority seats,

said the BSP leader.

Mayawati will launch the party's election campaign from

Agra on February 2 by addressing a public meeting.

Small period changes after Covid jab

seen to be short-lived: UK expert

London : Small changes to periods can

follow a Covid-19 vaccine but they quickly

return to normal, a leading UK menstruation

expert has said.

Victoria Male, from Imperial College

London, called studies from the US and

Norway which tracked women's cycles

"reassuring" and she blamed misinformation

for fuelling concerns over infertility,

the BBC reported.

The UK regulator said there is no evidence

Covid-19 vaccines affect the ability

to have children, the report said.

The Medicines and Healthcare products

Regulatory Agency has received more than

37,000 reports of unexpected vaginal

London : Covid infections

jumped by a tenth across the

UK last week, according to

another study that shows children

are fueling the resurgence

of Omicron.

According to the Daily Mail,

King's College London scientists

estimate 160,000 people

were falling ill with Covid

every day in the week ending

January 26, compared to

145,000 in its previous report.

Cases are now rising in

every region, the report said.

The findings mirror other

coronavirus surveillance studies

and the Government's data,

which all illustrate how the

Omicron wave stopped collapsing.

The data from the King's

team, who work alongside

health firm ZOE, shows cases

in children are fuelling the rise,

with infections hitting the highest

rate recorded since the pandemic

began. And cases now

appear to be spilling over into

35 to 55-year-olds.

Separate data from the UK

Health Security Agency

released mirrors the findings,

with positive test results rising

in youngsters and their parents'

age groups while remaining

stable in other cohorts.

Professor Tim Spector, an

epidemiologist and lead scientist

for the study, said the

bounce-back came 'sooner than

bleeding, heavier and delayed periods after

a Covid-19 jab.

It has always been said there is no evidence

of a link to the vaccine because

women's cycles vary naturally -- but scientists

called for more research.

In a British Medical Journal editorial,

Male, a lecturer in reproductive immunology,

pointed to two studies.

A US study of nearly 4,000 women

using a menstrual-cycle tracking app found

their next period was delayed by half a day

after a second vaccine dose, but there was

no delay after the first.

Those who had two doses in the same

cycle had a two-day delay but, Male said,

that was unlikely among women in the UK,

where the gap between doses is at least

eight weeks. The cycle length of one in 10

of the women changed by more than eight

days, compared with one in 25 unvaccinated

women, but after just two cycles, their

periods returned to normal.

Another study, of more than 5,600 people

in Norway, shows how much periods

can vary naturally. Nearly 40 per cent saw

at least one change, even before being vaccinated,

with the most common complaint

heavier than normal bleeding.

Omicron bounced back 'sooner

than expected': Study

many expected'.

But he insisted it was 'not

surprising' because the start of

the school term has been the

instigator of resurgences

throughout the pandemic, with

the highly-infectious virus then

crossing over into their parents,

school staff and the rest of the

wider community.

Professor Spector said cases

will 'continue to stay high until

spring' due to Omicron's high

reinfection rate and the emergence

of subvariant BA.2,

which experts argue could

become dominant within a

month because it appears to be

even more infectious than its

ancestral strain.

8 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS


Press freedom in Pakistan deteriorated in 2021: Report

Karachi : The Council of Pakistan

Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has

released a report to highlight how

press freedom deteriorated in 2021 as

compared to the previous two years. In

the report titled "Pakistan Media

Freedom Report - 2021", the CPNE on

Sunday expressed concerns over tactics

aimed at stifling freedom of

media, freedom of expression, and

access to information, reports The

Express Tribune.

In 2021 alone, the report revealed

that five journalists were killed in the

line of duty, including Karachi-based

social media activist and community

journalist Nazim Jokhio, who was

abducted and killed mercilessly.

At least nine journalists lost their

lives due to the coronavirus pandemic,

whereas two newsmen committed suicide

due to the lingering unemployment,

it added.

It stated that following 2020, the

year 2021 came to be an extremely

difficult year for journalists, media

workers, and media organisations in

Pakistan as freedom of press and freedom

of expression remained under

pressure.

It went on to say that due to the

Covid-19 pandemic, not only several

journalists lost their lives, but it also

plunged the media houses into deep

financial crises.

The report added that different

institutions continuously attempted to

keep the journalist community under

pressure through direct and indirect

tactics.

CPNE also noted that the number

of journalists who were harassed, tortured,

and killed in the line of duty last

year could be higher, the report said.

The report highlighted that many

journalists had to face murder

attempts, threats, lawsuits, and telephone

calls from "unknown numbers",

in addition to online harassment on

various occasions, The Express

Tribune reported.

The family members of the affected

journalists were also subjected to

physical and mental torture, it added.

Indian descent man

sentenced for sexually

abusing boy on plane

CPNE also mentioned that state

institutions registered cases against

several journalists during 2021 and

elaborated how the government

enforced a controversial media law to

control the media "by hook or by

crook".

Talking about finances, CPNE

mentioned that media houses' financial

woes precede the pandemic which

only further aggravated the crisis.

Unfortunately, the report regretted,

Pakistan is one of the countries, where

violence against journalists is increasing

and not even a single murderer has

been brought to justice.

During the previous year, it

observed that journalists and media

institutions faced censorship and

restraint on several occasions.

It went on to mention notable journalists

who were harassed or tortured

during 2021. The report also mentioned

the government's attempts to

stifle social media, including blocking

19,000 accounts and the repeated bans

on TikTok, the report said.

'Bigg Boss 15': Tejasswi Prakash lifts

trophy, collects cheque of Rs 40 lakh

Mumbai : Ending 16 weeks of

drama and suspense, and occasional

talk about the inability of Season

15 to get the kind of audience

engagement that the previous editions

were able to manage, the reality

show's host Salman Khan well

past Sunday midnight declared

Tejasswi Prakash as the winner of

'Bigg Boss 15'.

Tejasswi, engineering graduateturned-television

actress who was

earlier in the evening named as the

face of 'Naagin 6', Ekta Kapoor's

fantasy drama aired on Colors, gets

to go home with the Bigg Boss trophy

and a cheque of Rs 40 lakh.

The favourite to win the trophy,

Pratik Sehajpal, an Amity Law

School alumnus who's now a motivational

speaker and actor, had to

be content with the runner-up slot.

Karan Kundrra, a former Roadies

'gang leader' who later hosted the

crime show 'Gumraah', was No.

3.

Moments before declaring the

winner, Salman Khan created a

heart-stopping moment by

pulling a prank on Pratik, saying

he had been evicted, only to call

him back on the stage and break

the bad news to Karan that it was

he who had to exit. Kundra said

he was disappointed that he was

not able to make it to the Top 2.

Salman closed the show with a

cliffhanger, saying he looked forward

to the next season "with or

without me". Are we going to see

Salman in 'Bigg Boss 16'? The

question will keep the gossip

mills of the industry working

overtime for some time.

New York : A man of Indian descent has been sentenced to

15 months in prison after being found guilty of sexually abusing

a 16-year-old boy, who took pictures of the assault on a plane,

according to the Justice Department and media reports.

Judge Nancy E. Brasel handed down the sentence to Neeraj

Chopra, 41, in a federal court in Minneapolis, acting prosecutor

Charles J. Kovats said on Friday.

He was found guilty in July of the incident in April 2019 but

sentenced only this month.

According to prosecutors, Chopra had used a blanket to cover

his lap and and the right leg of the teen and "began inappropriately

touching the victim" while on the flight from Boston to

Minneapolis.

"Chopra ignored the victim's multiple requests to stop and

continued to inappropriately touch the victim," prosecutors said.

The legal media outlet, Law & Crime, citing court papers

reported that the victim was a boy who had asked Chopra to stop

the abuse and when it continued took pictures of the assault,

which were produced in court as evidence.

The victim's older brother, who was seated in a row in front

of him, reported seeing his brother cry and alerted their father

who switched seats with the victim, the publication said.

Chopra was met by law enforcement when the plane reached

Minneapolis.

The publication reported that Chopra had "admitted to touching

the boy inappropriately, but said it was because he was

asleep and having a bad dream 'about a family member being

killed'".

Rajamouli's 'RRR' back on track,

to be released on March 25

Hyderabad : The much-hyped, and

much-postponed, S.S. Rajamouli film

'RRR' is finally being released in theatres

on March 25.

The makers of the magnum opus took to

their social media handles on Monday to

announce the release date.

Featuring Telugu actors Jr NTR and

Ram Charan in the lead roles, 'RRR' is

being touted as the fictionalised tale of two

real-life unsung heroes, who fought for

tribal rights. Ram Charan and Jr NTR

respectively play Alluri Sitarama Raju, the

leader of the Rampa Rebellion of 1922,

and the Gond rebel Komaram Bheem, who

took on the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Alia Bhatt, Olivia Morris, Ajay Devgn 'Baahubali' composer. In addition to Telugu but the Covid-19 surge had pushed the

and Shriya Saran also play significant roles and Tamil, the movie will be released in makers to postpone the release. With the

in this grand movie, whose music has been Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. 'RRR' announcement of the release date, the

scored by M.M. Keeravaani, the was supposed to hit the screens in January, film's promotions will start all over again.

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 9

India’s Central Asian outreach

India's ties with Central Asia can

be traced back to the ancient Silk

Road, along which goods, people,

and ideas flowed. Geographically

Central Asia has been at the intersection

of crucial political and economic

transformations for centuries.

While the dissolution of the

Silk Road limited exchanges, there

is a renewed effort to reconnect

India with the region by the leadership.

The importance which India

attaches to the 5 Central Asian

Republics (CARs) was shown by its

commitment to hold a virtual summit

with the Presidents of 5 CARs,

when they were unable to travel to

India to participate at the Republic

Day parade as Chief Guests duet to

Covid travel restrictions.

India’s outreach

As expected the issue of

Afghanistan constituted one of the

focus areas of the agenda for the

summit. Prime Minister Narendra

Modi and the five Presidents decided

to set up a joint working group

on Afghanistan, with a broad consensus

emerging on issues such as

combating terrorism and drug trafficking.

Modi outlined the three focus

areas for India in its relationship

with CARs; Central Asia is central

to India's vision of an integrated and

stable extended neighbourhood and

cooperation between India and

Central Asia is essential for regional

security and prosperity, secondly

to establish a framework of regular

interactions at different levels and

among various stakeholders, and

lastly to create an ambitious

roadmap for future cooperation.

Modi also referred to India's

close ties with all the Central Asian

states at a bilateral level, and also

underlined the importance of each

of these countries. He described

Kazakhstan as an important partner

for India's energy security.

He highlighted the fact that

India's state governments are active

partners in growing cooperation

with Uzbekistan, while there is an

active partnership with Kyrgyzstan

in education and high-altitude

research. Modi described

Turkmenistan as an important part

of India's vision for regional connectivity,

and said this was evident

from "our participation in the

Ashgabat Agreement".

With Tajikistan, he said: "We

have a longstanding cooperation in

the field of security. And we are

continuously strengthening it."

Importance of CARs

In the last decade, Central Asian

nations have also been looking for

viable partners particularly in economic

and security sectors. Both

share common concerns in tackling

radicalisation and terrorism.

However, bilateral progress can

be described as slow. This is due to

the associated concerns with security

and capacity constraints, the

security situation in Afghanistan

and political differences within

Taliban to reopen Afghan

universities on Feb 2

Kabul : The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has

announced that universities

across the country will

reopen on February 2.

In a statement on

Sunday, the Ministry of

Higher Education said that

the students who are yet to

complete their last semester

will be given three

weeks and the new educational

year in those

provinces will start in late

April, reports Khaama Press. The universities in cold and

snowy provinces will reopen in early March, the statement

said.

A total of 150 public universities across Afghanistan will

finally be reopened after they were closed following the country's

takeover by the Taliban in August 2021.

Central Asia. India earnestly started

its outreach with its Connect

Central Asia Policy' initiated by

UPA II, later Modi became the first

Indian head of state to visit all five

nations in 2016. Since then there

has been significant progress in

cooperation, particularly in the

fields of defence, energy and connectivity.

The renewed Indian focus

on the region can be attributed to

the geopolitics of the region, particularly

China's aggressive outreach

with all 5 CARs. India has also initiated

multilateral engagement with

the region at two levels. The first is

through regional connectivity, with

a renewed push for long delayed

projects. This received a boost after

Iran and India signed an agreement

to develop Chabahar Port, when

Modi visited Iran in 2016, the port

has now become commercially

operational. Further, to facilitate

transport of goods between India

and Central Asia via Iran, India

joined the Ashgabat Agreement in

Bhubaneswar : The Economic

Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha police

has arrested a woman for her alleged

involvement in misappropriation of Rs

100 crore loan taken from various financial

institutions, officials said here on

Monday.

The accused person is Amrita Kindo,

managing director of Diya Diary Agro

Processor Pvt. Ltd. She was arrested and

forwarded to the local court here on

Sunday, and remanded to judicial custody.

Though the arrest was made on the

basis of a Rs 5 crore loan fraud case registered

against Sambandh Finserve Pvt.

Ltd, it was found during investigation

that the firm had collected over Rs 100

crore from various finance institutions

and misappropriated the same, the police

officials said.

As per the complaint, accused Deepak

Kindo, MD of Sambandh Finserve Pvt.

Ltd., Bhubaneswar had fraudulently

availed loan to the tune of Rs 5 crore

2018, including Iran, Oman,

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

More importantly, 12 years after

becoming an observer, India joined

the Shanghai Cooperation

Organisation (SCO) as a full member

in 2017. SCO is not only beneficial

for India to remain connected

with Central Asia, but also has the

potential for India to work collectively

with other leading powers in

the region to address economic and

security issues that may have potentially

detrimental concerns for the

world. While these steps have given

a new lease of life to India's vision

for Eurasian connectivity, New

Delhi must combine skilful diplomacy

with action on the ground to

ensure the continued viability of

these projects in the face of US-Iran

tensions.

China and CARs

Though India has adopted a more

proactive approach and explored

new avenues for economic cooperation

with CARs. China has aggressively

wooed the CARs through its

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),

besides leveraging its geography,

finances and population to ensure

that its projects can contribute to

making its dream of a new and

improved Silk Road a reality,

Operating at several levels the

Chinese economic strategy in

Central Asia also focuses on development

of western China, through

opening up of Xinjiang and ensuring

its economic development in

order to cool tensions there. In addition

China needs CARs as a market

for its goods besides getting its

energy requirements through

CARs.

Chinese anxiety to consolidate its

links with CARs and disallow India

from taking any initiative in the

region is shown by its haste to hold

a summit with the leaders of Central

Asian countries on January 25, at a

very short notice, after India had

announced its summit. Chinese

President Xi Jinping had offered

$500 million in assistance to the

region and has vowed to strengthen

trade with the countries.

On the other hand trade between

India and Central Asia lies at a

insignificant $2 billion compared to

Chinese trade with the CARs,

which roughly amounts to $100 billion.

India could increase this bilateral

trade by trying to meet its high

import dependency for energy,

through CARs, which are rich in

resources such as oil, natural gas,

uranium, etc. On the other hand it

could explore areas where the

Indian industry could export to

CARs at a considerably lower cost.

As stability in Central Asia

remains critical to the interests of

big players like Russia and China,

the CARs will remain in focus at

multilateral forums concerning

Afghanistan; this also underlines

the importance of improving relations

with CARs for India to expand

regional cooperation.

Odisha police arrests woman MD in

connection with Rs 100 Cr fraud case

from Annapurna Finance Pvt. Ltd. on the

basis of forged documents and misappropriated

the same without refunding

the amount.

During course of investigation, the

police found that the accused company

(Sambandh Finserve Pvt. Ltd.), during

the period from 2015-2020, in a similar

manner had raised funds of more than

Rs. 100 crores from different investors/

lenders like DCB Bank, SIDBI (Small

Industries Development Bank of India),

BOPA PTE Ltd. (a Singapore-based

company) and DIA Vikash Capital Pvt.

Ltd. etc and misappropriated the same

by diverting the amounts to their sister

concerns.

10 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 ASIA


Demonstrations rage in Sudan

demanding civilian rule

Khartoum : Thousands of protesters took to the

streets in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and

other cities to demand civilian rule and urge the

authorities to punish alleged killers of protesters

during demonstrations in recent weeks.

Protesters on Sunday gathered in Khartoum's

busiest bus station Sharwani, and marched toward

the Republican Palace, but the security forces used

tear gas to expel them, Xinhua news agency.

Sudanese security forces closed major roads in

central Khartoum and deployed military reinforcements

around the army headquarters, as well as the

routes leading to the presidential palace in

Khartoum.

The protests took place despite a ban announced

by the State's security committee on Saturday on

gatherings in central Khartoum during the weekend.

On the same day, the UN Integrated

Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITA-

MS) urged the Sudanese authorities not to restrict

peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

For nearly two months, the Sudanese capital

Khartoum and other cities have been rocked by

regular mass protests demanding civilian rule, and

dozens of protesters were killed in clashes with

security forces. Sudan has been suffering a political

crisis after the general commander of the Sudanese

Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a

European Parliament to host

'Afghan Women Days'

Brussels : The European Parliament

announced that it is going to host a series of

events on February 1 and 2 to discuss the situation

of Afghan women following the

Taliban takeover of the country.

In a statement, it said the ‘Afghan Women

Days' will kick off with a high-level conference

which will be attended by members of

the European Parliament, prominent Afghan

women who were finalists for Parliament's

2021 Shakarov Prize, activists, UN representatives

and representatives from several

other international organisations, reports

TOLO News.

The European Union (EU) has said the

Afghan women's situation since the collapse

of the previous government is worrying.

"The conference will feature interventions

by Parliament President Roberta

Metsola; former Afghan Minister of

Women's Affairs Sima Samar; Angelina

Jolie, Special Envoy to the Office of the UN

High Commissioner for Refugees; EU

Commission President Ursula von der

Leyen; and UN Deputy Secretary-General

Amina Mohammed. It will be concluded

with an address and musical appearance by

Afghan singer and songwriter Aryana

Sayeed, with her song 'Lady of the Land of

Fire'," the statement added.

The participants are also expected to discuss

the future perspectives for women in the

country and how to support women.

Reacting to the announcement, the

Taliban said that it supported negotiations

which are productive.

"Islamic Emirate welcomes the negotiations

which are constructive and not challengeable.

Of course, I should say that these

talks should be based on Islamic values,"

TOLO News quoted Taliban's deputy

spokesman Inamullah Samangani as saying.

state of emergency on October 25, 2021 and dissolved

the Sovereign Council and the government.

New Attorney

General of Afghanistan

appointed

Kabul : Maulvi Shamsuddin Sharihati has been

appointed as Attorney General in the Taliban-led government

of Afghanistan, according to deputy spokesman

Inamullah Samangani.

"In accordance with the decree of leadership of the

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Maulvi Shamsuddin

Sharihati, former deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation

and Livestock, appointed as Attorney General of

Afghanistan," Xinhua news agency quoted Samangani as

saying in a tweer.

According to Samangani, Sharihati, who hails from

Kishim district of the northern Badakhshan province, had

previously served as the Governor of Paktia province, and

that of Maidan Wardak province among other posts.

Foreign journalists

being harassed severely

by China: Report

New Delhi : Media freedom in China is declining

at "breakneck speed", according to a report by

a group representing foreign journalists in the

country. The report by the Foreign Correspondents

Club (FCC) of China said journalists there face

physical assaults, hacking, online trolling and visa

denials, the BBC reported.

Local journalists in mainland China and Hong

Kong are also being targeted. China has labelled

the FCC an "illegal organisation".

It comes as the world's media turn their attention

to the Beijing Winter Olympics, which is

already under scrutiny due to alleged human rights

abuses in Xinjiang and a crackdown in Hong

Kong, the report said. The report found that foreign

journalists are being harassed so severely by

the state that a handful of correspondents have left

mainland China. Others have been forced to come

up with emergency exit plans as a precaution.

Chinese colleagues of foreign reporters have also

faced intimidation with authorities harassing their

families, the BBC report said. Other reporters such

as Australian Cheng Lei and Chinese national

Haze Fan have been detained for over a year over

allegations of being involved in state security

cases. "Continued zero-Covid policies, staffing

issues, rising geopolitical tensions, growing mistrust,

and at times outright hostility towards

Western media in China create a perfect storm,"

the BBC quoted an editor of the report as saying.

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ASIA

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

11

Pakistan-Afghanistan to have border

committee on DURAND LINE

Islamabad : Pakistan and Afghanistan

in trade, transit, business and humanitarian

have agreed to form a high-level committee to

engagements.

address the recently flared up dispute over the

Both sides also agreed to renew deliberations

on the 2010 Afghanistan-Pakistan

Durand line, which brought the Taliban and

Pakistani border security forces at loggerheads.

expired last year.

Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), which

The decision to form the committee was

Pakistan maintained that the objective of

taken during Pakistan's National Security

the visit was to discuss with the Afghan leadership

the humanitarian requirements of the

Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf's recent two-day

visit to Kabul.

country and "Pakistan's proposals for deepening

economic engagement to overcome the

During high-level meetings with the

Taliban leadership, the issue of Durand Line

current challenges Afghanistan is facing".

remained as one of the primary points of discussion.

terms of forward movement on trade facilita-

"The visit yielded substantive outcomes in

Pakistan's NSA, who also heads the

tion and social sector support. Both sides also

Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination

agreed to initiate barter trade, modalities for

Cell (AICC), held important meetings with

which will be worked out immediately," a

Afghanistan's acting Deputy Prime Minster

statement issued by Pakistan's foreign office

Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi and acting

maintained. Pakistan has offered capacitybuilding

and training support in multiple sec-

Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Both sides discussed the current situation in

tors, including health, education, banking,

Afghanistan and strengthening of bilateral

customs, railways and aviation. "Afghanistan

relations between the two countries.

facilitation at border crossing points and to Ambassador in Kabul, Mansoor Khan. and Pakistan emphasised their commitment to

"Both sides agreed to establish a nationallevel

coordination mechanism for enhancing a new trade agreement," stated Pakistan's January 29-30 was on increasing facilitation tries," the statement

expedite the ongoing negotiations to conclude The focus of the visit of Yusuf to Kabul on ensuring peace and stability in both coun-

read.

Christian community mourns targeted killing of pastor in Peshawar

Islamabad : The Christian community

in Peshawar has shut down

all educational institutions and

churches after a pastor was shot

dead by armed assailants.

As per details shared by police

authorities, William Siraj, who was

a pastor at a church within the

Chamkani police station limits, was

with his fellow priest at the Ring

Road area on Sunday, when the

unknown assailants opened fire.

Siraj died on the spot, while the

accompanying priestwas later taken

to the Lady Reading hospital.

"The incident occurred near Ring

Road within Gulbahar police station

limits. A heavy police contingent

had reached the scene and a search

operation was carried out. Evidence

was collected from the crime scene

and CCTV cameras are also being

checked," a statement issued by the

police authorities said.

"The body had been shifted to the

hospital for conducting an autopsy

while further investigation was

underway."

As per initial details of the investigation,

at least two assailants were

involved in the incident, which the

police have termed it as a terrorist

attack.

"Attack on the Christian community

was tragic. A comprehensive

investigation has been launched. It

can be said that members of the

minority community were targeted.

So, it was a terrorist act," said

Abbas Ahsan, Capital City Police

Officer (CCPO).

"We are determined to protect

minorities. A team consisting of

officials from the Counter

Terrorism Department (CTD) and

Peshawar police had been formed to

probe the case," he added.

The attack carries sensitive

importance, as the Christian community,

which has been living in

various parts of the Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa province, has not

faced any major threat in the past.

"Terrorism that targets anyone,

especially for their faith, is heinous

and must be fought against with the

full force of a clear, concerted policy

and state power. No compromise,

no equivocation," said Senator

Sherry Rehman, a leader from the

opposition Pakistan Peoples Party

(PPP). The attack has raised several

questions on the increasing intolerance

against religious minorities in

Pakistan.

Recent reports have indicated

that the level of intolerance by religious

extremist groups have

increased in the country, raising

serious concerns over the Imran

Khan government's competence and

capabilities to ensure security and

safety of minorities in the country.

On kanshi TV

channel 772.

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6 :00 pm

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12 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS


B'luru Metro's contract with

Chinese firm runs into trouble

Bengaluru : The contract between the

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited

(BMRCL) and China's CRRC Corporation

Ltd's subsidiary -- Nanjing Puzhen Co. Ltd

-- of supplying 216 metro coaches at a cost

of Rs 1,578 crore has run into problems.

The BMRCL is getting ready to act on the

inordinate delay in the supply of coaches,

according to Karnataka government

sources.

The contract for manufacturing 216

coaches was awarded to the Chinese firm

in December 2019 as it won the bid. The

firm got the contract as it asked for nearly

Rs 200 crore less than the nearest competitor.

However, the supply of coaches to

BMRCL has been delayed as the Chinese

firm is said to be finding it difficult to find

local partners for the process of assembling,

testing and commissioning them.

The BMRCL has issued several notices

to the Chinese firm and also warned that if

the supply is not made, it would encash its

bank guarantee of Rs 372 crore, sources

said.

As per the tender agreement, the

Chinese firm will have to manufacture 94

per cent of the coaches in India as per the

Union government's 'Make In India' policy.

BMRCL sources say that the Chinese company

has not been able to tie up with local

manufacturing units.

The Chinese company has offered to

manufacture all the coaches in China but

the offer has been rejected by BMRCL.

The new coaches are being planned to be

used in purple and green lines and new

metro lines that are coming up in the city

which are currently under construction.

The contract is still in place but sources

explain that the Chinese firm has failed to

meet any of the performance indicators.

The Chinese firm has sought additional

time and BMRCL has decided to wait for

some time and initiate suitable action.

India like dictatorship; Oppn & media

tracked through Pegasus: Cong

Panaji : India is being run like a dictatorship

where mediapersons, opposition

and common people are being watched

through Pegasus, former Maharashtra

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on

Monday. Addressing a press conference in

Panaji, Chavan also said that there was systematic

media blackout of Congress leaders.

"The country is run like a dictatorship.

Common people, media persons and opposition

are being watched through Pegasus...

We have been demanding a discussion on

Pegasus. Has it been allowed? The matter

is pending in the Supreme Court. Modi has

(also) not been willing to speak about the

Chinese build-up near Ladakh," Chavan

said. The former Union Minister of State

for the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) also

said that the media was being completely

controlled by the Central government.

"There is a systematic attempt to stifle

the media. If we speak something, media

will black it out. Rahul Gandhi says something,

it will be blacked out. Sonia ji says

something, it will be blacked out. People

will say where are they on the television?

There is no Congress party on the television.

How can it come?" Chavan said.

"Media is being completely controlled.

If a simple news comes in the media, the

next day the proprietor is arrested. There is

an ED raid. There is a 'raid raj' against the

media," he added.

Inter-state illegal arms racket

busted in Delhi, one held

New Delhi : The Delhi Police Special Cell has busted an

inter-state illegal firearms syndicate and arrested one person in

this connection, a Police official said on Monday.

The accused, identified as 60-year-old Kasim Ali, a resident

of Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district, was booked under stringent

section 25(8) of the Arms (Amendment) Act, 2019, in which

there is provision of a minimum jail sentence of 10 years which

can be extended to life imprisonment.

Furnishing details about the case, Delhi Deputy

Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), Jasmeet Singh said the

Police were already making efforts to identify the members of

the syndicate which was involved in procuring weapons from

Sendhwa, Khargone, Dhar and Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh)

and supplying them in Delhi-NCR.

"A team of Special Cell was having information about the

illegal activities of arms trafficking in Delhi-NCR by the

accused Kasim in association with his associates," the DCP

added. A tip-off was received on January 29 that Kasim would

come at a specified location in the city to deliver firearms and

ammunition to one of his contacts.

Accordingly, a trap was laid and the accused was apprehended.

"During the search by police, seven semi-automatic pistols

of .32 calibre, three single-shot pistols of .315 and 20 live cartridges

that is, 14 cartridges of .32 bore pistol and six of .315

were recovered from the accused' bag," the official informed.

During interrogation, Kasim disclosed that he had received

the pistols and cartridges from an arms manufacturer-cum-supplier

in Badwani district of Madhya Pradesh.

The accused revealed that he has been supplying illegal

firearms and ammunition in Delhi-NCR, Haryana and western

Uttar Pradesh for the last 15 years.

According to the police, Kasim used to get pistols from

Madhya Pradesh at a lower price and supply them at a higher

price to gangsters and criminals in Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh

and Haryana. He also revealed that he has supplied more than

500 firearms in Delhi-NCR during the last three years.

President's address bereft of anything

new, silent on key issues : Opposition

New Delhi : The opposition leaders

on Monday criticised the

President's address to the joint session

of Parliament saying that not only did

it lack anything new but was silent on

several key issues.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya

Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge told IANS

that the address was nothing but a

compilation of the government's

claim of its last seven years' work.

"Whatever Modi ji used to say outside

the House, which is rarely seen inside

the House, the same has been repeated

in the President's speech. We

expected something substantial on the

growing unemployment. The Prime

Minister had said that every year he

will be providing 2 crore jobs. Where

are those two crore jobs?, In seven

years, it should be 14 crore jobs."

People are still striving for employment.

They are fighting for small

Railway jobs and are protesting on

railway tracks. Therefore, there is

nothing new in this speech, he said.

On economic growth, he said that

in the last seven years, the GDP has

been the lowest and during Covid,

lakhs of people suffered as the government

did not have data to help the

affected. As far as the farmers are concerned,

Kharge said that four farmers

were killed by the son of the Minister

of State for Home Affairs and the

same Minister is sitting with those in

power. Airing a similar opinion,

Congress Member from the Upper

House K.C. Venugopal said that there

was nothing new in the President's

address. "The same old style of functioning

and as they make a lot of

promises during the elections which

are left unfulfilled, the same thing has

been repeated here. They are talking

about Kisan (farmers) but have they

done anything for them? They were

on the streets for more than a year.

When the election was nearing they

succumbed to the pressure fearing a

drubbing in the Assembly elections."

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP

Priyanka Chaturvedi called it yet

another publicity stunt with any eye

on the Assembly elections in five

states. "I believe that the people of the

country understand that the government

has not done anything for them

and has been only busy with the PR

exercise," she commented. On the

economic front , she said that the

country has the highest number of

unemployment. The youth is frustrated,

outraged and protesting. On the

inflated prices of the consumers'

goods, the government has not been

seen doing anything. Nothing has been

done by the Ministry of Micro, Small

and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to

make the the country 'Atmanirbhar'.

CPI(M) Member from the Upper

House Binoy Viswam also said that

the President's address was silent on

many issues. It did not say anything on

Minimum Support Price, nothing for

MSME and no compensation

announced for the farmers. "Nothing

has been for the repeal of the electricity

Act and to improve the economy.

The President spoke about all this on

the insistence of the government."


Hindu MAHASABHA

confers Godse Awards

Meerut : When the nation observed the death anniversary

of Mahatma Gandhi, the

Akhil Bhartiya Hindu

Mahasabha conferred

the "Pandit Nathuram

Godse-Nana Apte

Bharat Ratna" award on

seven proponents of

"extreme Hindutva".

The day of Gandhi's

assassination is observed

as 'Shaurya Diwas' by

the Mahasabha. Announcing the awards on Sunday, Ashok

Sharma, vice-president of the right-wing outfit, said: "This is

the first time we have conferred this award on those who

believe in Godse's ideology and promote it. The award

includes a medal and a commendation letter."

The recipients include religious leader Kalicharan

Maharaj who was arrested on January 12 in Maharashtra for

derogatory remarks against Gandhi.

He was granted bail by a Thane court on Friday.

Another recipient is Puja Shakun Pandey who had enacted

Mahatma Gandhi's assassination by shooting at Gandhi's

effigy on his death anniversary in 2019. Pandey was arrested

a few days later in Aligarh. According to Sharma, most of

the recipients will receive the commendation by post.

Nishant Jindal, one of the awardees, said: "This commendation

will only strengthen my resolve to propagate the nationalism

that Godse died protecting."

Gurugram Namaz issue: SC

agrees to hear contempt plea

against govt officials

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to

hear a plea by former Rajya Sabha MP Mohammed Adeeb

seeking contempt action against Haryana officers for their

alleged failure to prevent incidents in connection with Friday

prayers by Muslims.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising submitted before a bench

headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, "This is not only

based on newspaper reports, we have ourselves filed complaints."

She further added, "We are not asking for any

enforcement of FIR. This court has laid down preventive

measures." After hearing brief submissions in the matter, the

Chief Justice said, "I'll look into it and post before the appropriate

bench..." The petition alleged that the state government

machinery is not taking effective measures for prevention

of these incidents in Gurugram.

The plea contended that in the few recent months, there

has been a constant rise in incidents in connection with

Friday prayers offered by Muslims at the behest of certain

"identifiable hooligans".

The plea added that these hooligans portray themselves

falsely in the name of religion and seek to create an atmosphere

of hatred and prejudice against a community in the

city. The petition has sought action against senior IAS and

IPS officers of the state government. The plea sought contempt

action claiming that the Haryana government authorities

have failed to comply with the directions issued by the

Supreme Court in Tehseen S. Poonawalla case. In 2018, the

top court had issued a slew of directions in 2018 against hate

crimes, including mob violence and lynching.

NEWS

New Delhi : Meta-owned WhatsApp

on Monday said it is taking action on

accounts engaging in automated and

bulk messaging at a time when political

parties and individual candidates are

misusing the platform for reaching out to

voters ahead of the Assembly elections

in five states.

Reacting to an IANS story on how the

bulk WhatsApp API (application programming

interface) tools are helping

parties and candidates send political

messages to the voters' WhatsApp for

just 8 to 10 paise per bulk message in a

fraction of seconds, the popular mobile

messaging platform said that it deeply

cares about the online security of its

users as well as about preserving election

integrity. "WhatsApp has advanced

spam detection technology that works

round the clock to spot and take action

on accounts engaging in automated and

bulk messaging, which includes banning

such accounts for violating WhatsApp's

Terms of Service," said the company

spokesperson. In December 2019, the

company had said that it will be taking

legal action against those who are

engaged in or assisting others in abusing

the platform by sending bulk or automated

messages.

However, such automated bulk messages

are back in action, and the

WhatsApp policy against individuals

and companies who misuse the app by

sending such bulk messages in violation

of its terms and conditions is being "violated

at a large scale in the electoral campaign

in the five states," according to

experts. WhatsApp said that the company

has "also devoted efforts from a product

and an education standpoint, to

empower users with resources that help

them verify information".

"For example, our limits imposed on

'forwards' have reduced the spread of

'highly forwarded messages' on

WhatsApp by over 70 per cent, therefore,

actively constraining virality on the

platform. We encourage users to block

and report accounts they find suspicious

or if they receive problematic messages

from them," the WhatsApp spokesperson

told IANS. The company said it is

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

INDIA ASSEMBLY POLLS:

13

WHATSAPP says taking

action on bulk messaging

Bulandshahr : The Bulandshahr

police have recovered the body of an

eight-year-old boy, a son of a doctor

who had been missing for the last two

days.

The ody was recovered from the

Chhatari police station area at the

instance of two sacked employees of the

doctor, Nijam and Shahid, who have

been arrested for allegedly kidnapping

the child and killing him on Friday

night.

Dibai Circle Officer, Vandana

Sharma, said: "The child's father had

reported the matter to the police soon

after his son had gone missing on

Friday evening and the police had

promptly swung into action."

On the evidence gathered during the

preliminary investigation, the police

detained the two former employees of

the doctor and questioned them about

their alleged roles in the kidnapping of

the child.

The two who had been earlier working

as compounders admitted to the

police that they had kidnapped and

killed the child to take revenge from the

working with 10 fact-checking organisations

that are enabled on the WhatsApp

Business platform and are accredited by

the International Fact-Checking

Network.

WhatsApp has over 400 million users

in the country. However, according to

third-party market and consumer data

platform Statista, it now has more than

487 million users in the country.

The Assembly elections in Punjab,

Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and

Manipur will be completed in seven

phases with Uttar Pradesh being the first

to go to the polls on February 10, even as

the country battles the Omicron-led

Covid wave.

UP doctor's son kidnapped,

killed by sacked employees

doctor as he had sacked them two years

ago for committing some error in their

work.

The police subsequently recovered

the child's body at their instance, the

official added.

14 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS


Doctors advise not to panic about new variant NeoCov

NeoCoV has been discovered by scientists from Wuhan University in a bat population

New Delhi : Even as reports

emerge of a new lethal variant

called ‘NeoCov’ that requires only

one mutation to infiltrate human

cells, doctors on Saturday advised

people not to panic.

NeoCoV has been discovered by

scientists from the Wuhan

University in China in a bat population

in South Africa.

While it has only been known to

spread among these animals to date,

the variant has shown the potential

to penetrate human cells in the same

way as the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

“Currently, there is no direct evidence

that NeoCov affects the

human body, and we should not

panic or get stressed,” Dr Rahul

Pandit, Member of National and

Maharashtra’s Covid-19 Taskforce.

“There are many viruses in the

world that are yet to be discovered

and whose characteristics are not

known. We are going through a

challenging time and should focus

on managing the ongoing Covid-19

pandemic. I advise people not to

panic, keep their guard up and follow

Covid-19 appropriate protocols,”

added Pandit, who is also

Director-Critical Care, Fortis

Hospitals Mumbai.

According to the research on

NeoCov, posted on preprint and not

been peer-reviewed yet, the variant

carries the combination of Middle

East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus

(MERS)-CoV mortality rate

(where one in every three infected

persons may die) and the current

SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus’ high

transmission rate. “It is only one

mutation away from becoming dangerous

for humans,” the researchers

said. But, Dr Dhiren Gupta from Sir

Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi

stated that the variant’s transmission

to humans is still a “scientific speculation”

and “hypothesis”.

“This NeoCov is very different

from SARS-CoV virus (sarbecovirus)

and belongs to merbecovirus

which is a different genus.

“It cannot infect human ACE2

(scientists are speculating if it can

combine with SARS and start

affecting humans). This is a hypothesis

raised by scientists (which is

not unusual in science),” Gupta said.

He added that the theory that

“one out of three may die is just an

hypothesis, which social media

made headlines”. “It’s just a hypothesis

turning into sensationalist

doomsday predictions,” Gupta said.

Even the World Health

Organization (WHO) has said that

the question of whether the NeoCov

coronavirus poses a threat to

humans, requires further study.

“Whether the virus detected in

the study will pose a risk for humans

will require further study,” the

health body was quoted as saying to

TASS news agency.

Maha: Students resort to 'flash agitation'

for SCRAPPING OFFLINE EXAMS

Mumbai : Rattling the

authorities in pandemic times,

thousands of students trooped

out in 'flash agitations' in

Mumbai, Thane, Beed,

Aurangabad, Nashik, Nagpur,

Osmanabad and other district to

protest against the proposed

offline board examinations, on

Monday.

In Mumbai, the police resorted

to a mild caning, but without

any injuries, when a large number

of the agitating students

attempted to march near the

Dharavi home of School

Education Minister Varsha

Gaikwad.

Catching the police and education

authorities virtually

unawares, big and small groups

of youngsters suddenly gathered

at predetermined locations,

raised slogans against the government

and demanded that the

offline examinations for Class

X and Class XII be cancelled.

Later, officials said that the

students were allegedly called

for the multi-city agitation by

one Vikas Phatak, going by an

alias of 'Hindustani Bhau', who

had posted social media posts

for the protests.

The Mumbai Police have

decided to conduct a probe into

the incident which resulted in

violation of Covid-19 protocols,

especially physical distancing

and other restrictions, with the

huge crowds descending unexpectedly,

according to Deputy

Commissioner of Police Pranay

Ashok. Speaking to local mediapersons,

Phatak alleged that

the government is not concerned

about the health of the

students and are forcing them to

appear for the physical exams.

"For two years, there have

been online classes only, but

now they are insisting on offline

examinationsa This is not justified,"

claimed Pathak.

Minister Prof. Gaikwad

appealed to the student community

not to resort to such agitations

and said she is ready for

discussions with any of the

leaders to arrive at an amicable

solution after discussing with

the department officials.

Meanwhile, the agitation was

strongly condemned by state

Congress President Nana

Patole, Chief Spokesperson

Atul Londhe, Minister of State

for School Education

Omprakash Babasaheb alias

Bachchu Kadu, and other leaders.

"Which political party is

instigating such agitations in the

pandemic times.... Even during

the pandemic last year, they had

provoked youngsters to take to

the streets like this in huge

numbers and many of them

were later infected by

Coronavirus," said Patole.

Londhe targetted the

Opposition Bharatiya Janata

Party for allegedly inciting the

student community as it had

done during the 'open temple'

agitations last year, without

being concerned about the

health and safety of the students.

Kadu sought to know

how such protests could be carried

out without giving notice or

seeking permission from the

concerned authorities and urged

students to remain patient.

Schools in West Bengal

to re-open from Feb 3

Kolkata : Considering the decreasing

number of Covid cases in West Bengal,

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said

that schools will resume from February

3. She also announced that the state government

has decided to lift

some restrictions put in

place to contain the

spread of Covid-19.

"Schools will

resume from

February 3.

Initially, we

have asked

school authorities

to start

classes from

VIII to XII and

we will open up

the rest in phases.

The education

department will also

take initiative to start classes

from V to VII through the

'Parai school' programme," Banerjee

said. The Parai School (neighbourhood

schools) is a programme initiated by the

Bengal education department to start

classes on open areas in the neighbourhood

with the help of local teachers.

Apart from this colleges and universities

in West Bengal have also been given

the go-ahead to conduct physical classes

starting February 3.

The state government is mulling a

scheme for the students who score more

than 60 per cent marks in graduation and

post-graduation to start six-months

internship in different government institutions.

"The students can go through

these internship programmes for six

months where they will be given a

stipend of Rs 5,000 per month. They will

also get a certificate after successful

completion of the internship," the chief

minister said.

The state government also said

that the work force can be

increased from 50 per

cent to 75 per cent in

private offices. The

chief minister also

announced that

restaurants, bars

and cinema halls

can now operate at

75 per cent capacity

compared to the

earlier 50 per cent.

The same applies

to sports arenas, which

can now operate at 75

per cent seating capacity.

Flights from Bombay and

Delhi will operate on a daily basis

starting from Monday, the West Bengal

Chief Minister said, adding that flights

from Britain have also been allowed but

the passengers will have to have their RT-

PCR done.

As per the state health department's

most recent Covid-19 bulletin, West

Bengal has 31,562 active cases of infection.

The recovery rate for the novel

coronavirus patients in the state stands at

97.38 per cent, while the fatality rate is

1.03 per cent. At least 6.89 crore individuals

in the state of West Bengal have

received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

This includes 5.02 crore beneficiaries

who have been administered both

doses.


NEWS

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

15

DUBAI awarded Tripadvisor

Travellers Choice Awards 2022

New Delhi : According to the latest

data published by DET, Dubai, welcomed

over six million international visitors

between January and November 2021,

which surpasses the 5.5 million tourists

who visited Dubai for the entire 2020.

During this 11-month period, 743 hotel

establishments with over 136,000 rooms

also opened their doors to guests, delivering

strong occupancy levels of over 60 per

cent, which is among the highest occupancy

rates internationally. Expo 2020

Dubai also made a major contribution

towards creating awareness of Dubai and

drawing more visitors to the city. Since

opening on October 1, 2020, Expo 2020

has attracted over 10 million visits by residents

and global travellers.

Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Awards

2022 has rewarded Dubai with three prestigious

titles: #1 on the global list of

Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Awards for

Best Global Destination, the world's #1

destination for city lovers and #4 destination

for 'Food Lovers'. Winning the three

accolades is a significant achievement for

Dubai as the awards were determined by

the quality and quantity of independent

destination reviews and ratings from travellers

across accommodation, restaurants

and activities over 12 months from

November 1, 2020 and October 31, 2021.

His Excellency, Helal Saeed Almarri,

Director General, Dubai's Department of

Economy and Tourism (DET), commented,

"Inspired by the visionary leadership

of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al

Maktoum, the city adopted a multipronged

strategy to deal with the pandemic,

including a series of initiatives that further

enhanced our global competitiveness

and attractiveness as a multi-faceted destination.

It is truly a proud moment for

Dubai to be endorsed as the top global

destination, reaffirming the decisive yet

prudent measures taken by Dubai to safely

navigate and accelerate out of this

unprecedented global challenge."

"This achievement is also a testament

to the dynamism, resilience and accessibility

of Dubai and how we continue to

successfully provide moments of delight

to residents and visitors, and overall,

delivering the highest standards of service

and best guest experience across all

tourism touchpoints right from their

arrival in the city and until they depart. It

also points to the growing collaboration

between the Department of Economy and

Tourism and its stakeholders and partners,

both domestic and international, to position

Dubai as a global hub for business

and leisure, as well as building on its credentials

as an international events destination

with the success of Expo 2020 Dubai

and the UAE's Golden Jubilee celebrations."

Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai

Corporation for Tourism and Commerce

Marketing (DCTCM),

said: "Dubai's ability to evolve and

adapt and focus on a diversified approach

to international markets have been critical

in ensuring that the city continues to

retain its position as the leading business

and leisure destination and global liveability

hub as envisioned by our visionary

leadership. In winning this coveted award

we appreciate the support extended by our

stakeholders and partners across the

board, for shining a light on the diversity

of our offering, and representing the city

so well during these challenging times.

We have a positive outlook for 2022 and

beyond, as we continue to prioritise

efforts to strengthen the collaborative

ecosystem and amplify tourism volumes

through global campaigns designed to

showcase the city as the perfect getaway

for travellers from all demographics and

segments."

How to retain your sense

of self in a relationship

New Delhi : You're in a relationship

with someone you love and you

often find yourself changing to please

your partner. You might start to wear

their clothes, eat the food they like

and even adopt their hobbies sounds

familiar?

Keeping a sense of "self" may

seem counterintuitive when we're in

relationships. We find ourselves wanting

to do everything we can in order

for our partners to feel satisfied and

happy with us. While this is a natural

part of any relationship it's important

not to lose sight of who we are in a

relationship because it can make the

experience more fulfilling for both

people involved. It's also good for

your mental health and spiritual well

being as it can help with restoring

self-confidence whilst embracing

individuality.

Devina Kaur, Radio host and

Producer speaks on three leads

to keep your sense of self

when you are in a relationship:

Revealing your sense of self:

The first step to keeping our

sense of self in a relationship is

to focus on what we are good

at and what we enjoy doing.

Our sense of self should be

rooted in our ability to be

divinely empowered by our

own identity. We should not be

so hard on ourselves and

should stop comparing ourselves

to other people.

Revealing our sense of self can

include taking care of our bodies

and mind by eating healthy

and exercising regularly.

We can also take care of our

mental health by talking to professionals

about how we are feeling

when things get tough for us. This will

help us feel more satisfied with our

lives and will make it easier for us to

be happy with ourselves.

Empowerment in your

independence: When you

are in a relationship, it is

important to maintain your

sense of self. This means

that you need to spend time

on your own, be independent

and not depend on your

partner for everything. A

relationship is a two-way

street.

It's important to maintain

your sense of self while

being in a relationship. This

is because you want to feel

good about yourself and not

just be the other half of

someone else. Remember

the journey to more selflove

is love itself.

Balance found in self:

Relationships of any magnitude

require a balance between the parties

involved. We can start by being honest

with ourselves and our partner

about what we want and need from

the relationship. We should also try to

set some boundaries for ourselves and

our partners so that we know where

the line is drawn. Lastly, it is also

important to have a strong support

system outside of your relationship so

that we don't get lost inside it.

It is important to maintain your

sense of self while being in a relationship.

There are many ways that you

can do this, but one of the most effective

ways is by finding an activity that

interests you, spending time in knowing

the ever-changing you, and then

practising radical self-acceptance.

You want to feel good about yourself

and not just be the other half of someone

else. Embrace the power that lies

within your individuality.

16 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS


Healthy ingredients

Natwest Group announces new

Sikh Network Committee

The Natwest Group Employee Led Networks

undertakes to promote Diversity & Inclusion

within the Bank. The Sikh Network was

launched back in 2018 and has grown from

strength to strength with now over 1100 members

globally including both Sikh and Non-Sikh

members.

The bank recently announced its newly selected

committee, a group of highly skilled individuals,

bringing their life experiences, knowledge,

and true potential to the Sikh Network. The talented

team of 13 will reflect the founder of the

Sikh Faith, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's concept of

Terah - All belongs to the Almighty God.

Hong Kong : The Delta variant

of Covid-19 can be transmitted

from humans to hamsters

and then be transferred back to

humans, according to a new

study.

The new study, published in

The Lancet in pre-print and

awaiting peer-review, suggests

that hamsters can spread the

virus back to humans,

Jerusalem Post reported.

The study revealed that the

first-ever hamster-to-human

transmission was found on

January 15, 2022 in Hong

Kong, linked to a hamster

imported from the Netherlands,

the report said. Before this,

however, Hong Kong had

ordered the culling of thousands

of hamsters in pet shops, particularly

those purchased on or

after December 22.

Currently, at least two people

in Hong Kong were confirmed

to have been infected by these

hamsters, with one other person

infected through human-tohuman

transmission after this.

If the findings are accurate

and hamsters can indeed transmit

Covid-19 to humans, this

could become a serious concern,

as they would serve as yet

another vector to spread the

Based on the 3 pillars of Sikhism and the

teachings of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, their purpose

will be engaging in honest and ethical hardwork

(Kirat Karo), helping others selflessly

(VandhKe Shako) and remembering God in all

we do (Naam Japo)

James Holian, Executive Sponsor of the

Natwest Group Sikh Network said "I am really

looking forward to collaborating with the new

team who bring a diverse range of skills and

experience to the Committee. They will undertake

to share their vision of supporting NatWest

Group to become a purpose-led Bank for all our

customers, colleagues and communities"

HAMSTERS can infect

humans with Covid: Study

virus worldwide,

the researchers

noted.

The only other

animal known to

transmit SARS-

CoV-2 back to

humans was in the

case of minks,

which resulted in a

mass culling of

mink farms around

the world, especially

in Denmark.

Besides hamsters,

the novel

coronavirus has

been seen in many

other animals after having been

spread to them by humans. This

includes cats, dogs, otters,

minks, mice, deer, gorillas, ferrets,

and pigs.

However, these animals may

often deal with the virus differently.

Cats, for example, were

noted by some as having recovered

from Covid-19 very quickly.

Deer were shown to be able

to spread it to one another, but

they showed no symptoms.

Pigs, while they are shown to

catch coronavirus, not only do

never show symptoms, they

also never spread it to others,

the report said.

New Delhi : Delay in

diagnosis, stigma and incorrect

treatment are major challenges

in tackling tuberculosis

and the corporate sector

can play an important role in

addressing them, a senior

health ministry official said.

Addressing a corporate

summit on TB and lung

health organised by

ASSOCHAM, Dr Rajendra

Joshi, DDG (TB), Central TB

Division, Health Ministry,

said investing in tuberculosis

is not just a social cause but

will also give corporations

New Delhi : People across

all walks of life are experiencing

a change in their day-today

lifestyle; among all, corporate

employees have seen a

major transformation due to

work from home setup. People

now are inclined towards prioritising

their health like never

before. Hence there is an

immense amount of innovation

happening in the corporate

kitchen to make the food

at work exciting as well as

healthy at the same time. The

organisations are recognising

the importance of employees'

health and how food is linked

to their productivity at work.

Food items that are served

educate them with the number

of calories it carries along.

The workplace should encourage

employees to buy foods

that have been physically and

chemically modified, such as

salt-reduced cheese and

skimmed milk, supposedly to

make them healthier. This is

mainly backed by the dual reason

of ensuring good health of

employees and enabling optimum

productivity at work.

Looking at the larger picture,

the change that the pandemic

has brought in has

enabled people to have a positive

outlook towards healthy

eating, which was considered

dull and boring. Foodservice

providers have included ingredients

like milk with turmeric

or masala milk with dry fruits

to keep the cold at bay, deserts

with honey and ginger to keep

the itchy throat in check, tonic

water to keep your stomach

from indigestion, provide

healthy soup options for snack

time to avoid employees

indulging in unhealthy eating

habits or mix dry fruit sweets

to keep the sweet craving in

check and many more similar

ingredients or recipes are prepared

to keep the employees'

health in check considering

the pandemic. A healthier food

menu not only makes the

employees happy; it increases

their productivity level, so

they feel more energetic and

motivated. Kitchens should

prepare a food menu that

includes healthier options that

are not heavy on dairy, pasta

or fattening sauces, include

grilled, broiled, baked or

good returns because it will

reduce the health care costs

steamed foods, and limit items

that are fried or sauteed have

been shown to help people be

more productive for longer.

As a practice, the variety of

food served at the workplace

is now limited as compared to

the pre-Covid era and more

importance has been given to

the nutritional value. Along

with food, varieties of teas and

a healthy concoction of herbs

to strengthen and calm the

immunity, wherever applicable.

Portion control is also

essential for employees as it is

one of the most lethal factors

that causes almost every

health problem.

As we foresee, there are a

plethora of innovations we

expect to come up in the next

few years where there will be

more importance given to

individual dietary preferences

that will be mapped through

artificial intelligence. Going

ahead every food service

provider will highly consider

the health and wellness of the

employees while they are

curating foods along with

dietary solutions as it has a big

impact on the workplace.

Delay in diagnosis, stigma and

incorrect treatment major challenges

in tackling TB: Official

Dr Joshi, DDG (TB) said corporate sector can play important

role in addressing all these three challenges

and it also gives a morale

boost to its workers.

He listed out three major

challenges in tackling tuberculosis

- delay in diagnosis,

stigma and incorrect treatment.

Joshi said the corporate

sector can play an important

role in addressing all these

three challenges.

“Other than this, we can

also get corporations to partner

with the (tuberculosis)

program in setting up health

infrastructure, access to TB

screening etc,” he said.


NEWS

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

17

Battered by Covid, common folk

crave for a miracle BUDGET

If wishes were horses, then 'Nirmala

would lower all prices'. The change in

the original proverb may seem contrived,

but the thought is not unwarranted,

as it reflects the sentiment of common

folk in the country today.

The customary presentation of the

Union Budget on February 1 invariably

raises expectations that there may be a

cut here or there to help people save

money or earn more.

The Budget presentation is all about

big numbers, lots and lots of money,

multi-million-rupee projects and

schemes, and policy stipulations, but all

that common folk care about are

announcements of relief measures.

These could be reductions in prices

of food, clothing, medicine, education,

housing and health, and above all, in

taxes and fuel rates. This is the basic list

of just about any family in the country.

Talk to any person and the principal

complaint is about the ever-increasing

prices of the basic items required for

normal living. These include basic food

items -- vegetables, fruits, grains, pulses,

spices, edible oil and milk; stationery

and items of clothing; and

expenses on travel and healthcare.

Especially because of the Covid

surge, the per capita personal expenditure

on healthcare has increased multifold.

Almost every family has seen a

rise in medical expenses, from minor

medical consultations to major hospitalisations.

Covid has altered the economic picture

of households, especially in middle-income

settings. Many spent their

life savings on the medical treatment of

their near and dear ones. When the

Covid second wave struck the country

in April-May 2021, a number of families

had to resort to external help and

crowd-funding to pay their hospital

bills. The desperation for treatment,

hospital beds, medicines and even medical

consultations has not been seen on

such a massive, heartbreaking scale in

recent times.

Covid exposed the huge gaps in the

country's healthcare system and for

some time even created a sense of

hopelessness all around. The suffering

has affected common people gravely

and they desperately aspire for some

relief, either in the form of tax cuts or a

lowering of the cost of the medical

treatment of Covid-19 and other chronic

major illnesses.

Since 2014, the Centre has increased

the basic income-tax exemption limit

and 80C deduction, introduced standard

deduction and optional tax slab rates.

This has been helpful, but in the Covidaffected

environment, more needs to be

done. So, hopes for some relief are

expected in the family units.

Along with increased expenditure on

health, the Covid surge has also affected

the creation of new jobs. Hiring is

muted; in fact in the private sector a

significant number of people have been

laid off, many have suffered salary cuts,

and many more have either been not

paid or are poorly paid.

The simmering frustration was lately

manifested when a train in Bihar was

set on fire by job aspirants. The

Railways had received about 1.25 crore

applications for 3,528 vacancies, and

just 7,05,446 candidates had been

shortlisted -- a mind-boggling statistics.

For any government, the challenge

of creating jobs in these times is huge,

but those who are unemployed continue

to nurture the hope that vacancies in

government departments are filled and

private companies get an enabling business

environment to bloom.

The middle class wants jobs, tax

breaks, concessions on healthcare and

education, and reduced prices. The lowering

of fuel prices is one such wish.

After the deregulation of fuel prices,

diesel and petrol rates have only risen

relentlessly.

Some time ago, sensing the disquiet

among the people over the continually

rising fuel prices, the Centre as well as

certain state governments lowered the

prices by a few rupees. A large cut is

wished for, but with the Covid pandemic

not ebbing and global crude oil prices

rising yet again because of the Russia-

Ukraine tensions, we can't hope for

much on this front.

The wishes of common folk are best

expressed by the nursery rhyme:

* If wishes were horses, beggars

would ride

* If turnips were watches, I'd wear one

by my side

* If 'ifs' and 'ands' were pots and pans

* There'd be no work for tinkers'

hands.

* In the present context, we will have

to change the opening line to: "If

wishes were horses, prices would

come down."

With the Covid surge still showing

no signs of slowing down, economies

have taken a hit everywhere, whether at

the global level or in family units. The

macro and the micro are all affected

equally.

A miracle budget is the need of the

hour. And even a bigger miracle is

needed to rid the country and the world

of the pandemic. The economy needs to

boom again and the wishes of common

folk need to come true.

75% adult population in

India fully vaccinated

New Delhi : India achieved

another milestone in its fight

against Covid-19 on Sunday as

it administered more than 75

per cent of the adult population

with both doses of vaccines,

said Union Health Minister

Mansukh Mandaviya.

"With the mantra of 'Sabka

Saath, Sabka Prayas', India has

administered 75 per cent of its

adult population with both

doses of the Covid vaccine. We

are getting stronger in the fight

against the pandemic. We have

to follow Covid-appropriate

behaviour and receive the vaccine

as soon as possible,"

Mandaviya added in a tweet.

As per the Health Ministry

report on Sunday morning, with

the administration of more than

62 lakh vaccine doses in the last

24 hours, India's Covid-19 vaccination

coverage has exceeded

165.7 crore in India. This has

been achieved through

1,81,35,047 sessions.

"Seventy-five per cent of all

adults are fully vaccinated.

Congratulations to our fellow

citizens for this momentous

feat. Proud of all those who are

making our vaccination drive a

success," tweeted Prime

Minister Narendra Modi on this

feat. Meanwhile, India reported

marginal decline in Covid-19

cases at 2,34,281 with 893

deaths in the last 24 hours.

However, the daily positivity

rate in the country has risen to

14.5 per cent. The active caseload

has also reported a marginal

decline at 18,84,937 which

constitute 4.59 per cent of the

country's total Covid-positive

cases.

200 turtles seized,

one held in UP

Lucknow : A team of

Special Task Force (STF) has

arrested a smuggler and recovered

200 turtles of rare species

from the Kachauna police station

area in Hardoi.

The accused, Qamar from

Kannauj district, was staying in

Ludhiana. Police have recovered

a mobile phone and over

Rs 14,000 from him.

Additional Superintendent of

Police, STF, Satyasen said that

the police were informed that

the accused will pass via

Balamau railway station in

Hardoi to reach Ludhiana to

deliver the turtles. The team laid

a trap and nabbed the accused.

"Qamar confessed to his

crime and disclosed that he was

in the illegal business for a long

time. He had taken the turtles

from a woman identified as

Rehana in Mallawaan locality

of Hardoi," said the ASP. The

turtles will be handed over to

the forest department, said officials.

The STF team is also

tracking the person in Punjab

who was to be handed over the

consignment of the rare turtles

being smuggled.

18 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS


Unwind skin after a long day with

the goodness of natural Ayurveda

New Delhi : We're all working

under the strain of unrealistic deadlines

and the constant stress of the

virus. It has an impact not only on

our minds but also on our physical

well-being, which causes the skin to

age faster. It can also impair the

skin's natural barrier, which can be

reversed by using a de-stressing

skincare routine. Adult acne, which

is primarily caused by stress, has

been linked to lack of a skincare

routine, according to research. As a

result, a well-balanced skincare

routine can save us from having

dull skin!

Inveda has combined science and

the ancient art of Ayurveda to create

skincare. From researching Vedic

scriptures to combining them with

modern ingredients, each product

balances the energy zones in our

bodies, as our inner beauty reflects

on our skin!

INVEDA Anti-Depressant and

Anxiety Kit

Inveda's aromatic essential oils

are medicinally proven to improve

the health of the body, mind and

spirit. Lavender and Bergamot

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as body and mind rejuvenators.

The role of carrier oils should not

be forgotten as they aid aromatherapy

by complementing the role of

oils. Anxiety care package Includes

a wellness experience with the natural

therapeutic properties of

Lavender and Bergamot that treat

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Lavender oil plays a vital role in

calming down the nervous system

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the body and mind. Bergamot oil

aids in tackling depression. It helps

to reduce the release of stress hormones

during stressful situations

thus calming the body and mind

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of depression. Jojoba oil is

used to dilute the essential oils and

help "carry" them into the skin. It

can be used alone also to massage

the full body.

Price -- Rs 1,450

CICA Healing Kit -- For glass

skin (Korean formulation)

Cica Healing Kit is invented with

the philosophy of merging

Ayurveda with Korean technology

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The healing kit consists of --

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Repair and soothe damaged skin

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Cica healing night cream

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Price -- Rs 1,400

Anti pigmentation skincare kit

Ancient Ayurvedic technology

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cleverly infuses the hydra boost and

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Anti-pigmentation Blend, a

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Price -- Rs 1,400

Concentrated Vitamin C

Serum 20 per cent -- skin healer

Achieve flawless radiant skin

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The new concentrated vitamin C

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of skin issues. Its vital nutrients

brighten, hydrate and energise skin

cells while you take your beauty

sleep and secure the skin against

sun damage, micropollutants, free

radicals, dull, aging, and open

pores.

Price -- Rs 995

Acne treatment kit

The essence of Ayurveda has all

kinds of aushadhies to treat any

kind of ailment. Moreover, Inveda

combines their master products to

treat your acne and acne scars with

the best anti-acne facial kit.

Treatment kit contains no chemical

abrasions. Additionally, our best

anti-acne kit is infused with lavender,

tea tree, sweet almond oil,

Gotukola and Aswagandha.

Neem and Gotukola Face wash

pulls out the excess dirt and cleanses

out the pores to accelerate the

process of anti-acne Blend. Healing

Day Cream protects you all day

long from harmful free radicals

present in the atmosphere. Healing

Day Cream heals the skin instantly

and prevents your skin from being

affected by the harmful blue rays

and sun rays which damages your

skin up to 10 layers. Anti Acne

Blend, consists of lavender and tea

tree extracts that target the root

cause and instantly regulate the

sebum production.

Price -- Rs 1,525

Kumkumadi tailam kit

Inveda's

best-selling

Kumkumadi Tailam Kit, a blend of

25 miraculous ingredients, effectively

prevents nine major skin

problems starting with acne, pigmentation,

wrinkles, blemishes, and

many more. The Kumkumadi

combo contains 25 ancient rare

herbs along with essential oil, saffron

and vetiver, aloe vera, shea

butter, and a combination of vitamin

complexes like A, C & E that

cleanse the skin and give it an

instant glow. Kumkumadi Tailam

Face Cream is a combination of saffron

oil and punarvana root extracts

that makes the Kumkumadi cream

act as a Rasayana, meaning rejuvenator

of the skin.

It clears the skin from toxins and

makes it glow remarkably.

Kumkumadi Tailam Face Scrub has

a rich concentration of four powerful

ingredients. They are saffron oil,

sunflower seed oil, walnut powder

and sesame oil. Sunflower seed oil

provides vitamin E. Kumkumadi

Tailam Face Oil is the combination

of saffron or Kumkumadi oil and

sandalwood which becomes the

product's dynamic duo. It's the ideal

combination to reduce scars, acne

marks, uneven skin tone, clogged

pores and inflammation.

Price -- Rs 2,900


NEWS

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

19

UNION BUDGET: Build trust

through farmer-friendly proposals

It’s time to increase the agri credit

target from the existing Rs16.5

lakh crore to Rs20 lakh crore under

the interest subsidy scheme along

with expanding the scheme to loans

taken from microfinance institutions.

It’s time to increase the agri credit

target from the existing Rs16.5

lakh crore to Rs20 lakh crore under

the interest subsidy scheme along

with expanding the scheme to loans

taken from microfinance institutions.

Until now, loans taken only

from formal institutions such as

commercial banks and cooperatives

are eligible for interest subsidy.

This is an injustice to the farmers

who end up taking loans from institutions

that provide easy access to

credit on an urgent basis with little

documentation.

THE upcoming Union Budget

offers a good opportunity to build

trust between the government and

the farmers. Many farmers are facing

three age-old problems — low

prices, low yields and low income.

Successive governments are trying

to address these issues, but still a lot

needs to be done. For example,

farmers are still selling their produce

below the Minimum Support

Price (MSP). The average productivity

of crops such as pulses and

oilseeds is still less than 1.5

tonne/hectare and the recent farmers’

situation assessment survey

indicated that their average income

did not even cross Rs 10,000 per

month. Although ongoing government

schemes are in the right direction,

these need fine-tuning for visible

impact. Some changes can be

considered in the Budget.

Strengthening markets

To solve the problem of low farm

harvest prices, the government has

to strengthen the agricultural market

infrastructure. In recent years,

governments have been promoting

10,000 farmer producer organisations(FPOs),

setting up the Agri

Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF)

for upgrade of infrastructure in

existing 22,000 rural haats and

transforming them into gramin agricultural

markets (GrAM) and

strengthening infrastructure in

APMC markets and establishing e-

National Agriculture Markets.

However, even after so much

emphasis, many of the APMC markets

and rural haats are not in a condition

to meet the farmers’ marketing

needs. The government should

ensure better implementation and

pump in more investments.

GrAMs have the potential to

evolve as effective farmer-consumer

direct markets and can also

act as collection and aggregation

centres to further linkup with mega

food retailers and exporters.

However, under the existing guidelines,

only village panchayats/cooperatives/APMCs

are eligible to take

up village haats’ upgrade activities

under AMIF. Although government

intention to give a greater role to the

public sector is understandable, it is

time to bring in private companies

in the profit-sharing mode, which

are specialised in doing these types

of works more efficiently at least in

day-to-day maintenance of

warehouses, cold chains,

etc. It will not only

increase the utilisation

rate of newly created

infrastructure

but also generate

income for the

government,

which can be

used for

proper maintenance

of

other basic

infrastructure

within

the GrAMs

yards such as

pathways,

boundary walls

etc. Similarly,

private sector participation

needs to be

encouraged in the creation

and maintenance of

infrastructure in APMC markets.

Agricultural credit

It is time to increase the agricultural

credit target from the existing

Rs 16.5 lakh crore to Rs 20 lakh

crore under the interest subsidy

scheme along with expanding the

scheme to loans taken from microfinance

institutions. Until now,

loans taken from formal institutions

such as commercial banks and

cooperatives are only eligible to get

interest subsidy. This form of discrimination

is an injustice to the

farmers who are unable to get loans

from formal institutions but end up

taking them from microfinance

institutions,

as they

provide easy access to credit on an

urgent basis with little documentation.

Amid the Covid pandemic,

microfinance institutions played a

greater role in expanding credit to

the marginalised population and

tenant farmers in rural areas. This

needs to be encouraged by expanding

the interest subsidy scheme.

Direct money transfer

PM-KISAN (income support

scheme for farmers) was announced

in the 2019-20 Union Budget with a

support of Rs 6,000 per year for

each eligible farmer-household.

The success of the scheme is visible

in terms of its sheer reach. Of the

total 11.9 crore identified eligible

farmers, 11.7 crore

were benefited through

direct money transfer

into their accounts

in 2021-22.

However, one

major complaint

by the

farmers is that

the amount is

not increasing

every

year to compensate

for

the increased

costs of agricultural

inputs

such as fertilisers

and seeds.

Probably, in this

Budget, the government

should link PM-

KISAN assistance to the

agricultural input price index

(mainly fertiliser). This will also

enable converting all input subsidy

schemes and bundling them into a

single income support scheme at a

later date. The increase in agricultural

input prices due to withdrawal

of subsidies is more than compensated

by the increase in amount

under the income support scheme

indexed to input prices.

Crop insurance

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima

Yojana provides insurance whenever

crop failure occurs. In recent

years, some states have opted out of

the scheme in spite of significant

Central subsidy. As a result, area

coverage under crop insurance

reduced from 30% of the Gross

Cropped Area (GCA) in 2016-17 to

25% in 2019-20. A major problem

is the delay in claims settlement due

to reasons such as pending state

subsidy and/or pending yield data;

as a result, farmers are losing interest.

Some claims are also pending

due to issues such as payment failure,

yield-related disputes between

private companies and state governments

etc. In the coming years, with

increased volatility in yields due to

climate change, crop insurance will

play a critical role in stabilising the

farmers’ income. Hence, there is a

need to impose strict penalties for

any delay in claims settlements by

private companies.

Crop diversification

Effective crop diversification

will solve multiple problems simultaneously

in Indian agriculture:

reduce high-cost, excessive food

stocks with FCI; increase exports

and reduce imports; higher production

of pulses and oilseeds will

reduce prices and consumption; and

help in reducing environmental

damage caused by monocropping

of paddy-wheat. However, crop

diversification strategies of the government

are scattered. There is a

need to consolidate and create a

separate fund for the promotion of

diversification from paddy and

wheat to crops such as oilseeds,

pulses, fruits and vegetables. Funds

under crop-oriented schemes such

as National Mission on Edible Oils,

Accelerated Pulses Production

Programme and Mission for

Integrated Development of

Horticulture, which are aimed at

increasing area under respective

crops, need to be pooled under an

integrated Mission for Crop

Diversification. One of the ways to

increase crop diversification is publicising

a bonus on PM-KISAN for

the farmers who shifted from

paddy-wheat crop cycle to government-suggested

crops based on

agro-ecology and market research.

Overall, it’s time to consolidate

already existing schemes but with a

focus on increased funding and better

implementation strategies. This

will, in turn, help in achieving the

national objective of increasing

farmers’ income.

20 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS


Biden assures categorically Harris

will be running mate in 2024

New York : US President Joe

Biden has declared categorically

that Vice President Kamala Harris

will be his running mate squashing

questions about her future on the

eve of their completing the first year

in office.

"Yes," he said emphatically on

Wednesday when asked by a

reporter at a news conference.

He was asked to expand on the

terse reply by the reporter who

queried: "You put Vice President

Harris in charge of voting rights.

Are you satisfied with her work on

this issue and can you guarantee,

can you commit that she will be

your running mate in 2024 provided

that you run again?"

"There is no need to (expand),"

Biden said, but went on to add: "She

is going to be my running mate,

Number 1; and Number 2, I put her

in charge (voting rights) and she is

doing a good job."

Harris has herself dismissed as

"gossip" and "punditry" the rumours

questioning her place on the 2024

Democratic ticket.

After being sworn in last year as

the first Vice President of Indian and

African descent, she proudly spoke

of her Indian American mother

Shyamala Gopalan and her "chithis"

(younger maternal aunts) and said:

"We are bold, fearless, and ambitious.

We are undaunted in our

belief that we shall overcome; that

we will rise up."

Now comes the challenge of rising

up to meet the swirling questions

about her performance and

future. According to the RealClear

Politics average of polls, 50.3 per

cent disapprove of her performance

- slightly less than the 53.3 per cent

who disapprove of Biden.

Only 39.7 per cent approve of

Harris's performance.

Her most important role has been

in the Senate which is divided

equally between the Democrats and

Republicans and she wields the tiebreaking

casting vote.

But not only has she failed to

make headway in the two high-profile

jobs assigned to her, shepherding

the voting rights bill through

Congress and stemming illegal

immigration, an exodus of her top

staff has pushed her office into disarray

and questioned her leadership.

In the latest blow to her, the voting

rights bill that she was assigned to

shepherd failed in the Senate

Wednesday night because she could

not get enough support within her

party to break the Republican block.

Although it was in her portfolio

the most visible interactions with

senators on the voting rights bill

were by Biden himself and Chuck

Schumer, the Democratic Party

leader in the Senate.

Harris has visited Central

America, the main source of illegal

immigration, to dissuade people

from coming over and has tried to

get investments there to create jobs.

But the problem on the Southern

border with Mexico has worsened

with a record number of 1.7 million

illegal border-crossers caught by

authorities last year.

Some of her supporters have said

she has been given "Missions

Impossible" and set up to fail.

A political commentator and her

backer, Bakari Sellers, told the Grio,

a Black-oriented media: "Her portfolio

is trash. You give someone a

portfolio that is not meant for them

to succeed."

But Harris shot back telling a

CBS TV interviewer: "I don't

believe I'm being set up to fail. I'm

the Vice President of the US, anything

that I handle is because it's a

tough issue."

Tom Friedman, an influential

columnist for The New York Times,

roiled the political waters recently

by floating the idea of Biden ditching

Harris and in an attempt to create

a unity ticket by picking up Liz

Cheney, a renegade Republican

member of the House of

Representatives who is a vociferous

critic of former President Donald

Trump, or Senator Lisa Murkowski,

a moderate Republican.

When an NBC TV interviewer,

with a nod to the column, asked

Harris if she would be on the 2024

Biden ticket, she replied testily: "I

mean, honestly, I know why you're

asking the question, because this is

part of the punditry and the, the gossip

around places like Washington,

D.C. "Let me just tell you something:

We're focused on the things in

front of us." Friedman's column had

also speculated on a Harris presidential

run with Republican Senator

Mitt Romney, a strong critic of

Trump and a 2012 presidential candidate

who lost to Barack Obama,

while laying out other possible unity

ticket combinations.

Now that Biden has unequivocally

said that Harris would be on his

ticket in 2024, the question of what

happens if Biden, who will be 81

years old on election day, decides

not to seek reelection.

Biden has told an ABC TV interviewer

that he plans to run in 2024

"if I'm in good health".

But there are concerns over his

age and a Politico poll in November

2021 showed that 48 per cent of voters

disagreeing that he is mentally

fit and 46 per cent agreeing.

Should he decide not to run

again, Harris may not automatically

assume his mantle and could face

challengers. In that scenario, she

could be pulled down by Biden's

performance as President, which has

been on a downward spiral.

In either scenario, there is but a

two-year window for them to refurbish

their record.

Omicron can survive 8 days on

plastic, 21 hours on skin: Study

TOKYO : The highly contagious

Omicron variant of Covid-19 can survive

upto eight days on plastic and 21

hours on skin—a much longer period

of time than other variants of concern

like Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, as

well as the original strain, according to

a study. The study posted on pre-print,

and not peer-reviewed yet, analysed

the differences in viral environmental

stability between the SARS-CoV-2

Wuhan strain and all variants of concern

(VOCs).

The findings showed that on plastic

and skin surfaces, Alpha, Beta, Delta,

and Omicron variants exhibited more

than two-fold longer survival times

than those of the Wuhan strain and

maintained infectivity for

more than 16 hours on the

skin surfaces.

Omicron survived 21.1

hours on skin model from

cadavers, followed by the

Wuhan virus (8.6 hours), the

Gamma (11 hours) and Delta

(16.8 hours) variant.

The survival of Alpha

(19.6 hours) and Beta (19.1

hours) was found to be similar.

"The Omicron variant has

the highest environmental

stability among VOCs," said

researchers from the Kyoto

Prefectural University of Medicine in

Japan.

"This high stability might also be

one of the factors that have allowed

the Omicron variant to replace the

Delta variant and spread rapidly," they

said. Further, the team found that

Omicron can survive 193.5 hours

(about 8 days) on a plastic (polystyrene)

surface, plus three times that

of the original strain (56 hours) and of

the Gamma variant (59.3 hours), and

significantly more than Delta (114

hours) and Beta (156.6 hours). Only

the Alpha variant, with 191.3 hours,

showed similar resistance.

The researchers said that the high

environmental stability of these VOCs

could increase the risk of contact

transmission and contribute to the

spread of VOCs. The study also

showed that although Alpha, Beta,

Delta, and Omicron variants showed a

slight increase in ethanol resistance,

all VOCs on the skin surface were

completely inactivated in 15 seconds

exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

The researchers highly recommended

hand hygiene practices, and

use of disinfectants with appropriate

alcohol concentrations, as proposed by

the World Health Organisation.

This study also acknowledged limitations

such as the relationship

between the amount of virus remaining

on the surface and the risk of transmission

is still unclear at this stage.

Therefore, it might be reasonable to

interpret the value of survival time in

this study as a reference value, the

researchers said.


NEWS

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

21

CHANNI is dishonest and

Kejriwal an honest man?

On 20 January, Delhi Chief

Minister Arvind Kejriwal called

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit

Singh Channi a dishonest man, and

emphasized that Channi should not

be viewed as a common man. That

is, the patent of the common man

lies with Kejriwal alone, and in this

respect, honesty as well. Kejriwal

made this statement in a quick

response to the ED’s raid on

Channi’s nephew’s house. Since

then, a series of allegations and

counter-allegations have been going

on between the two leaders, which

may continue till the last day of the

Punjab Assembly elections. I waited

for some time that any journalist,

analyst or scholar would comment

on this hasty statement of Kejriwal.

But so far, I have not seen such a

comment. Kejriwal’s comment was

followed by Aam Aadmi Party’s

chief ministerial candidate

Bhagwant Singh Mann who stated

that he himself cannot be a candidate

from a reserved seat, so Channi

should show the courage to give up

his reserved seat and contest from

his general seat. Apart from the

news, no comment has been seen on

this statement of Bhagwant Singh

Mann also. Hence, this short note.

If a leader like former Chief

Minister Captain Amarinder Singh

or current Deputy Chief Minister

Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had

been the face of the Chief Minister

from the Congress side, Kejriwal

would have avoided calling them

dishonest straightaway, even if had

labelling the remaining Congress

party as dishonest. Had similar ED

raids taken place for the leaders of

Shiromani Akali Dal or the leaders

of the newly formed Punjab Lok

Congress, even then Kejriwal

would have avoided calling them

dishonest. Had there been a

Congress chief ministerial candidate

other than Channi, Bhagwant

Singh Mann also might not have

challenged Channi, who comes

from Dalit society of Punjab, to

contest against him

from the Dhuri constituency.

I have not written

this comment in

defence of Channi.

Hearing Kejriwal’s

statement, I was

reminded of the anticorruption

movement

organized under the

aegis of India Against

Corruption (IAC);

And Bhagwant Singh

Mann’s statement

reminded me of the

earlier Youth for Equality campaign.

Everyone knows that the

platform of the anti-corruption

movement was used attacking the

Prem Singh

‘dishonest’ Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh, his government

and the party, and praising the honest

Vikas Purush, Narendra Modi.

When some ‘dishonest’ elements

raised the issue of ‘honest’ Kejriwal

took nine lakh rupees when he was

in government service. It was learnt

that he had gone

abroad at government

expenses; On his return

he had to work regularly

for three years in his

office; And for not

doing so, nine lakh

rupees had to be

deposited by him in the

department. Courtesy

progressive and secular

civil society, the market

price of Kejriwal’s

‘honesty’ in those days

was skyrocketing. The

civil society attacked

like a lion those who brought this

case against him to light. (The supporters

of a lion are also considered

to be lions!) The civil society

barbed that the Congress, which

was drowned deep in dishonesty,

has discovered this case against

Kejriwal.

Kejriwal cited the plea that the

post he held in his office could have

earned crores. That is, why would

he spoil his integrity for a meager

amount of nine lakhs! He deliberately

sent the amount directly to

‘dishonest’ Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh by a check, and

not deposited the same in the concerned

department. He was lauded

by his supporters on this befitting

act!

Similarly, some ‘ungrateful’ elements

raised some legal questions

on the money received by the anticorruption

movement and Aam

Aadmi Party, which arose from the

ashes of that very movement, from

domestic and foreign sources. Then

the civil society dismissed it as the

handiwork of the dishonest

Congress. However, when Anna

Hazare said that public donations

received from people should be

accounted for, Kejriwal directly

said that he had earned nothing in

life except honesty. On hearing his

emotional utterances, the civil society

began to swing in the intoxication

of Kejriwal’s and its own honesty.

(For a detailed account of the

honesty discourse of Kejriwal and

civil society supporting each other,

see my book ‘Bhrashtachar Virodh:

Vibhram Aur Yatharth’, Vani

Prakashan, Delhi, 2014.)

People might have remembered

the Youth for Equality campaign.

As part of that campaign against the

provision/policy of reservation, a

strong demonstration was held at

Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Kejriwal and

Manish Sisodia had participated in

that demonstration. In fact, the campaign

launched in favour of merit

against reservation was nurtured by

these two gentlemen.

A lot of water has flown in the

Ganges since then. It is not without

reason that Kejriwal can openly call

Channi a dishonest man; And

Bhagwant Singh Mann can openly

raise the issue of Channi’s merit in

the election battle. Kejriwal has

been empowered to do so by the

progressive and secular civil society

of India. I do not say that Channi is

an honest politician; And the ED, as

is the practice, has tried to defame

him by raiding his nephew’s house

at the behest of the Centre. Channi

too will be a mixture of dishonesty

and honesty like most other people

and leaders of the country. His relatives

would also have taken undue

advantage of his position. The country’s

treasury and all the assets are

kept in the hands of the leaders.

Therefore, their dishonesty can also

be proportional. The common man

may have to be contented by stealing

a simple amount of nine lakhs.

Suffice to say while summarising

the comment that Kejriwal is honest,

recognized by progressive and

secular civil society. He can retain

the right to openly call anyone, at

any time, dishonest. Channi may

have been active in Punjab politics

for a long time, even though he

might have tried to maintain utmost

honesty in his public life, but he can

be called a dishonest man the champion

of honesty.

(The author is a former Delhi

University teacher and Fellow at

Indian Institute of Advanced Study,

Shimla)

UK's central bank under pressure

as inflation reaches 30-yr high

London : Pressure is mounting

on the Bank of England (BoE) to

raise interest rates as the UK's

Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in

December 2021 hit its highest level

since early 1992.

Official statistics released on

Wednesday showed that the country's

CPI rose by 5.4 per cent in the

12 months to December 2021,

reports Xinhua news agency.

Inflation rose in December mainly

due to price hikes for food and nonalcoholic

beverages, restaurants and

hotels, furniture and household

goods, and clothing and footwear,

the country's Office for National

Statistics (ONS) said in a report.

"Food prices again grew strongly,

while increases in furniture and

clothing also pushed up annual

inflation," said Grant Fitzner, chief

economist at the ONS.

"These large rises were slightly

offset by petrol prices, which

despite being at record levels were

stable this month but rose this time

last year." The UK tightened restrictions

in December to stem the

spread of the highly contagious

Omicron coronavirus variant.

Nevertheless, "the closures in the

economy last year have impacted

some items but, overall, this effect

on the headline rate of inflation is

negligible", Fitzner said. In

December 2021, the BoE raised the

interest rate for the first time in

more than three years after cutting it

to a record low during the Covid-19

pandemic.

The decision came as the annual

CPI inflation in the country rose

from 3.1 per cent in September to a

decade high of 5.1 per cent in

November. Since then, consumer

prices stayed at high levels, partly as

a result of surging energy prices,

supply chain disruptions and labour

shortages. During the fourth quarter

of 2021, British households saw

their financial wellbeing deteriorate

at the fastest rate since the second

quarter of 2020, as surging living

costs hit people's pockets and led to

the steepest fall in cash availability

since the start of 2014, the Scottish

Widows Household Finance Index

showed earlier this month.

22 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS


Thousands of monks rally in Seoul

against Prez's 'anti-Buddhist bias'

Thousands of Buddhist monks held a rally in Seoul on Friday, demanding President Moon Jae-in to apologise for what they called the government's

"anti-Buddhist bias" after a ruling party lawmaker accused temples of collecting admission fees from visitors to national parks.

Seoul : Thousands of Buddhist

monks held a rally in Seoul on

Friday, demanding President Moon

Jae-in to apologise for what they

called the government's "anti-

Buddhist bias" after a ruling party

lawmaker accused temples of collecting

admission fees from visitors

to national parks.

The lawmaker, Jung Chung-rai of

the ruling Democratic Party, has

been under a firestorm of criticism

from South Korea's largest Buddhist

sect, the Jogye Order, since he compared

temples collecting "cultural

asset viewing fees" to a legendary

swindler known for selling river

water for money, reports Yonhap

news Agency.

Temples located at national parks

have collected 3,000-4,000 won per

person in fees from all park visitors

regardless of whether they visit the

temples or not.

Temples argue they are entitled to

such fees because the money is used

to take care of temple assets and private

areas belonging to temples

inside the parks. Friday's rally, held

at the Jogye Order's headquarters in

central Seoul, drew attention

because it came at a time when the

presidential race is heating up amid

speculation that anti-government

sentiment among Buddhists could

affect the chances of ruling party

candidate Lee Jae-myung.

It marked the first time in 28

years that the Jogye Order has

organised a large-scale rally of

monks from across the nation in the

name of the National Convention of

Monks since a 1994 rally was convened

for reform of the sect.

"The government is to preserve

cultural heritages, but it now dares

to instigate religious conflicts and

shift the responsibility," Ven.

Wonhaeng, the head of the Jogye

Order, said during the rally held at

Jogye Temple.

In a statement released before the

rally, the Jogye order and the participants

called for President Moon's

apology, the enactment of laws to

prevent further religious bias against

Buddhism and measures to preserve

national heritages.

'Reservation is not at odds with merit': SC upholds OBC quota in medical courses

New Delhi : The Supreme Court

on Thursday allowed the Central

government to provide 27 per cent

reservation for OBC and 10 per cent

to economically weaker sections

(EWS) in All India quota (AIQ)

seats in medical courses, saying that

reservation is not at odds with the

merit, rather furthers its distributive

impact.

A bench headed by Justice D.Y.

Chandrachud said: "Competitive

exams do not reflect economic

social advantage which is accrued to

some classes. Merit should be

socially contextualised."

Pronouncing detailed reasons for

its decision, the top court said,

"Reservation is not at odds with

merit but furthers it's distributive

impact."

Citing that when a matter

involves constitutional interpretation,

the bench said the judicial

propriety will not allow the court to

stay the quota, in the backdrop that

counselling has not commenced.

A group of petitioners led by

Neil Aurelio Nunes moved the top

court challenging Centre's July 29,

2021 notification to implement

OBC and EWS reservation

in NEET-All

India Quota from the

current academic session

in the postgraduate

courses.

The top court

emphasised that judicial

intervention at

this stage will further

delay the admission

process this year, and

it would also trigger

litigation. "We are still

in midst of the pandemic and thus

the nation needs doctors," the bench

said. The apex court also declared

that Pradeep Jain judgement can't be

read to mean no reservation in AIQ

seats. In connection with the EWS

quota, the top court said the petitioners'

argument was not limited to

the quota in AIQ, but it was also on

the criteria adopted by the Central

government. Emphasising that this

aspect requires detailed hearing, the

bench fixed it for further hearing in

the third week of March this year.

The detailed judgement will be

uploaded later in the day.

Covid: AI-based X-rays with 98%

accuracy may replace PCR tests

London : Scottish researchers have

developed new Artificial Intelligence

(AI) technology based X-rays that can

likely replace currently used PCR tests

for detecting Covid-19 infections.

The technology developed by

experts at the University of the West of

Scotland (UWS), is capable of accurately

diagnosing Covid-19 in just a

few minutes -- far more quickly than a

PCR test, which typically takes around

2 hours -- and with 98 per cent accuracy.

It is hoped that the technology can

eventually be used to help relieve strain

on hard-pressed accident and emergency

departments, particularly in

countries where PCR tests are not readily

available.

The state-of-the-art technique utilises

X-ray technology, comparing scans

to a database of around 3,000 images

belonging to patients with Covid-19,

healthy individuals and people with

viral pneumonia.

It then uses an AI process known as

deep convolutional neural network, an

algorithm typically used to analyse

visual imagery, to make a diagnosis.

During an extensive testing phase,

the technique proved to be more than

98 per cent accurate, the researchers

said. "There has long been a need for a

quick and reliable tool that can detect

Covid-19, and this has become even

more true with the upswing

of the Omicron variant," said

Professor Naeem Ramzan,

Director of the Affective and

Human Computing for

SMART Environments

Research Centre at UWS.

"Several countries are

unable to carry out large

numbers of Covid tests

because of limited diagnosis

tools, but this technique

utilises easily accessible

technology to quickly detect

the virus.

"Covid-19 symptoms are

not visible in X-rays during

the early stages of infection, so it is

important to note that the technology

cannot fully replace PCR tests.

"However, it can still play an important

role in curtailing the viruses spread,

especially when PCR tests are not readily

available," Ramzan said.

The X-rays could prove to be crucial,

and potentially life-saving, when

diagnosing severe cases of the virus,

helping determine what treatment may

be required. The team now plans to

expand the study, incorporating a

greater database of X-rays images

acquired by different models of X-rays

machines, to evaluate the suitability of

the approach in a clinical setting.


Pakistan on a new track?

Pakistan after 75 years of its existence has released its first ever National Security Policy (NSP), which it claims will ensure human security for the ordinary Pakistani masses.

NEWS

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

23

A critical review of the recently

released National Security Policy

(NSP) of Pakistan by its National

Security Advisor, Yusuf Moeed,

reveals that it's a document which contradicts

itself through its various

promises and their delivery mechanism.

Further it also reveals that how

the military-political combine in

Pakistan has controlled so far and

plans in the future too, how to control

the distribution of resources in the

country, consolidate its power over

every aspect of the governance, every

state organ and the civil society.

The unclassified part of the NSP

spread over a 62-page document loftily

talks about the parameters of the

national security framework, enunciates

its implementation strategy, outlines

policy guidelines for bolstering

national unity and securing the country's

economic future, besides ensuring

its defence, territorial integrity,

and internal security, guiding principles

for foreign policy in the changing

world and linking all this to the human

security.

The NSP peppered with ostensibly

altruistic claims, looks like a bunch of

hollow words with no apparent practical

roadmap for the future. The policy

claims to have been a result of consensus

with ‘all stakeholders', but strangely

enough, no defence or security

expert, economist, social scientist and

most all any parliamentarian has not

been consulted on the issues handled

by the NSP.

NSP has finally been formulated for

the first time in 75 years, since the

existence of Pakistan but without taking

parliament into confidence. The

policy formulators in a bid to undermine

Parliament's role stated that policy

formulation, especially the one

pertaining to national security, is a

prerogative of the executive branch in

the entire democratic world.

Thought that might be the case. But

in a parliamentary democracy there is

a unwritten understanding that the

executive branch will always be

answerable to the parliament and that

no policy, no law could be made without

addressing the concerns of the various

stakeholders in the government

and above all the people's will.

It is ensured by not only allowing

the parliament to debate and discuss

every aspect of the government's decisions

but also by including the gist of

those discussions.

Further, one wonders how a new

strategy could be formulated without

delving into the past's mistakes or

misadventures, as has happened with

Pakistan and its neighbours.

Perhaps for the first time in

Pakistan's history, a civil government

has admitted that without ensuring

economic security, "traditional security",

i.e. defence, is not possible.

Though in reality the country's impoverished

economy has collapsed

under the burden of the

traditional militarysecurity

combine.

The document

seems to have

provided

only disjointed

a n d

abstract

thoughts

and views

and fails

to provide

a clear connection

between traditional

security

and human

security and ways to

implement it.

Though human security is

mentioned in the title of the document,

yet it is mentioned only casually and

superficially, and that too in the last

chapter of the document.

The NSP's emphasis is undoubtedly

on defence. And here too it reflects

Pakistan's obsession with its traditional

rival and bemoans the imbalance

between the two in the sphere of conventional

weapons.

If the Pakistan government really

wants to be seen as the one, which is

committed to rebuilding the fragile

economy of the country, then

different contradictions

and demands have to

be set right first.

Then all aspects

of

traditional

security must

be subjected

to economic

imperatives,

which could

warrant

fruitful

results for the

economy and

could flow

directly to the

masses.

In the current

background of ‘global

village' Pakistan should try

for peaceful settlement of its disputes

with all neighbours, in concurrence

with mutually beneficial trade

and investment policies, and building

economic synergies to strengthen economic

interdependence.

The NSP ignores the fact that all

aspects of traditional security are

linked to economic imperatives. This

further requires resolution of 'core

issues' through negotiations – not a

reiteration of the earlier strategy,

which has not worked.

For ensuring economic security,

every country requires to strengthen

regional cooperation and economic

partnerships, rather than regional conflicts.

But, the NSP lists several

geostrategic compulsions – which

may not help it to consolidate economic

potential at a regional scale.

To deliver human security for the

country's masses and ensure a sustainable

and participatory development

model Pakistan needs to rework the

whole paradigm of its governance,

only then it could talks about the priorities

of human security to raise the

quality of life of its masses. Further,

the Imran Khan government, if it has

to deliver for the masses then first it

will have to demolish the old military

combine of the country, which has

prospered at the cost of the masses,

filling the pockets of its generals and

political leaders in the name of pursuing

a defensive policy against its

neighbour. This goal seems insurmountable

given the manner in which

the Pakistan's political and military

have supplemented and complemented

each other over the years and they

are in a position to destroy every move

against them, in the future too.

Protests in K'taka's Raichur over removal

of Ambedkar's photo at R'Day event

Protests broke out in Karnataka's Raichur district on Thursday in wake of District Judge Mallikarjun Gowda getting the photo of

Dr B.R. Ambedkar, which was kept along with Mahatma Gandhi's portrait, removed during the 73rd Republic Day celebrations.

Raichur, (Karnataka) : Protests

broke out in Karnataka's Raichur

district on Thursday in wake of

District Judge Mallikarjun Gowda

getting the photo of Dr B.R.

Ambedkar, which was kept along

with Mahatma Gandhi's portrait,

removed during the 73rd Republic

Day celebrations.

The video of removal of

Ambedkar's photo has gone viral on

social media and created outrage in

the state.

BJP MLA and former minister

Shivanagouda Naik on Thursday

that the judge's act is a matter of

shame and demanded his immediate

sacking. The protestors, who

blocked arterial roads in the city,

demanded that the High Court

should take suo moto notice of the

issue and sack the judge. They also

demanded a public apology from the

judge for his action. "The High

Court must see to it that such incidents

do not occur again," the protestors

demanded.

SFI state Vice President and

advocate Shivakumar Megalamani

said that District Judge Gowda

refused to unfurl the flag on

Republic Day, saying the protocol

does not allow him to do so if

Ambedkar's photo is kept. The

judge also maintained that he will be

in trouble if he does so. Later, he

had the photo of Ambedkar removed

and unfurled the flag. "Ambedkar's

photo is being kept in Bengaluru

Civil court, Kalaburagi Civil Court,

and no judge has objected and raised

such an issue. The same judge had

objected to placing the photograph

of Ambedkar on November 26,

which is celebrated as Constitution

Day. The advocates had to strongly

protest to retain the photo in the

function organised by Raichur Bar

Council and the District Legal

Services Authority," he added.

Ayudha Puja was celebrated in

the premises of the court and but no

objection was raised, said

Moolimani. "We are also demanding

review of all his judgments," he

said. Naik said that the judge had

insulted the Architect of the

Constitution. "He has displayed a

distorted mindset by his act. The

judge refusing to unfurl the tricolour

until Ambedkar's photo is removed

is a matter of shame for civilised

society. "This is painful. The act has

caused outrage all over the state.

The High Court should intervene

immediately and sack the judge who

still has the mindset of untouchability.

I will bring this matter to the

notice of the government and Law

Department," he said.

24 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 NEWS


Bharat Samvad Abhiyan (India Dialogue Campaign)

We, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC,

REPUBLIC … HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE IT TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION. (Preamble, Constitution of India)

The objective of the Bharat

Samvad Abhiyan is to continuously

nurture and maintain the commitment

of citizens to a constitutionally

sovereign, socialist, secular and

democratic Indian nation. It is an

obvious civic duty of all Indian citizens

to uphold the ideals of the

Indian Freedom Struggle and the

fundamental values of the Indian

Constitution as an integral part of

the national life. This civic duty can

remain a permanent part of their

thought process only through constant

dialogue among the citizens.

This would prevent the rapid devaluation

of constitutional values and

institutions. They will rather be

strengthened and renewed. Only

then the ongoing campaign of the

ruling classes to sell the national

assets to the domestic and foreign

corporate houses; To make laws,

one after the other, in the interest of

corporate houses at the cost of

farmers, labourers, youth, students;

To violate the civil liberties; And to

disturb the communal harmony will

be successfully checked.

Those people of India who look

at their civic identity only in the

light of the Constitution of India,

and not confined to any religion,

caste, region, family, person etc.,

will be the natural participants of

Bharat Samvad Abhiyan. There

should be no dearth of such people

in the country. Even though the corporate-communal

nexus imposed

by the ruling-classes in service of

neo-imperialism in the last three

decades has greatly distorted the

spirit of the modern Indian nation,

emanated from the powerful impact

of the Freedom Movement and the

complex global developments.

Prem Singh

Mobile: 8826275067

Indians settled abroad should

come forward to participate and

join in Bharat Samvad Abhiyan.

Citizens of other countries who are

interested in India or want an equitable

peaceful world should also

take part in Bharat Samvad Abhiyan

to raise further consciousness. A

greater participation of women in

Bharat Samvad Abhiyan will also

help to give it new dimensions of

significance. Journalists of all languages

can play an important role in

the promotion of Bharat Samvad

Abhiyan. People can participate in

Bharat Samvad Abhiyan while

doing their routine work.

Unemployed citizens can acquire a

leading role and become the biggest

strength to the campaign.

There is no conducting center or

body of Bharat Samvad Abhiyan. It

is a campaign of the citizens for the

citizens by the citizens. Under the

campaign a person can communicate

with her/himself. Two people

can communicate with each other,

family members can communicate

among themselves on various occasions,

and so on. People from the

same profession can form their own

group and communicate. Interested

people can form ‘Bharat Samvad

Abhiyan Mandalas’ in order to

reach more and more people. These

Mandalas (circles) can organize discussions

among the students of

schools, colleges, universities in

their area on topics related to modern

Indian nationality and its role in

the world affairs. There is no dearth

India supported and funded attacks

on CPEC projects: Pak NSA

Pakistans National Security Advisor (NSA), Moeed Yusuf, said on Thursday that the safety of foreigners

in the country is Pakistans responsibility, and concerns of Chinese workers and engineers working on

the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are being taken seriously, Express Tribune reported.

New Delhi : Pakistans

National Security Advisor

(NSA), Moeed Yusuf, said on

Thursday that the safety of foreigners

in the country is

Pakistans responsibility, and concerns

of Chinese workers and

engineers working on the China-

Pakistan Economic Corridor

(CPEC) are being taken seriously,

Express Tribune reported.

The NSA's remarks came in an

interview with the Beijing

Review where he mentioned that

some countries and their proxy

actors do not want the CPEC to

succeed, as they see the Pakistan-

China partnership as a "threat".

Yusuf acknowledged that there

have been a number of attacks on

the CPEC projects, highlighting

that India supported and funded them

through anti-Pakistan militant organisations

operating from third countries, the

report said.

"Unfortunately, our enemies will continue

to seek ways to target us," he

added.

However, the NSA stated that regardless

of these ‘attacks', there is clear evidence

that the Pakistan-China relationship

is still going strong as the

two countries came out

"stronger and further strengthened

security protocols".

"All inimical forces working

at the behest of external powers

to undermine the CPEC will be

defeated," said Yusuf, adding

that Pakistan now has a mechanism

to ensure the security of

every Chinese citizen in the

country.

He emphasised that the full

potential of the CPEC will only

be realised when there is peace

in the region, the report said.

Responding to a question,

the Pak NSA maintained that

Pakistan neither believes in

camp politics, nor it wants to

be pushed in that direction.

"China has always counselled us to

have good relations with everyone, and

we have always maintained that

Islamabad's relations with Beijing are

not exclusive," he said.

of books, articles, magazines, documentaries,

seminars, video speeches

etc. available in support of democracy,

civil rights, human dignity and

religious-cultural plurality along

with socialism and welfare state.

There is also a large amount of literature

available in opposition to

the various forms of bigotry like

dictatorship, fascism, terrorism etc.

The thrust of Bharat Samvad

Abhiyan will be on mutual and

direct communication between people.

It is, however, not a dialogue

between just like-minded people.

People having different views and

beliefs too can join the Bharat

Samvad Abhiyan and express their

opinions.

Bharat Samvad Abhiyan will not

have any fund and bank account.

The work will be done with the help

of mutual contribution. Each unit

will keep an account of the amount

of contribution and its expenditure

will be collected from the people

who are participants in the dialogue.

Politics is at the core of modern

era. Therefore, Bharat Samvad

Abhiyan is a political process, the

first cycle of which will run till the

Lok Sabha elections to be held in

2024. Whatever the outcome, the

second round of the campaign will

begin. This campaign will go on

cycle after cycle – till a new constructive

politics is created from

within the Indian society visa-vi the

present corporate politics.

The success of the Bharat

Samvad Abhiyan will be only when

its coverage, through the urbane

civil society, will reach to the working

masses engaged in the organized/unorganized

sectors. When

they themselves will hold dialogue

and get their equal rights as Indian

citizens.

Under the Bharat Samvad

Abhiyan, some participants will

travel continuously, interacting with

people in different parts of the

country. With the belief that other

interested people will join that travel

or organize their own travel separately.

Bharat Samvad Abhiyan is a

process in which enrichment will go

on with suggestions and experiences.

This pamphlet must be translated

into all Indian languages.

Participants who take responsibility

for translation in their own language,

please inform.

Concerned citizens who get this

message/pamphlet should provide

their suggestions and forward it further.

They may publish and distribute

it in their own languages with

their names.

Kenneth Branagh explains core

idea of 'Death on the Nile'

Mumbai : Kenneth Branagh,

the director of the upcoming

film, "Death on the Nile", who

also stars in the film, recently

shared the idea behind its story

and how it affects the cogs in

the wheel of the narrative.

The film, based on 1937

novel of the same name by

Agatha Christie, is a murder

mystery that finds its germs in

the greed for physical satisfaction.

Elaborating on the idea of

the film, Kenneth said: "The hunger for s** in Agatha

Christie's original story is very powerful, and people are reckless

in their pursuit of it. Their greed for physical satisfaction

is dangerous to a murderous degree."

Lauding the author's style of storytelling, he added: "It is the

most unsettled of Agatha Christie's books. She presents a

veneer of sophistication, sexiness, glamour and romance, but it

is, at all times, brittle, fragile, dangerous and disruptive."

He added, "We were the lucky recipients of quite a lot of the

sort of human texture that is part of why her books are so successful.

She's not merely someone who can write clever puzzles,

she writes real people." Screenwriter Michael Green

explained how he and Kenneth arrived at the idea. "We were

having such a good time talking and asking if we got to make

another film, and if yes then what would that be? Ken and I

each laid out our favorites, but we kept circling back to 'Death

on the Nile'. The book is very well written." He added: "It's got

some of Agatha Christie's best prose in it, and it has this wonderful

plot with a wonderful solution. It's sprawling. We just

kept coming back to passion and love, diving into those feelings,

and making sure all of our characters really had something

to say about those emotions."


NEWS

Budget 2022-23: Betrayal of People s Interests

The Finance Minister presented the

Budget 2022 in the backdrop of an economic

scenario when majority of the people

are facing job loss and huge cuts in

real income. GDP in the current financial

year is estimated to marginally cross the

pre pandemic levels. The private consumption

expenditure is still short of the

pre-pandemic levels and industries are

facing low capacity utilisation and rising

inventories primarily because of very low

demand in the economy. In such a scenario

what was needed in the budget was

a big push towards job creation and

increasing domestic demand. The budget

fails patently in addressing these issues.

What was required was introducing an

urban employment guarantee scheme. On

the contrary, it has cut down expenditure

by Rs. 25000 crores in MGNREGS and

reduced food, fuel and fertilizer subsidies

and also in allocations in health and rural

development. The budget has proposed a

growth in total expenditure by Rs. 174909

crores from the revised estimates of 2021-

22 but as percentage of GDP the total

expenditure has come down from 17.8 per

cent in 2020-21 to 15.3 per cent in 2022-

23 budget estimates. The growth of revenue

receipts has primarily grown as corporates

were able to accumulate profits

during the pandemic reflected through

increased corporation tax realisation and

also garnered through GST and hike in

petroleum prices from indirect taxes

levied upon common people. However the

growth of expenditure is far short from the

Noida: ’I-T recovers huge cash

from ex-IPS officer’s premises’

Noida : The Income Tax Department, which conducted search

operation at the premises of

a former IPS official in

Noida Sector 50, have

recovered unaccounted cash

worth several hundred

crores. The cash was recovered

during the search operation,

which was initially

called a survey operation.

Bundles of currency notes of Rs 2,000 and 500 denominations

were recovered. However, as of now, the department has not made

any official statement. As per an information, the former IPS official

is said to be very close to Samajwadi Party. A source said that

they received an information that cash of several crore rupees was

kept at the basement of the building in Noida Sector-50. The

source said that the former IPS was running a firm from the basement,

which has 650 lockers. The department is investigating

whether it has any connection with benami property or not. The IT

official reached Noida Sector 50 on late Sunday evening. The

search operation is still going on and the officials would brief the

media once the search operation is over, the source added.

Acid attack on woman in Srinagar

Srinagar :

A 24-year-old

woman faced an acid attack in

Srinagar on Tuesday, police said.

Police said unknown persons

attacked the woman with acid in

Safa Kadal area of old Srinagar

in the evening.

"The girl has been shifted to

hospital and police has reached

the spot to identify the attackers," a police officer said.

Woman killed in celebratory firing in UP

Bulandshahr (UP) : A woman died allegedly after being shot

in the head during celebratory firing at a wedding ceremony in the

district.

The incident took place in the Samaspur village, late on Sunday

night, when the bride’s cousin opened fire with a country-made

pistol. The bullet hit the head of Javitri, 48, who had come to

attend the wedding. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition,

where doctors declared her brought dead. The bride’s

cousin has been arrested, police said. The body has been sent for

post-mortem.

growth of revenue receipts and in real

terms is even less than what it was in last

year s revised estimates.

The squeeze on expenditure is not

merely in the Central Government expenditure.

By squeezing the transfer of

resources to states, the state governments

are also being forced to do the same.

These transfers are to come down from

6.91 per cent of GDP in RE 2021-22 to

6.25 per cent in 2022-23.

Allocations of all major schemes for

farmers have seen a budget cut. The allocation

for procurement to FCI and under

decentralisation procurement scheme has

been reduced by about 28 per cent at a time

when farmers are struggling for a legally

guaranteed MSP. Allocation of funds for

fertilizer subsidy has been reduced by 25

per cent. Under PM-KISAN, 12.5 crore

farmer households are supposed to be provided

Rs. 6000 each which requires an

allocation of Rs. 75000 crores. However,

only Rs. 68000 crores have been allocated.

Allocation for the crop insurance scheme

has also fallen by about 500 crores. In all

the recent years, government has not spent

even the meagre allocation for welfare of

children. The revised estimates for expenditure

on welfare of children is Rs. 5700

crores less than what was budgeted.

Nothing has been done to help children

cope with the devastating impact of closure

of schools and anganwadis.

Allocation of funds for the welfare of

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

shows a marginal increase in absolute figures

but factoring inflation it has come

down in real terms. Similarly, the renaming

of mid-day meal scheme as PM

Poshan could not raise the allocation from

Rs. 10,234 crores despite of 35 per cent of

children not receiving MDM during the

last year. The Finance Minister talked

about Narishakti upgrading 2 lakh anganwadis

but the allocation is frozen at the

revised estimates at Rs 20,000 crores.

Over the last two years, there has been

a huge cut in LPG subsidy. Last year, allocation

was cut by 60 per cent and another

60 per cent cut has been inflicted in the

budget for 2022-23. No new allocation has

been budgeted for the unorganised workers

who were registered through e-shram

portals. During the last two years of pandemic,

the rich have become richer.

According to Oxfam, wealth of India s

richest families reached a record high in

2021. The top ten people in India hold 57

per cent of the wealth. Yet, there is no proposal

to impose tax on these super profits

and use these resources to provide relief to

the vast majority of suffering people.

Therefore, the budget 2022-23 has

completely failed in identifying the priorities

to provide relief for the common people.

It is a betrayal.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls

upon the people to protest against this

anti-people pro-corporate budget demanding

direct cash transfer of Rs. 7,500 per

month to all families outside the income

tax bracket and distribution of free food

kits.

01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022

25

SEVA Trust UK (India) donates 150

Immunity Booster Kits at Disabled

and Elderly Ashram, in village

Sarabha of Ludhiana District

A charitable NGO, SEVA Trust UK (India) which is working in

Punjab and Haryana, distributed 150 immunity booster kits at

Guru Amar Das Disabled & Old Age Ashram, Sarabha which is

the native village of freedom fighter Shaheed Kartar Singh

Sarabha. This event was held on Indian Republic Day 26 January

to remember all the freedom fighters and to support the elderly and

handicapped during the ongoing Corona pandemic.

On this occasion SEVA Trust Coordinator Baljinder Singh

Grewal, said that under our ongoing mission of Healthy Punjab

these kits are being distributed to 10,000 rural children and 5, 000

needy people and families of this area. He thanked Dabur India for

their support. Grewal also said that in addition to the health projects,

SEVA Trust has been helping poor students in education and

in the last 6 years more than 500 students have been benefitted and

we will start a new free online coaching project soon, said Grewal.

Apart from Trust volunteers team lead by Amandeep Singh,

Harjinder Singh, Jagmeet Singh and Jagdeep Singh were also

present on the occasion.

26 01-02-2022 to 15-02-2022 WORLD


INDIA 10th largest country by

forest area: Economic Survey

New Delhi : India's total forest

cover was 7,13,789 sq km in 2021,

reflecting an increase of 3.14 per cent

over 2011 even as it remained as the

tenth largest country by forest area in

the world, the Economic Survey

2021-22 said.

Forest area refers to the area

recorded as forest in government

records and is also called "recorded

forest area". Russia, Brazil, Canada,

the US, and China were the top five

largest countries by forest area in

2020, while India was the tenth

largest.

Forests covered 24 per cent of

India's total geographical area

accounting for two per cent of the

world's total forest area in 2020. The

top 10 countries account for 66 per

cent of the world's forest area. Of

these countries, Brazil (59 per cent),

Peru (57 per cent), Democratic

Republic of Congo (56 per cent), and

Russia (50 per cent) have half or more

of their total geographical area under

forests. "India has increased its forest

Manjhi disappointed with BJP,

JD-U over MLC polls' seat sharing

Tripoli : A total of 872 illegal

immigrants were rescued

off the Libyan coast and

returned to the country in the

past week, the International

Organization for Migration

(IOM) announced.

From January 23 to 29, the

migrants were rescued or intercepted

at sea and returned to

Libya, the IOM said in a statement

on Monday. It added that

a total of 1,476 illegal immigrants

were rescued and

returned to Libya this year,

reports Xinhua news agency.

area significantly over the past

decade. It ranks third globally in average

annual net gain in forest area

between 2010 to 2020, adding an

average 2,66,000 ha of additional forest

area every year during the period,

or adding approximately 0.38 per cent

of the 2010 forest area every year

Patna : Former Bihar chief minister

and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM)

supremo Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday

sounded disappointed on the issue of seat

sharing in the MLC polls with the alliance

partners, BJP and JD-U.

"The way BJP and JD-U shared the seats

among themselves and did not consider

any other alliance partner is disheartening

for the HAM. We and Mukesh Sahani's

VIP are the coalition partners in the current

NDA government in Bihar. It is extremely

unfortunate that they did not invite us for

the meeting," Manjhi said. "Whatever decision

was taken in the meeting, had it been

taken in the presence of all coalition partners,

it would have been satisfactory for us.

Unfortunately, this was not the case. I am

According to the IOM, 27 illegal

immigrants have died and

55 gone missing off the Libyan

coast on the Central

between 2010 to 2020," said the

Economic Survey.

Forest cover comprises all lands,

more than one hectare in area, with a

tree canopy density of more than 10

per cent, irrespective of ownership

and legal status. Such lands may not

necessarily be a recorded forest area,

feeling the pain as they have not invited us.

As far as HAM is concerned, we might not

demand any seat," Manjhi said.

Earlier on Sunday, VIP chief Mukesh

Sahani announced that his party will contest

all 24 seats of MLC election coming

under local body as the Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) and Janata Dal-United (JD-U)

did not give any seat to him.

Sahani also alleged that the BJP backstabbed

him. Its leaders could kill him.

The seat distribution among the BJP and

the JD-U took place on Saturday wherein

13 seats came to BJP and 11 to JD-U.

The BJP has given 1 seat to Rashtriya

Lok Janshakti Party from its own quota.

872 illegal immigrants rescued

off Libyan coast in past week

Mediterranean route since the

beginning of the year.

In 2021, a total of 32,425

illegal immigrants were rescued

and returned to the country,

while 662 died and 891

others went missing off the

Libyan coast on the Central

Mediterranean route, the IOM

revealed.

Libya has been suffering

insecurity and chaos since the

fall of the late leader

Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The North African country

has turned into a preferred

point of departure for illegal

immigrants who want to cross

the Mediterranean Sea to

European shores.

and also include orchards, bamboo,

and palm plantations.

India's total forest cover was

7,13,789 sq km in 2021, reflecting an

increase of 3.14 per cent in the forest

cover over 2011, moving from 21.05

per cent of the country's geographical

area in 2011 to 21.71 per cent in 2021.

This increase in total forest cover is

mainly attributed to increase in very

dense forest (all lands with tree

canopy density of 70 per cent and

above), which rose by 19.54 per cent

between 2011 and 2021.

Open forest (all lands with tree

canopy density between 10-40 per

cent) also improved by 6.71 per cent,

while moderately dense forest (all

lands with tree canopy density

between 40-70 per cent) declined by

4.32 per cent between 2011 and 2021.

Amongst states, Madhya Pradesh

(11 per cent of India's total) had the

largest forest cover in India in 2021,

followed by Arunachal Pradesh (9 per

cent), Chhattisgarh (8 per cent),

Odisha (7 per cent), and Maharashtra

UAE one of the

largest international

donor to the Yemen

According to UN’s Financial

Tracking Service (FTS), the

UAE ranked second place after

Saudi Arabia as the biggest

backer of Yemen’s

Humanitarian.The UAE’s

(7 per cent).

Mizoram (85 per cent), Arunachal

Pradesh (79 per cent), Meghalaya (76

per cent), Manipur (74 per cent) and

Nagaland (74 per cent) were the top

five states in terms of highest per cent

of forest cover with respect to total

geographical area of the state in 2021.

Arunachal Pradesh accounted for

21 per cent of India's very dense forest

in 2021, followed by Maharashtra

(9 per cent), Odisha (7 per cent),

Chhattisgarh (7 per cent), and

Madhya Pradesh (7 per cent).

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

accounted for 11 per cent of India's

moderately dense forest in 2021, followed

by Arunachal Pradesh (10 per

cent), Odisha (7 per cent), and

Karnataka (7 per cent).

Madhya Pradesh also accounted

for 12 per cent of India's moderately

dense forest in 2021, followed by

Odisha (8 per cent), Maharashtra (7

per cent), Chhattisgarh (5 per cent),

and Assam (5 per cent), the Survey

said.

humanitarian campaign, represented

by the Emirates Red

Crescent (ERC), has stepped up

operations since 2017.

According to the UAE government,

it has spent more than

6.25 billion on relief and rescue

operations in Yemen from 2015

to 2021. It has sent 122 tonnes

of medicine, medical equipment

and other items in six planes to deal with the corona epidemic.

The United Arab Emirates has provided 230 million to tackle

malnutrition in Yemen. The value of assistance provided by the

UAE to Yemen from April 2015 through February 2020

amounted to over AED22 billion (US$6 billion), according to

the Emirates Red Crescent’s latest figures.

The UAE support addressing the UAE health system also

included supplying Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Hospital in the Socotra Island with all required medical equipment;

maintenance and restoration of the Irka Health Center in

Shabwa Governorate; and the full rehabilitation and maintenance

of Al Mokha General Hospital in the Yemeni Governorate

of Taez. The UAE supported the educational system with airconditioning,

transport vehicles and classroom supplies, including

19,233 school double chairs, 4,816 school boards, 328 water

coolers, 190 air conditioners, 25 school umbrellas, and 70 transport

vehicles.

The money has been given to dozens of UN agencies, international

organisations and local NGOs. The largest recipients

include the World Food Programme, United Nations Children’s

Fund, World Health Organization and the UN refugee agency.

The charitable work being carried out by the UAE in Yemen is

appreciated by the international community and agencies.

– Dr Rahul Kumar

senior correspondent, the Independent New Delhi

01-02-2022 The Asian Independent

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