FRIDAY www.thestatesman.

com
24 DECEMBER FIND US ONLINE
Scan this with your
smartphone

2021
twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd
facebook.com/thestatesman1875
Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC

KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR

PUTIN URGES WEST TO NO CONFIDENCE IN TENSION IN U’KHAND PUJARA CONFIDENT

ACT QUICKLY TO OFFER GOVT’S ABILITY TO CONGRESS: PRIYANKA OF SERIES WIN
SECURITY GUARANTEES FATHOM NEW CRYPTO SPEAKS TO HARISH RAWAT IN SOUTH AFRICA
ORDER
P10 P8 P5 P12

WEATHER
MAINLY CLEAR SKY. SHALLOW TO MODERATE Centre’s five-fold Ludhiana court complex
blast kills 2, many injured
FOG IN THE MORNING. THE MAXIMUM AND
MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE
AROUND 24 AND 06 DEGREES CELSIUS
RESPECTIVELY.
RAINFALL: Nil
strategy for states STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
RELATIVE HUMIDITY Omicron tally climbed to 236; states asked to ramp up vaccination CHANDIGARH, 23 DECEMBER

Max: 94% Min: 45% SNS & AGENCIES Inoculation exceeds 60 A blast inside a court complex
TEMPERATURE NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER PM Modi chairs Covid pc: Over 60 per cent of the in Ludhiana on Thursday
review meeting country’s total eligible afternoon killed two and left

T
Max: 23.1°C (2) Min: 05.5°C (-2)
SUN RISES SUN SETS he Centre on Amid the concerns over population is now dou- several injured.
07:12 hrs 17:31 hrs Thursday
advised states
the spread of the Omi-
cron variant of coron-
3,47,65,976 ble vaccinated, the gov-
ernment said on Thurs-
The blast reportedly took
place at 12:22 pm inside a bath-
MOON RISES MOON SETS
and UTs to not let avirus, Prime Minister day. room on the second floor of
22:07 hrs 11:31 hrs
their guard down and
maintain their pre-
Narendra Modi is hold-
ing a meeting on Thurs-
78,291 Union health minis-
ter Mansukh Mandaviya
the building, damaging walls,
shattering glass panes in near-
paredness in fight against day with officials to lauded public health by rooms and ripped through
THUMBNAILS pandemic and follow
five-fold strategy in view
review the pandemic
situation in the coun-
7,495 workers, medical pro-
fessionals, and citizens
a part of the building.
Two women and three
of Omicron. try. ANI for the new milestone. men were injured as police Police inspection after a blast at a court complex, in Ludhiana
The states have been
asked to put in place the be enforced for mini-
6,960 Meanwhile, vaccina-
tion coverage has exceed-
rushed to the spot and tried
to shift people for treatment.
on Thursday. � ANI

local containment mea-
sures by the District and
local administration when
either the test positivity
increases beyond 10 per
cent or occupancy of
oxygenated beds increas-
es beyond 40 per cent.
The states have been
advised to follow the
five-fold strategy of Con-
Resident doctors participate in a protest called tainment, Testing & Sur-
by the Federation of Resident Doctors' Associa- veillance, Clinical Man-
tion outside Nirman Bhawan, in the Capital on agement, Covid Safe
Thursday. SUBRATA DUTTA Behavior and Vaccina-
tion.
Firhad Hakim remains Kolkata Mayor: West On containment, the
Bengal transport minister Firhad Hakim has states have been advised
been appointed as Kolkata Mayor. Atin Ghosh to impose night curfews
will be Deputy Mayor of the corporation. TMC and ensure strict regu-
supremo Mamata Banerjee said to the elected lation of large gather-
councillors that in order to ensure effective ings, especially ahead of
working on councillors part, the work of the forthcoming festiv-
Kolkata Corporation will be reviewed every six ities.
months. The states need to
have keep strict watch on
number of Delta and
Punjab poll bonanza: Just ahead of Assembly Omicron cases in all dis-
polls, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi on tricts, and case positiv-
Thursday announced release of Rs 1,200 crore ity on a day-on-day and
funds to clear loans, up to Rs 2 lakh, of about week-on-week basis.
1.09 lakh small and marginal farmers, having Union Health Secre-
land up to five acres, under the existing debt tary Rajesh Bhushan said
waiver scheme. that any restriction must
mum of 14 days. As syn- ed 139.70 crore with the Ludhiana Police Commi- ister and Punjab Lok Congress
dromes of Omicron vari- administration of ssioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar chief Captain Amarinder Singh
ant closely mimic com- 4,78,759 70,17,671 doses in the last said a person whose body said Punjab police should
mon cold with a higher UNION HEALTH MINISTRY 24 hours as per provi- was found at the place where investigate the incident thor-
rate of transmissibility, FIGURES AS OF sional reports till 7 am on the blast took place was pr- oughly.
8.00 A.M. THURSDAY
syndromic approach for 23 DECEMBER 2021 Thursday. obably “either carrying explo- Channi visited the hospi-
containment can be sive or was very near to it”. tal to meet the injured earli-
employed, said Bhushan. presently at 78,291. Omicron fastest-spre- Connecting sacrilege atte- er today, and said that an
The states have also Meanwhile, the Omi- ading: Omicron is prob- mpts and bomb blast, Chief investigation is underway.
been informed that the cron infections has ably the fastest-spread- Minister Charanjit Channi A team of National Secu-
existing National Clini- climbed to 236 in the ing infectious disease said, “Everybody knows the rity Guard has also been called
cal Management Proto- country. known to man, medical timing and the handiwork of in connection with the explo-
col remains unchanged Karnataka reported expert and Maharash- those forces as the Assembly sion, informed local police offi-
for Omicron. 12 new Omicron cases, tra government’s Covid polls are drawing nearer, cials.
On Covid Safe Behav- taking the total to 31, Task Force member, which were hell bent upon to “Bomb disposal squad is
iour, states have been informed state health Shashank Joshi, said here hatch such conspiracies to dis- at the site. Police are con- Chief Justice of Punjab and
asked to ensure advance minister Dr Sudhakar K on Thursday. turb the hard earned peace and ducting a search at the Court Haryana High Court, Justice
engagement and infor- on Thursday. While for Measles harmony in the state.” complex. A team of NSG is also Ravi Shankar Jha, and enquired
mation to avoid misin- Tamil Nadu reported rapid generation time is Channi questioned why coming here,” said Bhullar. about the development.
formation or panic. The 33 cases of the Omicron 15 days, for Omicron it such a horrendous incident Ministry of Home Affairs An alert has been issued in
states have been asked today while Gujarat is less than 5, with a dou- occured after Majithia was cor- has sought a report from Pun- a crowded place, said Punjab
to ensure 100 per cent reported nine. bling time of 1.5-3 days, nered by the law. jab chief secretary on the DGP Siddharth Chattopad-
coverage of left out first Two minor girls have Joshi, a diabetologist and Contending that there are explosion, said sources. hyaya on Thursday adding that
and second dose eligible tested positive for Omi- endocrinologist, said in some anti-Punjab forces who Union home secretary Ajay the public should also be
beneficiaries rapidly. cron in Odisha, taking the a tweet. want to disrupt the peace of Kumar Bhalla after speaking careful. Chattopadhyaya
total to four. the state, he also said why all to Punjab officials briefed added that only experts can
7,495 new cases: India Omicron tally in Ker- Delhi cases: The count beadbis (sacrilege) and blasts Union home minister Amit tell the kind of explosives
registered 7,495 fresh ala reached 29 with five of Covid-19 positive cases are happening just after Shah on the explosion. used in the blast.
cases and 434 deaths in new cases. on Thursday dipped Majithia was booked. Chief Justice of India N V “We cannot comment on
a span of 24 hours, Union The recovery of 6,960 slightly to 118 from 125 “We are also probing this Ramana said on Thursday anything. Only the experts can
health ministry said on patients in the last 24 on Wednesday, accord- angle to the recent dastard- that he is deeply shocked to tell the kind of explosives
Thursday. Nationwide hours has increased the ing to the Delhi govern- ly acts that have been perpe- hear about the news of explo- used, but the district, state, and
toll stands at 4,78,759. cumulative tally to ment's latest health bul- trated,” said the CM. sion. Justice Ramana, who is central forensics are on it,” said
Active caseload is 3,42,08,926. letin. Former Punjab Chief Min- in Hyderabad, called up the the DGP. (MORE REPORTS ON P3)

SNOWY DELIGHT
RS Chairman actively tried to resolve
stalemate over suspension, says SG
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
Rajya Sabha Secretary Gen-
eral P C Mody today said “it
was incorrect and misleading”
to suggest that Rajya Sabha
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu
did not take initiative to
resolve the stalemate over
the suspension of 12 Oppo-
sition members in the just-
concluded Winter Session of
the House.
In a clarificatory state-
ment on some media reports,
Mody said the Chairman was
actively engaged in resolving
the stalemate over the sus-
pension issue “but there was
no progress due to shifting
positions of the concerned and
perhaps, due to unwillingness
to regret the misconduct of
suspended Members and
lack of agreement among the
concerned parties on regret-
Tourists enjoy in snow as the Tangmarg area receive fresh snowfall in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Thursday. IANS ting the incidents that led to
suspension.”
“Chairman could not have
forced any section of the
House to take a particular view
in the matter of suspension
to resolve the stalemate over
it even as he consistently
engaged himself with both
sides of the House to find a
way forward for normal func-
tioning of the House uphold-
ing its dignity and decorum,”
Mody said.
The Chairman, during his
conversations with leaders of
both sides on several occasions
in the House, urged the two
sides to resolve the matter ami-
cably, Mody said.
It was initially proposed to
the Chairman that the Leader
of the Opposition (LoP) would
express regret on behalf of all
the 12 suspended Members
on the Floor of the House. But
subsequently an issue was
raised that what if some par-
ties whose members were
among the suspended would
disagree with LoP in case he
expressed regret on behalf of
all the suspended, Mody said.
The Chairman suggested
that the best course would be
to talk to all concerned par-
ties before expressing regret
for the incidents of 11 August
that led to suspension.
It was even suggested that
if all parties concerned were
not on board, regret could be
expressed on behalf of the par-
ties willing to do so.
But nothing happened,
he said.
Regarding adjournments
of the House, the Chairman
soon after assuming office in
2017 made it clear that if in
his assessment the intention
of the protesting parties and
Members was clearly not to
allow the functioning of the
House, he would be left with
no option but to adjourn the
House, Mody said.
MHA conducts
high-level meet
on J&K security
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) on Thursday con-
ducted a high-level meeting
on the security situation in
Jammu and Kashmir in the
wake of recent targeted
killings reported from the
region, sources said. Union
Home Secretary Ajay Bhal-
la chaired the meeting here
at his North Block office with
the top brass of Police and
Intelligence agencies per-
sonnel as well as senior
Home Ministry officials
responsible to look after
security scenarios in Jammu
and Kashmir.
In the meeting that was
held in the first half of the day
and lasted for over an hour,
Bhalla is learnt to have dis-
cussed the current security
scenario in the Valley where
several targeted attacks by ter-
rorists on Jammu and Kash-
mir Police (JKP) personnel,
armed forces, and civilians

India urges Myanmar to maintain Previous govts did little for UP progress: Modi were reported.
The meeting was both in
physical and digital mode and

peace and stability in border areas STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
India has impressed upon
the military leadership in
Myanmar the need to put an
end to violence and maintain
peace and stability in the
border areas in view of the
recent incident in Churac-
handpur district in southern
Manipur. The two countries
reiterated their commitment
to ensure that their respective
territories would not allow
activities inimical to the other.
Last month, as many as
seven, including the comman-
dant of the 46 Assam Rifles (AR)
Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his
wife, son and four jawans, were
killed in Churachandpur dis-
trict of Manipur.
India shares a 1,700 km-
long border with Myanmar
bearing a direct impact on
India’s North Eastern Region.
Foreign Secretary Harsh
Vardhan Shringla, who is on
a working visit to Myanmar,
called on the Chairman, State
Administrative Council and
other senior representatives
and held meetings with mem-
bers of civil society and polit-
ical parties, including the
National League for Democ-
racy, the Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA) said.
During his meetings,
Shringla emphasised India’s
interest in seeing Myanmar’s
return to democracy at the ear-
liest; release of detainees and
prisoners; resolution of issues
through dialogue; and com-
plete cessation of all violence.
He reaffirmed India’s strong
support of the ASEAN initia-
tive and expressed hope that
progress would be made in a
pragmatic and constructive
manner, based on the five-
point consensus.
He handed over one mil-
lion doses of “Made in India”
vaccines to the Myanmar Red
Cross Society and co-
mmunities living along Myan-
mar’s border with India will
receive part of this consign-
ment.
A grant of 10,000 tonnes of
rice and wheat to Myanmar
was also announced.
Shringla expressed India’s
continued support for people-
centric socio-economic devel-
opmental projects, includ-
ing those along with the India-
Myanmar border areas, as
well as commitment for expe-
ditious implementation of
ongoing connectivity initia-
tives such as Kaladan Multi-
modal Transit Transport Pro-
ject and the Trilateral High-
way.
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Thursday without
naming his political opponents
charged the previous ruling
regimes with doing little for
the development of Uttar
Pradesh except for indulging
in dynastic politics, promot-
ing mafia rule and illegally cap-
turing land and houses.
In a series of tweets, after
inaugurating and laying the
foundation stones for multi-
ple projects covering the diary,
infrastructure and housing sec-
tors in his Lok Sabha con-
stituency Varanasi, Modi said
words like ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka
Vikas, Sabka Viswas’, and
‘Sabka Prayas’ were out of their
syllabus.
“Their syllabus compris-
es Mafiavad and Parivarvad
and illegal occupation of
other lands and homes,” the
PM dedicates slew of projects to Varanasi
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
To strengthen the rural econ-
omy and help farmers of the
region, Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi on Thursday laid the
foundation stone of ‘Banas
Dairy Sankul’ in his Lok Sabha
constituency Varanasi.
Modi also inaugurated
and laid the foundation of
Modi tweeted. “These people
never wanted Uttar Pradesh
to develop, have a modern ide-
ntity,” he said. “For school, col-
lege, hospital, road, water,
electricity, cooking gas conn-
ection, toilets don’t fall under
development,” he added.
Taking a dig at the oppo-
sition in the state, he said,
“Whenever I talk of the power,
multiple projects including
developmental projects worth
over Rs 1,500 crores in Varanasi
besides distributing rural
residential rights record ‘Gha-
rauni’ to over 20 lakh residents.
Modi paid tributes to
farmers’ leader Chaudhary
Charan Singh on ‘Kisan Diwas’.
“People who make fun of
cow,buffalo forget that the
livelihood of 8 crore families
of double engine, doubling of
development efforts with
double energy in Kanshi and
Uttar Pradesh, it greatly pains
a section of people who
have always seen the politi-
cal landscape of Uttar Pradesh
through the prism of caste,
creed and religion and opin-
ion.”
Modi claimed that UP
of the country is run by such
livestock. Today, UP is not only
the largest milk producing
state in the country it is also
significantly ahead in the
expansion of the dairy sec-
tor,” he said. The proposed
Banas Dairy Sankul’ will
come up at the UP State
Industrial Development
Authority Food Park, Karkh-
iyaon, Varanasi. (See pg 5)
under Yogi Adityanath’s rule
has been witness to rapid
development. He said people
of the state can make a clear
distinction between what
they had got during the rule
of previous governments and
the present BJP government.
He claimed that UP was mov-
ing on the path of develop-
ment.
Directors General of vari-
ous CAPFs and their repr-
esentatives, Jammu and
Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh
and senior officials in Intel-
ligence Bureau took part in
the meeting.
It is learnt that the func-
tioning of the newly creat-
ed State Investigation Agency
(SIA) in Jammu and Kashmir
on the lines of the National
Investigation Agency (NIA)
was taken up in the meeting.
Besides, various issues
related to modernization of
Police Stations and Police
Posts and misuse of certain
prisons by the terrorists were
also discussed. The meeting
comes in the wake of recent
attacks on civilians, Jammu
and Kashmir Police and secu-
rity personnel in the UT.
Terrorists on Wednesday
shot dead a civilian and inju-
red a policeman in two sep-
arate incidents within min-
utes in Kashmir valley.
02
Buoyed by KMC poll results, TMC is ready to take on others
in the SMC elections
GAUTAM DEB, CHAIRMAN, BOA, SILIGURI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021 ON THE ELECTION COMMISSION’S PROPOSAL TO HOLD SILIGURI CIVIC ELECTIONS IN JANUARY

Omicron threat: Kejriwal reviews preparedness; says focus will be on home isolation
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE conference, Kejriwal said he from 60,000-70,000 tests a The Chief Minister appealed He said, “If there are mild stocking medicines for the ple have been administered already converted four private
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER held this morning a meeting day as the situation existed till to people not to rush to a hos- symptoms, we will treat such coming few months and was their first vaccine dose and over hospitals into dedicated Omi-
of the officials concerned to now. pital in case of an Omicron patients in the comfort of making arrangements for ade- 70 per cent have got both cron-treatment centres besides

D
elhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal on
Thursday said that
his government had
made all kinds of preparations
to effectively handle the sit-
uation that might arise due to
the feared spread of Omi-
cron, the new variant of Covid-
19, in the national capital.
Addressing a digital press
review the government's pre-
paredness in this regard.
He pointed out that Omi-
cron had two characteristics:
Its infections can spread fast
but the disease was not life-
threatening.
Keeping this reality in view,
the Delhi government has
increased its testing capaci-
ty to three lakh tests daily
He said, “Very few Omi-
cron-infected persons need to
be hospitalised and there are
fewer deaths due to this strain
of Covid-19. So, we have
enhanced our capacity to
conduct 3,00,000 tests daily.
Till now, the Delhi government
had arrangements for con-
ducting 60,000-70,000 tests
daily.”
infection, but to remain at
home. A Delhi government
team will visit a patient quick-
ly and provide him medi-
cines, an oxymeter and other
things to help get cured in the
comfort of his home. Arrange-
ments were being made for suf-
ficient manpower to reach at
least one lakh affected fami-
lies daily.
their homes. We are strength-
ening our home isolation sys-
tem. Every patient will receive
a medical kit from the Delhi
government's health author-
ities with the facility of tele-
counseling for 10 days or
more. Various agencies are
being engaged for the purpose.”
Kejriwal informed that the
Delhi government had been
quate supply of medical-grade
oxygen. The government will
get delivered 15 oxygen tankers
in around three weeks.
He quoted a recent sero-
survey to point out that a vast
majority of Delhi’ites have
already been infected by the
deadly virus and hence they
are having anti-bodies. Besides
this, at least 99 per cent peo-
vaccine doses.
"Therefore, there is very lit-
tle chance of Omicron or
other Covid-19 infections
spreading very fast. But if this
happens, the government is
ready to handle the situation
effectively. There is no need
to worry about it." Kejriwal
assured.
The government has
the government-run Lok Nayak
Jaiprakash (LNJP) Hospital. The
private hospitals include Sir
Ganga Ram Hospital, Max
Hospital at Saket, Fortis Hos-
pital at Vasant Kunj and Batra
Hospital.
The is also an arrange-
ment to send all Covid-19-pos-
itive samples for genome
sequencing on a daily basis.

LEGAL NOTICES
IN THE COURT OF
SH. INDER PREET SINGH
JOSH
Presiding Officer,
Commercial Court, Gutam
Budh Nagar
Original Suit No. 30 of 2020
SUMMON FOR SETTLEMENT
OF ISSUES
(Order. 5 Rule 1&5)
Punjab National Bank, A
Banking Company under the
Banking Companies (Acqui-
sition & Transfer of Under-
takings) Act. 1970 having its
Branch Office at Hazipur Main
Road, Sector 104, Noida, Dis-
trict Gautam Budh Nagar-
201301. (Through Constitut-
ed Attorney of Punjab Nation-
al Bank Ms. Aarti Rani, w/o
Sh. Priyanshu Gangwar Aad-
har No. 678306398878 Mobild
7290078768 Email-
co7865@pnb.co.in.)
—Plaintiff
Versus
—Defendant
M/s. Barbeque Express, a
Proprietorship Firm having
its Office at Shop No. 26,
Ground Floor, City Galleria
Market, Gaur City II, Sector-4,
Greater Noida West, through
its Proprietor Sh. Devesh
Yadav, s/o Sh. Mahesh Chand,
r/o House No. A-382, Near
Mittal General Store, Vijay
Nagar, Sector-9, Ghaziabad,
Mobile 9311858286 & Pant Road, Nainital-263001
8800365276, email-deveshya-
dav999@gmail.com.
Whereas the plaintiff Punjab
National Bank, has institut-
ed a suit against you for recov-
ery of Rs. 5,09,446.00 you are
hereby summoned to appear
in this Court in person, or by a
pleader duly instructed, and
able to answer all material
questions relating to the suit,
or who shall be accompanied
by some persons able to
answer all such questions,
on the 24-02-2022 at 10-00
O'Clock in the Morning, to
answer the claim and further
you are hereby directed to
file on that day a written
statement of your defence
and to produce on the said
day all documents in your
possession or power upon
which you base your defence
or claim for set-off or counter-
claim, and where you rely on
any other document whether
in your possession or power or
not, as evidence in support of
your defence or claim for set-
off or counter-claim, you shall
enter such documents in a
list to be annexed to the writ-
ten statement.
Take notice that, in default
of your appearance on the
day beforementioned, the suit
will be heard and determined
in your absence.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this 21-
12-2021.
By Order
Munsiram, Commercial
Court
Gautam Budh Nagar
Seal of the Court
IN THE COURT OF
SH. INDER PREET SINGH
JOSH
Presiding Officer,
Commercial Court, Gutam
Budh Nagar
Original Suit No. 29 of 2020
SUMMON FOR SETTLEMENT
OF ISSUES
(Order. 5 Rule 1&5)
Punjab National Bank, A
Banking Company under the
Banking Companies (Acqui-
sition & Transfer of Under-
takings) Act. 1970 having its
Branch Office at Hazipur Main
Road, Sector 104, Noida, Dis-
trict Gautam Budh Nagar-
201301. (Through Constitut-
ed Attorney of Punjab Nation-
al Bank Ms. Aarti Rani, w/o
Sh. Priyanshu Gangwar Aad-
har No. 678306398878 Mobild
7290078768 Email-
co7865@pnb.co.in.)
—Plaintiff
Versus
— Defendant
M/s. Guptaji Snacks & Food,
a Proprietorship Firm having
its Office at Shop No. 91, Plot
No. 22 Assotech Business
Cresterra Sector 135, Noida
mail-guptajee121@ gmail.com
& gjps762@gmail.com through
its Proprietor Smt. Rajni Gupta,
w/o Sh. Pusp Kamal Gupta,
r/o Hosue No. 5216/A, First
Floor, Shora Kothi, Swami
Ram Tirath Nagar, Basant
Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi-
110055, email-
grajni1972@gmail.com Mobile
9999095720 & 9999095721.
2. Pusp Kamal Gupta, s/o
Sh. Pati Ram Gupta, r/o House
No. 5216/A First Floor, Shora
Kothi, Swami Ram Tirath
Nagar, Basant Road, Pahar
Ganj, New Delhi-110055,
Also at: Flat D-1101, Type
IC, Eleventh Floor, The Jewel
Tower D, Plot GH-14, Sector
75, Noida Mobile 9811809410 &
9210883883 & email-
skipped@skip.com & abad-2021002.
gpushp762@
gmail.com & gupta-
jeesf@gmail.com.
Whereas the plaintiff Punjab
National Bank, has institut-
ed a suit against you for recov-
ery of Rs. 8,86,604/- you are
hereby summoned to appear
in this Court in person, or by a
pleader duly instructed, and
able to answer all material
questions relating to the suit,
or who shall be accompanied
by some persons able to
answer all such questions,
on the 24-02-2022 at 10-00
O'Clock in the Morning, to
answer the claim and further
you are hereby directed to
file on that day a written
statement of your defence
and to produce on the said
day all documents in your
possession or power upon
which you base your defence
or claim for set-off or counter-
claim, and where you rely on
any other document whether
in your possession or power or
not, as evidence in support of
your defence or claim for set-
off or counter-claim, you shall
enter such documents in a
list to be annexed to the writ-
ten statement.
Take notice that, in default
of your appearance on the
day beforementioned, the suit
will be heard and determined
in your absence.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this 21-
12-2021.
By Order
Munsiram, Commercial
Court
Gautam Budh Nagar
Seal of the Court
IN THE COURT OF
SH. INDER PREET SINGH
JOSH
Presiding Officer,
Commercial Court, Gutam
Budh Nagar
Original Suit No. 337 of 2018
SUMMON FOR SETTLEMENT
OF ISSUES
(Order. 5 Rule 1&5)
The Nainital Bank Ltd. a
Company registered under
the Companies Act. & sched-
uled Bank under The Reserve
Bank of India Act 1934 having
its registered Office at G.B.
and Branch Office at Reliance
Plaza-1, Plot No. 3, Sector 4,
Vaishali, Ghaziabad through
Sh. S.R. Gupta, s/o Sh. S.P.
Gupta, Constituted Attorney,
The Nainital Bank Ltd. Reliance
Plaza-1, Plot No. 3, Sector-4,
Vaishali, Ghaziabad.
—Plaintiff
Versus
—Defendant
1. Akshay Budhiraja, s/o
Surendra Pal, r/o House No.
KC/C-22, Kavi Nagar, Ghazi-
abad-2021002.
2. Surendra Pal, s/o Sh. Har-
ish Chander, r/o House No.
KC/C-22, Kavi Nagar, Ghazi-
abad-201002.
3. Dharmendra Pal Singh,
s/o Sh. Chattra Pal Singh, r/o
J-208, Sector-12, Pratap Vihar,
Ghaziabad-201009.
Whereas the plaintiff The
Nainital Bank Led. has insti-
tuted a suit against you for
recovery of Rs. 9,92,787.25 you
are hereby summoned to
appear in this Court in person,
or by a pleader duly instruct-
ed, and able to answer all
material questions relating
to the suit, or who shall be
accompanied by some per-
sons able to answer all such
questions, on the 31-01-2022 at
10-00 O'Clock in the Morning,
to answer the claim and fur-
ther you are hereby directed
to file on that day a written
statement of your defence
and to produce on the said
day all documents in your
possession or power upon
which you base your defence
or claim for set-off or counter-
claim, and where you rely on
any other document whether
in your possession or power or
not, as evidence in support of
your defence or claim for set-
off or counter-claim, you shall
enter such documents in a
list to be annexed to the writ-
ten statement.
Take notice that, in default
of your appearance on the
day beforementioned, the suit
will be heard and determined
in your absence.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this
21-12-2021.
By Order
Munsiram, Commercial
Court
Gautam Budh Nagar
Seal of the Court
IN THE COURT OF
SH. INDER PREET SINGH
JOSH
Presiding Officer,
Commercial Court, Gutam
Budh Nagar
Original Suit No. 134 of 2018
SUMMON FOR SETTLEMENT
OF ISSUES
(Order. 5 Rule 1&5)
The Nainital Bank Ltd. a
Company registered under
the Companies Act. & sched-
uled Bank under The Reserve
Bank of India Act 1934 having
its registered Office at G.B.
Pant Road, Nainital-263001
and Branch Office at Reliance
Plaza-1, Plot No. 3, Sector 4,
Vaishali, Ghaziabad through
Sh. S.R. Gupta, s/o Sh. S.P.
Gupta, Constituted Attorney,
The Nainital Bank Ltd. Reliance
Plaza-1, Plot No. 3, Sector-4,
Vaishali, Ghaziabad.
—Plaintiff
Versus
— Defendant
1. Akshay Budhiraja, s/o
Surendra Pal, r/o House No.
KC/C-22, Kavi Nagar, Ghazi-
2. Surendra Pal, s/o Sh. Har-
ish Chander, r/o House No.
KC/C-22, Kavi Nagar, Ghazi-
abad-201002.
3. Dharmendra Pal Singh,
s/o Sh. Chattra Pal Singh, r/o
J-208, Sector-12, Pratap Vihar,
Ghaziabad-201009.
Whereas the plaintiff The
Nainital Bank Led. has insti-
tuted a suit against you for
recovery of Rs. 3,48,209.00 you
are hereby summoned to
appear in this Court in person,
or by a pleader duly instruct-
ed, and able to answer all
material questions relating
to the suit, or who shall be
accompanied by some per-
sons able to answer all such
questions, on the 31-01-2022 at
10-00 O'Clock in the Morning,
to answer the claim and fur-
ther you are hereby directed
to file on that day a written
statement of your defence
and to produce on the said
day all documents in your
possession or power upon
which you base your defence
or claim for set-off or counter-
claim, and where you rely on
any other document whether
in your possession or power or
not, as evidence in support of
your defence or claim for set-
off or counter-claim, you shall
enter such documents in a
list to be annexed to the writ-
ten statement.
Take notice that, in default
of your appearance on the
day beforementioned, the suit
will be heard and determined
in your absence.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this 21-
12-2021.
By Order
Munsiram, Commercial
Court
Gautam Budh Nagar
Seal of the Court
THE COURT OF
SH. INDER PREET SINGH
JOSH
Presiding Officer,
Commercial Court, Gutam
Budh Nagar
Original Suit No. 66 of 2021
SUMMON FOR SETTLEMENT
OF ISSUES
(Order. 5 Rule 1&5)
The Nainital Bank Ltd. a
Banking Company registered
under the Companies Act. &
scheduled Bank under The
Reserve Bank of India Act
1934 having its registered
Office at G.B. Pant Road, Naini-
tal-263001 and Branch Office
at Ground Floor, Plot o. B-
1/42, Central Market, Sector 50,
Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar
(Through Sh. Tara Datt Tri-
pathi, s/o Late Sh. Kanti Bal-
labh Tripathi, Constituted
Attorney of The Nainital Bank,
Mobile: 7835099761 & email
noida50@nainitalbank.com.in
—Plaintiff
Versus
—Defendant
1. Sh. Vikrant Chauhan, s/o
Om Prakash Chauhan, r/o
House No. 97, Village Gijhore,
Sector 53, Noida, Gautam Budh
Nagar-201301.
2. Smt. Aruna Chauhan, w/o
Sh. Vikrant Chauhan, r/o House
No. 97, Village Gijhore, Sector
53, Noida, Gautam Budh
Nagar-201301.
3. Sh. Shan Mohammad, s/o
Mohammad, r/o Village
Gijhore, Sector 53, Noida, Gau-
tam Budh Nagar-201301.
—Defendants
Whereas the plaintiff The
Nainital Bank Led. has insti-
tuted a suit against you for
recovery of Rs. 7,41,810.00 you
are hereby summoned to
appear in this Court in person,
or by a pleader duly instruct-
ed, and able to answer all
material questions relating
to the suit, or who shall be
accompanied by some per-
sons able to answer all such
questions, on the 31-01-2022 at
10-00 O'Clock in the Morning,
to answer the claim and fur-
ther you are hereby directed
to file on that day a written
statement of your defence
and to produce on the said
day all documents in your
possession or power upon
which you base your defence
or claim for set-off or counter-
claim, and where you rely on
any other document whether
in your possession or power or
not, as evidence in support of
your defence or claim for set-
off or counter-claim, you shall
enter such documents in a
list to be annexed to the writ-
ten statement.
Take notice that, in default
of your appearance on the
day beforementioned, the suit
will be heard and determined
in your absence.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this 21-
12-2021.
By Order
Munsiram, Commercial
Court
Gautam Budh Nagar
Seal of the Court
THE COURT OF
SH. INDER PREET SINGH
JOSH
Presiding Officer,
Commercial Court, Gutam
Budh Nagar
Original Suit No. 10 of 2020
SUMMON FOR SETTLEMENT
OF ISSUES
(Order. 5 Rule 1&5)
The Nainital Bank Ltd. a
Banking Company registered
under the Companies Act. &
scheduled Bank under The
Reserve Bank of India Act
1934 having its registered
Office at G.B. Pant Road, Naini-
tal-263001 and Branch Office
at 35, Additional Sihani Gate
Scheme, Near Maliwara
Chowk, Ambedkar Road,
Ghaziabad-201001. (Through
Sh. Dayal Singh, s/o Late Sh.
Kunwar Singh, Constituted
Attorney of The Nainital Bank,
Ltd. Aadhar No. 533055495450
Mobile: +917835099051 & email
ghaziabad@nainitalbank.co.in)
—Plaintiff
Versus
—Defendant
1. M/s. Akanksha Decor, a
Proprietorship Firm having
Office at 972/3, Sahajyog
Mandir Bhgwati Market, Dnda-
hera, NH-24, Vijay Nagar Bye
Pass, Opposite Crossing
Republic, Ghaziabad-201016
through its Proprietress Ms.
Akanksha Chodhary, d/o Sh.
Ran Pal Singh.
2. Ms. Akanksha Chodhary,
d/o Sh. Ran Pal Singh, r/o
House No. 560, Diamond Place,
Razapur, Ghaziabad.
Also at: House No. 321, Gali
No. 2, Pandav Nagar, Ghazi-
abad-201001.
3. Sh. Ran Pal Singh, s/o Sh.
Har Saran Singh, r/o House
No. 560, Diamond Place, Raza-
pur, Ghaziabad.
Also at: H. No. 321, Gali No.
2, Pandav Nagar, Ghaziabad-
201001.
4. Ms. Neelam Samari, d/o
Sh. Santosh Kumar Sharma,
r/o KH-152, Kavi Nagar, Ghazi-
abad-201001.
—Defendants
Whereas the plaintiff The
Nainital Bank Led. has insti-
tuted a suit against you for
recovery of Rs. 3,34,847.00 you
are hereby summoned to
appear in this Court in person,
or by a pleader duly instruct-
ed, and able to answer all
material questions relating
to the suit, or who shall be
accompanied by some per-
sons able to answer all such
questions, on the 31-01-2022 at
10-00 O'Clock in the Morning,
to answer the claim and fur-
ther you are hereby directed
to file on that day a written
statement of your defence
and to produce on the said
day all documents in your
possession or power upon
which you base your defence
or claim for set-off or counter-
claim, and where you rely on
any other document whether
in your possession or power or
not, as evidence in support of
your defence or claim for set-
off or counter-claim, you shall
enter such documents in a
list to be annexed to the writ-
ten statement.
Take notice that, in default
of your appearance on the
day beforementioned, the suit
will be heard and determined
in your absence.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this 21-
12-2021.
By Order
Munsiram, Commercial
Court
Gautam Budh Nagar
Seal of the Court
THE COURT OF
SH. INDER PREET SINGH
JOSH
Presiding Officer,
Commercial Court, Gutam
Budh Nagar
Original Suit No. 9 of 2020
SUMMON FOR SETTLEMENT
OF ISSUES
(Order. 5 Rule 1&5)
The Nainital Bank Ltd. a
Banking Company registered
under the Companies Act. &
scheduled Bank under The
Reserve Bank of India Act
1934 having its registered
Office at G.B. Pant Road, Naini-
tal-263001 and Branch Office
at 35, Additional Sihani Gate
Scheme, Near Maliwara
Chowk, Ambedkar Road,
Ghaziabad-201001. (Through
Sh. Dayal Singh, s/o Late Sh.
Kunwar Singh, Constituted
Attorney of The Nainital Bank,
Ltd. Aadhar No. 533055495450
Mobile: +917835099051 & email
ghaziabad@nainitalbank.co.in)
—Plaintiff
Versus
— Defendant
1. M/s. Pharmage India, a
Proprietorship Firm having
Office at Raj Nagar Extension,
NH-58, Ghaziabad,
Also at: T-22, SF, Eldeco Res-
idency, Sector 32, P-1, Greater
Noida, GB Nagar through its
Proprietor Sh. Satish Dixit,
s/o Sh. Ramesh Chand, Email-
satish.dixit45@gmail.com
2. Sh. Satish Dixit, s/o Sh.
Ramesh Chand, r/o Flat No. Q-
604, VVIP Addresses, Raj
Nagar, Extension, NH-58,
Ghaziabad. Email-
satish.dixit45@gmail.com
3. Smt. Asha Dixit, w/o Sh.
Sh. Satish Dixit, r/o Flat No. Q-
604, VVIP Addresses, Raj
Nagar, Extension, NH-58,
Ghaziabad.
— Defendant
Whereas the plaintiff The
Nainital Bank Led. has insti-
tuted a suit against you for
recovery of Rs. 19,31,362.00
you are hereby summoned
to appear in this Court in per-
son, or by a pleader duly
instructed, and able to answer
all material questions relating
to the suit, or who shall be
accompanied by some per-
sons able to answer all such
questions, on the 31-01-2022 at
10-00 O'Clock in the Morning,
to answer the claim and fur-
ther you are hereby directed
to file on that day a written
statement of your defence
and to produce on the said
day all documents in your
possession or power upon
which you base your defence
or claim for set-off or counter-
claim, and where you rely on
any other document whether
in your possession or power or
not, as evidence in support of
your defence or claim for set-
off or counter-claim, you shall
enter such documents in a
list to be annexed to the writ-
ten statement.
Take notice that, in default
of your appearance on the
day beforementioned, the suit
will be heard and determined
in your absence.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, this 21-
12-2021.
By Order
Munsiram, Commercial
Court
Gautam Budh Nagar
Seal of the Court
IN THE COURT OF
MS. SHELLY ARORA
Addl. District Judge-01
South-East Delhi
Room No. 616, 6th Floor
South-East, Delhi
Saket Courts,
New Delhi
GP/6/2021
Yajas Kumar Kaim, s/o Late
Gajender Singh, r/o H. No.
11/4, Bhogal Road, Opposite
Bhagat Box Maker, Jungpu-
ra, Bhogal, South Delhi-110014.
Versus
Yagnya Kaim, d/o Late
Gajender Singh, r/o H. No.
11/4, Bhogal Road, Opposite
Bhagat Box Maker, Jungpu-
ra, Bhogal, South Delhi-110014.
Whereas, a petition under
Section 7, 8, 9, 10 and 25 of the
Guardian and Wards Act. 1890
read with Secion 6 of the
Hindu Minority and Guardian-
ship Act. for appointment as
guardian for the minor girl
namely Yagnya Kaim, d/o Late
Gajender Singh, aged about 14
years, r/o H. No. 11/4, Bhogal
Road, Opposite Bhagat Box
Maker, Jungpura, Bhogal,
South Delhi, has been filed
by the petitioner before this
Court.
Notice is hereby given to
the General Public having any
interest in the abovemen-
tioned Hindu Minority and
Guardianship petition may
if he/she desires, appears in
this Court on 15th day of Jan-
uary, 2022, and participate in
the proceedings before the
grant of guardianship.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of this Court on this
the 21st day of December,
2021.
Addl. District Judge-01
South-East Delhi
Saket Courts,
New Delhi
Seal of the Court
IN THE COURT OF
MR. THAREJA
Addl. District Judge-07
Room No. 13, Ground Floor
(South-East),
Saket Court, Complex
New Delhi
PC No. 76/2021
Date of hearing : 15-02-2022
CITATION/NOTICE
1. Smt. Sanju, w/o Sh.
Mahesh Kumar Verma, r/o
169, Aliganj, Kotla Mubarakpur
Kasturba Nagar, South Delhi-
110003.
—Petitioner
Versus
1. The State, (NCT of Delhi)
Through its Chief Secretary,
KOLKATA
Statesman House,
4, Chowringhee Square
Kolkata-700 001
Tel: (033) 22127070-76,
(033) 41071700
Fax: (033) 2212-6181 / 7107-
1780
Email:
thestatesman@vsnl.com
statesmandisplay@gmail.com
thestatesmanclassified@gmail.com
DELHI
Statesman House,
148, Barakhamba Road,
New Delhi-110 001
Tel: (011) 2331 5911
Hiten Rathore
hiten.statesman@gmail.com
Mob: 9212192123
Tel: 011-43043793
BHUBANESWAR
Plot 3A, Zone B, Sector A,
Mancheswar Industrial Estate,
Bhubaneswar-751 010.
Tel: (0674) 2588060/61/62/
2586371, Telefax: 0674-2588061
Email:
bhubaneswar@thestatesmangroup.co
m 560025.
statesmanbbsr@gmail.com
SILIGURI
Spencer Plaza, 18/19, 1st
Floor
AIR-SURCHARGE; Kathmandu - Re. 2, Eastern Region - Re. 1
Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Delhi
Secretariat, I.P. Estate, New
Delhi-110002.
2. Sh. Hari Chand, s/o Late
Sh. Chander Mal.
3. Sandeep, s/o Late Sh.
Prem Chand.
4. Sh. Mandeep @ Monu,
s/o Late Sh. Prem Chand,
Respondent No. 2 to 4, r/o
169, Aliganj Kotla Mubarakpur,
Kasturba Nagar, South Delhi,
Delhi-110003.
— Respondents
Whereas, the petitioner
abovenamed has applied by a
petition under Section 218 of
the Indian Succession Act,
1925, for grant to letters of
Administration, or Probate or
Succession Certificate in
respect of the estates left by
the deceased Late Smt. Bir-
wati, w/o Late Sh. Mangal
Singh, s/o Late Chander Mal,
died on 06-11-2021, he was
the owner of the immovable
Property: 1/3rd share admea-
suring 75 SQ. Yds. in the Ances-
tral House/Property Bearing
No. 169, Aliganj, Kotla
Mubarakpur, Kasturba Nagar,
South Delhi, Delhi-110003.
You are hereby summoned
to file reply/written state-
ment to petition of present
notice and to appear in this
Court in person or by a
pleader duly instructed and
able to answer all material
questions on 15-02-2022 relat-
ing to letters of Administra-
tion/Probate/Succession Cer-
tificate of the estate of the
above power upon which you
base your claim or defence
and where you rely on and
other document whether in
you possession or your power
or not as evidence in support
of your defence or claim, you
shall enter such document
in a list to be annexed to the
written statement, before the
grant of Letters of Adminis-
tration/Succession Certifi-
cate.
Take notice that in default of
your appearance on the day
aforementioned, the petition
will be heard and determined
in you absence.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on this
22-12-2021.
Addl. District Judge-07
(South-East),
Saket Court, Complex
New Delhi
Seal of the Court
IN THE COURT OF
SH. ROHIT GULIA
Commercial Civil Judge cum
Addl. Rent Controller
cum Administrative Civil
Judge,
South District, Room No. 204
Saket Courts Complex,
New Delhi
Succ. Petition No. 107/19
NDOH : 25-01-2022
1. Smt. Sangeeta Kumar
(Daughter), d/o Late Sh. Viren-
dra Kumar, r/o C-2/40, Saf-
darjung Development Area,
New Delhi-110016.
2. Sh. Ashish Kumar (son),
s/o Late Sh. Virendra Kumar,
r/o C-2/40 Safdarjung Devel-
opment Area, New Delhi-
110016.
Versus
1. State
Through its Chief Secretary,
Delhi Secretariat, I.P. Estate,
New Delhi.
— Respondents
To,
The State/General Public.
Whereas, an application
U/S 372 of the Indian Succes-
sion Act, 1925 has been made
by Smt. Sangeeta Kumar &
Anr., claiming to be successor
of Late Sh. Virendra Kumar, for
grant of Succession Certifi-
cate in respect of debts/secu-
rities of said deceased.
And whereas the said appli-
cant shall come for hearing on
25th of January 2022 at 10-00
a.m.
Therefore, the public at
large is hereby given notice if
any person has objection to
the grant of succession cer-
tificate in favour of the said
Burdwan Road
Above Vishal Mega Mart
Siliguri-734005, West Bengal
Ph.: 9832082429
Email:
sil_statesman@yahoo.co.in
SHIMLA
Cabin No. 305, P. C. Chambers
Near Jodha Niwas
The Mall Shimla-171001, H.P.
Tel: 0177-2815000
Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com
shimla@thestatesmangroup.co
m delhistatesman@gmail.com
HYDERABAD
The Statesman Limited, 2nd
Floor, UNI Building,
A.C. Guards, Hyderabad-500004,
Mob: 9866323009
Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com
hyderabad@thestatesmangroup.com
BANGALORE
No. 68, First Floor, Gold Tower,
50 Residency Road, Bangalore-
Tel.; 080-22229129, 080-22234813
Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com
bangalore@thestatesmangroup.com
All other stations in India - Re. 1
applicant, he may appear and
file objections in writing, in
person or through duly
appointed pleader, on the
said date and time.
Given under my hand and
Seal of the Court on this 16th
day of November, 2021.
Commercial Civil Judge
cum Addl. Rent Controller
cum Administrative Civil
Judge,
South District,
Saket Courts Complex,
New Delhi
Seal of the Court
IN THE COURT OF
SH. V. K. KHANNA
Officiating Principal District
& Sessions Judge (South)
Room No. 300, Third Floor,
Saket Court Complex,
New Delhi
CIS-MHA No. 2/2021
CNR-DLST01-002886-2021
Ms. Neeru Agarwal, Through
Next Friend (Blood relative)
Poonam Gupta.
— Petitioner
Versus
State NCT of Delhi.
—Respondent
Petition Under Section 14
of the Rights of Persons with
disabilities Act, 2016 ("PWD
Act") Read with Rule 7 of
Chapter III of the Delhi Rights
of persons with disabilities
Rules 2018 ("Delhi Rules")
Whereas Mrs. Poonam
Gupta Next friend (Blood rel-
ative has moved a petition
Under Section 14 of the Rights
of People with Disabilities
Act, 2016, r/w Rule 7 of the
Delhi Rights of persons with
Disabilities Rule, 2018, to
appoint her as the guardian of
Ms. Neeru Agarwal.
The 17th day of January,
2022 has been fixed for hear-
ing of the application and
notice is hereby given to Gen-
eral Public that if any other rel-
ative/friends, Kinsman or well
Wisher of Ms. Neeru Agarwal
desire to adopt, be appointed,
declare as guardian of the
person or desire to appose
the application of the Peti-
tioner aforesaid.
He/She should enter appear-
ance in person in this court on
the aforesaid date and be
prepared to adduce on that
day any documentary or oral
evidence. Which he/she may
desire to adduce in support of
his/her opposition to the apli-
cation of the petitioner afore-
said.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on this
21st December, 2021.
Officiating Principal Dis-
itrict
& Sessions Judge (South)
Saket Court Complex,
New Delhi
Seal of the Court
IN THE COURT OF
SH. SACHIN JAIN
Additional District Judge-02
Room No. 605, 6th Floor
Dwarka Courts Complex,
New Delhi.
PC No. 53/2021
Mrs. Nidhi Chandola
Versus
State
CITATION UNDER INDIAN
SUCCESSION ACT, 1925.
Whereas an application
under Section 376 read with
Section 278 of the Indian Suc-
cession Act, 1925, for grant
of Probate/Letter of Admin-
istration to the estate Late
Sh. Avishekh Chandola, s/o
B D Chandola, who died on 21-
07-2018 petition has been
made by Mrs. Nidhi Chan-
dola, w/o Late Avisekh Chan-
dola, and Mr. Tanishq Chan-
dola, Both r/o C-53, DGS Soci-
ety Sector 22, Plot 6 Dwarka,
New Delhi-110077, in respect
of immovable property with
will annexed dated 08-01-2018
bearing no. Property bearing
Registration No. 23657 of Flat
No. 1102 Tower OC-11, Orange
County Abhay Khand-1, Indi-
rapuram Ghaziabad-201010.
Whereas the case has been
fixed for hearing on 05-02-
MUMBAI
5, Kasturi Buildings, Jamshedji
Tata Road, Mumbai-400 020
Tel: (022) 2202 1045,
Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com
mumbai@thestatesmangroup.com
manuelfrancis@thestatesman.com
CHENNAI
Fagun Mansion (4th floor), 26,
Ethiraj Road, Chennai-600 008,
Tel: (044) 28278037, 28224800
Email:
chennai@thestatesmangroup.com
LUCKNOW
2/2, Butler Palace (Near Jopling
Road), Lucknow-226 001,
Ph.: (0522) 2206705
Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com
lucknow@thestatesmangroup.com
RANCHI
11/C, Road#1, Ashoknagar,
Ranchi - 834 002
Fax: (0651) 2247054
Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com
ranchi@thestatesmangroup.com
2022. Notice is hereby given
that any person having any
interest in the Administra-
tion of the Estate of the said
deceased may if he/she
desires to appear in this court
of the said 05-02-2022 and see
the proceedings before the
Grant of Probate (or for Letter
of Administration).
Given under my hand and
the Seal of this Court on this
22-12-2021.
Additional District Judge-
02
Dwarka Courts,
New Delhi.
Seal of the Court
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the Code
of Civil Procedure)
SUMMONS FOR
SETTLEMENT OF ISSUES
In the Court of
Sh. Pawan Singh Rajawat
Addl. District Judge-08
(West)
Room No. 346,
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi
Ex-49/2020
U/S: Civil Lines
Harleen Kohli and Ors.
- DH
Versus
Iqbal Bahadur Singh Baweja
and Anr.
- JD
To,
1. Sh. Iqbal Bahadur Singh
Baweja, s/o Lt. S. Ranjit Singh
Baweja, r/o M-21, Second Floor,
Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-
110027, Also at: J-13/18, Rajouri
Garden, New Delhi-110027,
Also at : J-12/31, Rajouri Gar-
den, New Delhi-110027.
2. Sh. Parmeet Singh Bawe-
ja, s/o Sh. Iqbal Bahadur Singh
Baweja, r/o M-21, Second Floor,
Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-
110027, Also at : J-13/18,
Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-
110027, Also at : J-12/31,
Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-
110027.
3. M/s. PSB Electronics
Through its proprietor, Iqbal
Bahadur Singh Baweja, J-12/31,
Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-
110027, Email: psb.electron-
ics@gmail.com
4. M/s. J. K. Sales Corpora-
tion, Through its Proprietor,
Ms. Jasneet Kaur, Also at : J-
13/18, Patel Market, Rajouri
Garden, New Delhi-110027.
Email: jksalescorpora-
tion2014@gmail.com
5. Ms. Jasneet Kaur, w/o
Parmeet Singh Baweja, Pro-
prietor, M/s. Sales Corporation,
Also at : J-13/18, Patel Market,
Rajouri Garden, New Delhi-
110027, Also at : M-21, Sec-
ond Floor, Rajouri Garden,
New Delhi-110027.
The Defendant abovenamed.
Whereas you are inten-
tionally evading service of
summons, it is hereby notified
that if you shall not defend the
case on the 28-01-2022, the
day fixed for the final dis-
posal, it will be heard and
determined ex-parte.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on this
22-12-2021.
Addl. District Judge-08
(West)
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi
Seal of the Court
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the Code
of Civil Procedure)
In the Court of
Sh. Manmohan Sharma
District Judge
(Commercial Court)-06
Central, Room No. 102
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi
CS Comm-2334/2019
ICICI Bank Pvt. Ltd.
— Plaintiff
Versus
Ajay Srivastava
— Defendant
To,
Ajay Srivastava, s/o Sh.
Yogeshwar Nath Srivastava,
r/o A-304, Basetech Park View
SPA Next near Badshahpur
SE-67, Tethar (222) Gurgaon-
1212101.
Also at : H. No. A-53, Nehru
Vihar Kalyan Pur, Teh-Luc-
know, UP-226022.
Also at - Office at - Mace
IT IS hereby notify that
Project & Cost Management
Pvt. Ltd., 703, Vatika City Point Vidyasagar Teachers
MG Road, Gurgaon, Haryana- Training College, maintain-
12200022. ing all the rules & regula-
The Defendant abovenamed. tions of NCTE, is going to
Whereas you are inten- recruit Teachers for the
tionally evading service of
post of Principal, English,
summons, it is hereby notified
Education, Mathematics,
that if you shall not defend the
Physical Science,
case on the 17-01-2022, the
Geography, Art & Craft.
day fixed for the final dis-
Interested candidate apply
posal, it will be heard and
within 7 days. Contact No.-
determined ex-parte.
7797034959.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court on this
17-12-2021.
District Judge
(Commercial Court)-06
Central,
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi
I, ANAL Haldar, S/o. late
Seal of the Court
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING Nitai Haldar, Mangalbari,
ATTENDANCE OF Old Malda, Malda, do here-
DEFENDANT by declare that my daughter
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the Code name is wrongly recorded
of Civil Procedure) as Swan Halder in her class
In the Court of 10th’s ICSE registration cer-
Sh. Deepak Jagotra tificate. My daughter actual
Principal District & Sessions name is Swan Haldar. So,
Judge (East)
Swan Haldar and Swan
Room No. 1, 3rd Floor
Halder both are same and
Karkardooma Courts, Delhi
Suit No. 349/2021 one identical person, vide
Vikas Khurana affidavit before the 1st
Versus Class Judicial Magistrate
Sachin Jain Court, Malda on 21.12.2021.
To,
Sachin Jain, s/o Shri Suresh
MY 10th Board Exam cer-
Chand Jain, r/o 11/279, Block-
tificate my name is Ashoke
11, Geeta Colony, Delhi-110031.
Sarkar but my Aadhaar,
Whereas you are inten-
PAN, Bank Account includ-
tionally evading service of
summons, it is hereby notified ing my wife, two son’s in all
their documents my name is
that if you shall not defend the
case on the 28-01-2022, at Ashok Sarkar. I want to
10.00 A.M. fixed for the final change my name from
disposal, it will be heard and Ashoke Sarkar to Ashok
determined ex-parte.
Sarkar my date of birth 25th
Given under my hand and
April 1977 as per my
the Seal of the Court on this
Aadhaar No. 344671674191.
29-11-2021.
Both the name Ashoke
Principal District &
Sarkar and Ashok Sarkar
Sessions Judge (East)
Karkardooma Courts, Delhi pertain to one and the same
person, vide Affidavit No.
52263 before the Notary
Seal of the Court
Public at Barasat on
COURT NOTICE 22.12.2021.
(U/O 5 Rule 20 CPC)
IN THE COURT OF
I, MAYA spouse of Sanat
MS. SHIVANI
Chattopadhyay resident of
Civil Judge
(Junior Division), Vill.: Raghunathpur, P.O.:
Gurugram Nangulpara, P.S.: Khanakul,
Sarva Haryana Gramin Bank Dist.: Hooghly (W.B.), Pin-
Versus 712406 have changed my
Anil Kumar Yadav name from Maya to Maya
CNR No. HRGR02-000289-
Chattopadhyay and my gen-
2018
uine & authentic date of
Next Date: 03-02-2022
birth 29.10.1970 in place of
Publication Issued to: Def. 2
22.10.1969, vide Affidavit No.
and 3.
2414 dated: 22.04.2021
2. Jai Kishan
before the Court of the Ld.
Father : Tara Chand, House
No. 538/23, Laxmi Garden, Executive Magistrate at
Gurugram Haryana, Haryana. Hooghly (Sadar), Chinsura.
3. Ritesh Jain
Father : Sh. Ravinder Nath IN MY Army Service
Jain, r/o H. No. 161/1, Adarsh records my wife name Keya
Nagar, Gurugram, Haryana.
Sarkar is wrong. Written
In above titled case, the
their correct name is Keya
defendant(s)/respondent(s)
Sarkar Roy respectively.
could not be served. It is
ordered that defendant(s)/ Army No.- 10275073P, NK
respondent(s) should appear Tapas Sarkar.
in person or through coun-
sel on 03-02-2022 at 10-00 a.m. I, ANJANA Biswas, spouse
For details logon to of Army No. 6941460X, Rank
https://highcourtchd.gov.in/?t NK, Ramendra Nath Baksi,
rs=district_notice&dis-
R/o. Vill.: Manoharpur, P.O.:
trict=gurugram.
Joyghata, P.S.: Krishnaganj,
Dated, this day of 23-12-
Dist.: Nadia (W.B.) have
2021.
changed my name from
Civil Judge
(Junior Division), Anjana Biswas to Anjana
Gurugram Baksi, vide affidavit dt:
18.12.2021 before the Notary
Public (Govt. of W.B.) at
Seal of the Court
Krishnagar, Nadia and my
IN THE COURT OF
actual ND.O.B. is 01.01.1986.
SH. SUNIL RANA
Addl. District Judge-05
I, SAILAINDRRA Kanojia,
(Central) Room No. 317
S/o. Kashinath Kanojia, age
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi
about 44 yrs., Aadhaar Card
PC No. 29/2021
N.D.O.H. - 13-04-2022 No. 587618071618, Address:
Smt. Sweety Antil and Ors. 87/12/497E, Raja S.C. Mullick
Versus Road, P.S.: Netaji Nagar,
State and Ors. Kolkata-700047, vide affi-
CITATION UNDER SECTION davit at 1st class Judicial
271 OF THE INDIAN Magistrate, Alipore Court on
SUCCESSION ACT 03.11.2021 that Sailaindrra
Whereas an petition under Kanojia & Sailendra Prasad
Section 276/278 of the Indian Kanojia is the same & one
Succession Act 1925 for grant identical person, in all
of Probate/Letter of Admin- respect I will be known as
istration in respect of the Sailaindrra Kanojia.
Estate of deceased Lt. Sh.
Narender Singh, s/o Lt. Sardar
Singh, r/o H. No. 1157, 1st Floor
Kucha Mahajani Chandni
Chowk, Delhi-110006. Who BENFISH
died on 03-10-2019 at Delhi, has G.N. 31, Block, Sector-V
been made by 1. Smt. Sweety Salt Lake City
Antil, w/o Sh. Sanjeev Antil, r/o
Kolkata-700091
DA-177, SFS Flats, Shalimar
Notice Inviting Tender
Bagh, Delhi-110088, Mob. No.
9811393936, 2. Smt. Kirti Devi, REF. NO. BENFISH/MD/
w/o Late Sh. Rampal, r/o H. No. NIT-17(e)/2021-22
359, Gali No. 15, Village Dhirpur,
Memo No.: 1320/IV-291/11
Model Town, Delhi-110009,
Mob. No. 8859651627, 3. Smt.
Date: 22.12.2021
MD, Benfish invites the e-
Vijay Mlaik, w/o Lt. Sh. Attar
Singh, r/o H. No. 359, Village tender for construction of 5
Dhirpur, Model Town, Delhi- MT ICE plant at Alal under
110009, Mob. No. 9871500711, Gazole Block, Malda from
the reliable, reputed
4. Smt. Sushma, w/o Sh. Jag-
mander, r/o Village Nahra companies, publishing date:
(227), District Sonipat, 22.12.2021. Details at
Haryana, Pincode 131103, Mob. Notice Board
No. 8930905450, 5. Smt. Krish- (https://wbtenders.gov.in)/
na Srivastava, w/o Sh. Akhilesh
benfish.co.in/tenders).
Srivastaa, r/o S-575, School
Block, Shakarpur, East Delhi,
BENFISH
Delhi-11002, 7. Smt. Sheetal, G.N. 31, Block, Sector-V
w/o Sh. Inderjit Singth Dahiya,
Salt Lake City
r/o 2398, Ranjeet Nagar,
Shadipur, Patel Nagar, Delhi-
Kolkata-700091
110008, Mob. No. 9999284999. Notice Inviting Tender
REF. NO. BENFISH/MD/
Whereas the 13/04/2022 has
been fixed for hearing of the NIT-16(e)/2021-22
case, notice is hereby given so Memo No.: 1319/IV-291/11
that any person having any Date: 22.12.2021
interest in the probate/Let- MD, Benfish invites the e-
ter of Administration of the tender for construction of
estate of the said deceased if 10 MT Blast Freezer at
he/she desire to be heard
Diamond Harbour, South 24
shall appear before this court
Parganas (24 Parganas
on 13/04/2022 before the grant
of letter of Administration.
Southern CFCS Ltd.) from
the reliable reputed
Given under my hand and
the Seal of this Court, this companies, publishing date:
22.12.2021. Details
21st day of December, 2021.
Addl. District Judge-05 at Notice Board
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi (https://wbtenders.gov.in)/
Seal of the Court benfish.co.in/tenders).
 03
No wonder no data available since the govt, fearing an elec-
toral loss in the upcoming state elections in Punjab and UP,
repealed the controversial farm laws
TMC RAJYA SABHA MP DEREK’O'BRIEN
ON KISAN DIVAS NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021

THUMBNAILS
SAD asks Channi not to resort
to cheap politics over inci-
dents: The Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD) on Thursday asked Chief
Minister Charanjit Singh Chan-
ni to recognise his responsibili-
ty towards Punjabis and not
resort to cheap politics of
alluding recent spate of hor-
rendous incidents to political
rivals to hide his own failures.
Cheema said maintaining law
and order was the responsibil-
ity of the CM and Channi
could not escape this respon-
sibility. SNS
AAP questions declining law
& order under Channi govt:
The AAP on Thursday con-
demned the blast in Ludhiana
Court Complex and questioned
the Congress government of
Court complex blast: Disturbance created in
Punjab ahead of Assembly polls, says Channi
The explosion damaged the walls of the bathroom and ripped through a section of the building, besides shattering glass in nearby rooms
‘Channi’s laxity & Sidhu’s love for
Pak responsible for Ludhiana blast’
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 23 DECEMBER
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)
Sikh leader Manjinder Singh
Sirsa on Thursday said laxi-
ty on part of Chief Minister
Charanjit Singh Channi and
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE sioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar Punjab Congress chief Navjot
CHANDIGARH, 23 DECEMBER said a person whose body was Singh Sidhu’s love for Pakist
found at the place where the an were directly responsible
gress party agenda of the
1980s to push Punjab in
black era when Congress
benefitted from black days
and got power while thou-
sands of innocent lives were
lost in that era.
The BJP leader said peo-
ple of Punjab were in shock
due to the Ludhiana blast and
were surprised to see their CM
“We are also probing this
angle to the recent dastard-
ly acts that have been perpe-
trated”, said the CM.
Former Punjab Chief Min-
ister and Punjab Lok Congress
chief Captain Amarinder
Singh said Punjab police
should investigate the incident
thoroughly. Former CM
Parkash Singh Badal said inci-
dents of sacrilege and violence
in the state had a direct link
with the writing on wall about
the outcome of the 2022
Assembly polls.
The SAD president Sukhbir
Singh Badal said the bomb
blast at Ludhiana was a direct
fallout of the conspiracies
being hatched to destabilise
the peace of the state.
"First sacrilege, now blast.
Some people want to destroy
the peace in Punjab but we
will not allow such plans to
succeed. We should stand
together," tweeted Aam Aadmi
Party leader and Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Punjab about the declining law
and order situation in the
state. AAP Punjab president
and MP Bhagwant Mann said,
“Such incidents seem to be
part of a deep conspiracy to
break our communal peace.
There should be an investiga-
tion to catch the mastermind
behind these attempts of sac-
rilege and blast.” SNS
Mumbai to host 'Fabric fair-
2021': Mumbai to organise
B2B ‘MTMM Fabric fair 2022’
from 10 to 11 January.
Mumbai Textile Merchant’s
Mahajan (MTMM) president
Kanubhai P Narsana
informed that all 185 stalls
are fully booked ahead of
the fair. One stall would be
kept for MSME, where guid-
ance and information will be
provided to all visitors. SNS
D
ays after sacrilege
incidents, an anoth-
er blast took place
inside a court com-
plex in Ludhiana on Thursday
afternoon killing two and left
several others injured.
The blast reportedly took
place at 12:22 pm inside a
bathroom on the second floor
of the building. The explosion
damaged the walls of the bath-
room and ripped through a sec-
tion of the building, besides shat-
tering glass in nearby rooms.
The district court was crowd-
ed and functioning when the
explosion took place.
In visuals, injured people
were carried out of the build-
ing and police were trying to
remove people from the com-
plex. Two of the injured peo-
ple are women and three men.
Ludhiana Police Commis-
blast took place atLudhiana Dis-
trict and Sessions Court com-
plex was probably “either car-
rying explosive or was very
near to it”.
Connecting the sequence of
unfortunate attempt of recent
incidents of sacrilege and bomb
blast in Ludhiana court com-
plex, Chief Minister Charanjit
Channi said all this indicates
to several forces actively involved
to create disturbances in the bor-
der state for their vested inter-
ests.
“Everybody knows the tim-
ing and the handiwork of those
forces, as the Assembly polls are
drawing nearer with every
passing day, which were hell bent
upon to hatch such conspira-
cies to disturb the hard earned
peace and harmony in the
state,” he said.
Drawing a parallel between
for the Ludhiana bomb blast.
Sirsa said it was shocking
to see that CM is linking the
attack with elections and
claiming the blast took place
to divert attention from the
drug case. He said this is a
highly irresponsible and
shameful statement from a
person who has the respon-
sibility of ensuring safety of
people and state.
Sirsa said Channi should
tell people if this blast was the
result of intelligence failure
or he was pursuing Con-
the registration of an FIR against
the Shiromani Akali Dal leader
Bikram Singh Majithia and the
bomb blast as well as the recent
sacrilege incidents, Channi
questioned as to why such a hor-
rendous incident took place only
after Majithia was cornered
performing Bhangra on stage
and Sidhu embracing Pakistan
Prime Minister, Imran Khan.
“Channi should also tell
people if he had prior info on
such an attack then why no
arrest was made and if not,
was he sleeping ?,” he asked.
Sirsa said Punjab contin-
ues to suffer as the Congress
government puts state’s secu-
rity at risk. He also said that
law and order situation at its
worst while Congress lead-
ers and their CM busy play-
ing blame game.
by the law.
Contending that there are
some anti Punjab forces who
want to disrupt the peace of
the state, he also said why all
beadbis (sacrilege) and blasts
are happening just after
Majithia was booked.

Himachal govt committed for farmers’ welfare: Jai Ram
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 23 DECEMBER
Himachal Pradesh Chief Min-
ister Jai Ram Thakur on Thurs-
day said the state govern-
ment is committed to ensure
welfare of the farming com-
munity as about 90 per cent
of population of the state
lives in rural areas with agri-
culture as their main avoca-
tion.
After inaugurating 500
LPM Pressure Swing Absorp-
tion Plant (PSA) at Govern-
ment Civil Hospital Sunder-
nagar in Mandi district, Thakur
said that the state government
during the last four years had
laid special emphasis on
development of the assem-
bly segment. The previous
'Krishi Sakhis' become messengers of natural farming in HP
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 23 DECEMBER
'Krishu Sakhis' are turning
out to be the real friends of nat-
ural farming in Himachal
Pradesh.
Select rural women, picked
up as ‘Krishi Sakhis’ under
the National Rural Livelihoods
Mission (NRLM), who were
associated for training in nat-
ural farming technique by HP
Prakritik Khushhal Kisan (PK3Y)
yojana across the state recent-
Congress government only
made tall claims regarding
development of Sundernagar
area but actually did nothing.
On the other hand, the pre-
sent state government believes
in ensuring that benefits of
development reach out to
the person living at the low-
est ebb, he added.
ly, have become the messen-
gers of this non-chemical,
low-cost and climate-resilient
farming technique now.
The hands-on training in
natural farming technique by
the Agriculture Technology
Management Agency (ATMA)
staff working under the super-
vision of the State Imple-
menting Unit (SPIU), PK3Y is
empowering them with knowl-
edge in the fields and is prepar-
ing them to change their mind-
sets, with sustainable agri-
Thakur stated that due to
the able and strong leadership
of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, a biggest vaccination
campaign was going on in the
country. Himachal Pradesh has
also achieved a unique target
of cent per cent vaccination
of the eligible population in
the State.
culture, income, environment
and nutrition in focus.
“Natural farming is a very
good concept. It will help us
in reducing costs and improv-
ing nutrition and every farmer
wants that. Anyone is appre-
hensive to adopt a new thing
when it is about livelihood.We
have to break that psyche and
create awareness among farm-
ers to take to non-chemical
farming for best results in all
times to come,” said Chitra
Rekha, 44, Pradhan of Tundal
Besides, special sorties of
state chopper were made to
carry vaccines to remote
areas of Bara Bhangal of Kan-
gra district and Malana vil-
lage in Kullu district, the CM
said.
The CM further stated that
Himachal effectively ensured
management of the Covid
pandemic and the initiatives
of the government were even
appreciated by PM Modi.
Himachal has also pioneered
the first dose of Covid-19
vaccination of people of the
eligible age group and now the
State has also become the first
state of the country to achieve
the target of cent per cent sec-
ond dose or Covid-19 vacci-
nation of all the eligible pop-
ulation.
Panchayat in Kandaghat block
in Solan district for one year.
A graduate, Chitra Rekha is
a ‘Krishi Sakhi’ for the past one
year and is committed to
spread the natural farming
technique among the Self
Help Groups andVillage Level
Organisations of women. She
is more confident about the
concept because she shifted
to the technique on one bigha
(out of two) after training two
years and the results are good.
‘Pb cops’ hands
tied, Congress
politicising
national security’
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 23 DECEMBER
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s
(BJP) national general sec-
retary Tarun Chugh on
Thursday said the Punjab
police was working with
hands tied at the back and
had been keeping infor-
mation about drones and tif-
fin box bombs under the car-
pet.
While condemning the
incident of the bomb explo-
sion in Ludhiana, Chugh said
anti-national forces were tak-
ing advantage of the situa-
tion as the state govern-
ment has completely failed
to give security any priori-
ty.
He said drones and
bombs are being constant-
ly pushed in Punjab by the
Pakistan ISI and it was the
duty of the state government
to remain extra vigilant
against it.
Chugh said some senior
Congress leaders like Navjot
Singh Sidhu keep singing
praise for Pakistan Prime
Minister Imran Khan and the
Pakistan Army chief Bajwa
calling them as their friends
without realising that they
had become a security threat
to the country.

Ludhiana jail inmates get Haryana govt continuously running

exclusive radio station anti-drug campaign, says Khattar
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 23 DECEMBER
With an exclusive radio sys-
tem for prisoners, “Radio
Ujala Punjab” was inaugu-
rated on Thursday at Central
Jail, Ludhiana.
This initiative will be repli-
cated in six more prisons in
coming days, the addition-
al director general of police
(prisons) Praveen Kumar
Sinha said.
An official spokesperson
said radio system in prisons
is being set-up in association
with India Vision Foundation,
which is a pioneer in con-
ducting various reformato-
ry projects in prisons.
Radio will be an internal
system of the jail which will
be run by prison inmates only.
Inmates of all seven prisons
who will work as radio jock-
eys underwent a training of
three days organized by India
Vision Foundation, the
spokesperson said.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 23 DECEMBER
Haryana Chief Minister,
Manohar Lal Khattar on
Thursday said the state gov-
ernment is continuously run-
ning an anti-drug campaign.
Administering an anti-
drug oath to the students
during a Sankalp Samaroh
organised under the drug
de-addiction campaign in
Karnal on Thursday, the CM
said,” We should try our best
to completely eradicate the
drug addiction menace,”.
Addressing students, Khat-
tar said drug addiction is a
menace and anyone who
starts taking drugs fails to
understand the difference
between good and bad. He
said that misuse of various
types of drugs cause a lot of
harm to the abuser.
Along with deterioration
of physical strength anyone
who takes drugs becomes
prone to several other ailments
like cancer etc. Not only this,
instead of taking care of their
family, they start spending
their hard-earned money on
drugs and start distancing
themselves from their fam-
ilies and society, added the
CM.
Making the youngsters
aware of the drug menace is
need of the hour and for this,
a drug de-addiction campaign
should be launched by every
section of the society in which
maximum awareness about
drug misuse should be spread
among the youth, said Khat-
tar.

SJVN inks pact for harnessing solar energy

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 23 DECEMBER
SJVN on Thursday signed a
Memorandum of Under-
standing with Damodar Val-
ley Corporation (DVC) for
harnessing potential solar
energy of about 2000 MW
available under the DVC Com-
mand Area.
SJVN and DVC will joint-
ly identify suitable water bod-
ies and available land under
the SJVN and DVC command
area for setting up renewable
energy projects.
The MoU was signed by
Akhileshwar Singh, Director
(Finance), SJVN and M Raghu-
ram, Member (Technical)
Damodar Valley Corporation
in the presence of senior offi-
cials of SJVN and DVC.
SJVN chairman and man-
aging director Nand Lal Shar-
ma said this initiative is in line
with the target set by the
Union government and it
would enable SJVN in expand-
ing its footprint Pan India, as
well as, achieving its shared
vision of capacity addition of
5000 MW by 2023, 12000 MW
by 2030 and 25000 MW by
2040.
Sharma stated that under
the MoU signed today, SJVN
and DVC will explore the for-
mation of a joint venture
company for development
of renewable energy projects
at different locations within
the command areas of SJVN
and DVC.
DVC has large water bod-
ies under its management,
which can be harnessed for
Solar Power by setting up
floating Solar Energy Farms.
The Government of India
has envisaged vision of unin-
terrupted and affordable clean
power to all 24X7.
04
The matter concerns the faith and senti-
ments of crores of people.
BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY PRESIDENT MAYAWATI
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021 SEEKING SC INTERVENTION IN AYODHYA LAND SCAM

K’taka Assembly passes TENDER

anti -conversion Bill

The Bill bans forced conversions from one religion to another
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE posed law was first drafted term ranging between three tice and propagate religion,”
BENGALURU, 23 DECEMBER: when Congress leader, Sid- to five years besides a fine of the journal said.
daramiah, was the chief min- Rs 25, 000. In the event the The CPI (M) editorial said

T
he state assembly
today passed the Pro-
tection of Right to
Freedom of Religion
Bill, 2021, also known as the
anti conversion bill, by a voice
vote amid stiff opposition
from the Congress and the JDS.
It bans forced conversions
from one religion to another
or under influence or , for that
matter ,any fraudulent means
,including promise of marriage.
It will become law once it is
passed by the legislative coun-
cil ,making Karnataka the 9th
state to enact the law. The bill
makes it mandatory for peo-
ple converting to other reli-
gions to declare their inten-
tion at least 30 days in advance
to the district magistrate or
the additional magistrate in
their place of birth within the
state.
The government also
sought to embarrass the Con-
gress by arguing that the pro-
ister in 2016. This forced the
opposition leader to claim
that the bill that was drafted
at that time was “ a world apart
from the one you've brought.”
While state law minister,
Madhu Swamy , denied alle-
gations that the government
was seeking to target the
Christian community, Sid-
daramiah argued that con-
versions were not undertak-
en due to allurement.
The ruling party, however,
countered the criticism while
arguing that the government
was not targeting any com-
munity. According to the law
minister, there were instances
of conversions from Islam to
Christianity with some organ-
isations also converting Chris-
tians. So there was no ques-
tion of singling out or target-
ing any religion.
Incidentally, those
indulging in forceful conver-
sions would face a prison
converted person is a woman,
minor or from the SC or ST
community , the act provides
a jail term extending to ten
years besides a fine of up to
Rs 50,000.
Direct attack on religious
minorities rights: The Kar-
nataka anti-conversion Bill
passed by the State legislative
assembly is a direct attack on
the rights of religious minori-
ties and religious freedom, CPI
(M) journal People’s Democ-
racy said today.
In an editorial, the journal
said such laws have been
passed in other BJP-ruled
states like Uttarakhand, Uttar
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
and earlier in Gujarat.
Though named as `Free-
dom of Religion Act’, these laws
do the opposite of curbing the
fundamental right provided
in Article 25 of the Constitu-
tion to “freely profess, prac-
the `Karnataka Protection of
Right to Freedom of Religion
Bill’ follows the pattern set by
similar laws passed in other
BJP-ruled states.
The Karnataka Bill pro-
vides for three to five years
imprisonment for forced con-
versions; however, if such a
forced conversion takes place
with a minor, woman, or an
SC/ST person, then the jail
term will be from three to ten
years, the CPI (M) said.
The Bill has come in the
background of widespread
attacks on Christians and
their places of worship in the
state. If the bill becomes law,
then it will be a constant
threat to the Christians, as
along with vigilante actions
against places of worship,
the law can be invoked by a
compliant administration to
target and penalise normal reli-
gious activities, the CPI (M)
editorial said.
HIMACHAL PRADESH
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
E-PROCUREMENT NOTICE
INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
1. The Executive Engineer, Nerchowk Division, H.P.PWD., Nerchowk H.P on behalf of Governor of H.P invites for the online bids on percentage rate in electronic ten-
dering system in 2 cover system for the following work from the eligible and approved Contractors/Firms registered with H.P.PWD., Department.
Sr. Name of Work Estimated EMD Cost of Eligible Time
No. Cost tender Class of limit
Contractor
1. Addition and Alteration work in minor operation theatre to convert it into MajorTrauma Operation Rs.27,85,503/- Rs.50,000/- Rs. 1500/- "C& D" Six
Theatre (OT) in the Trauma Complex of SLBS Govt. Medical College & Hospital at Nerchowk, Months
Mandi (SH:-Providing and Fixing ceiling panels, Wall Panel, Hermatically sealed automatic slid-
ing door, Camera with wiring HD Quality etc.) Job No. I
2. Addition and Alteration work in minor operation theatre to convert it into MajorTrauma Operation Rs.15,10,256/- Rs.30,000/- Rs. 500/- "C& D" Six
Theatre (OT) in the Trauma Complex of SLBS Govt. Medical College & Hospital at Nerchowk, Months
Mandi (SH:-Providing and Fixing ceiling panels, Wall Panel, Hermatically sealed automatic slid-
ing door, Camera with wiring HD Quality etc.) Job No. II
3. Addition and Alteration in Landscaping of courtyard in front of Hospital, Administration, Auditorium Rs.8,83,775/- Rs.17,700/- Rs. 350/- "C& D" Six
and Nursing College of Shri Lal Bhadur Shastri Govt. Medical College & Hospital at Nerchowk, Months
Mandi Himachal Pradesh (SH:-Providing and Laying Neelgiri/Mexican Grass Turf).
2. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission: The bid document is available online and bid should be submitted online on website
http://hptenders.gov.inbidder would be required to register in the website which is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bidder is required to have Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities (CA). "Aspiring bidders who have not obtained the user ID and password for participating in e-tender-
ing in HPPWD may obtain the same from the website: http://hptenders.gov.in Digital signature is mandatory to participate in the e-tendering. Bidders already possessing
the digital signature issued from authorized CAs can use the same in this tender.
3. Key dates:-
1 Date of online publication 30-12-2021 at 11:30 A.M.
2 Document download start and end date 30-12-2021 at 11:30 A.M. up to 07-01-2022 at 10:30A.M.

T’gana HC directs govt to impose restrictions on upcoming festivals 3

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD, 23 DECEMBER
Telangana High Court today
directed the state govern-
ment to impose restrictions
in order to prevent public
gatherings during Christ-
mas, New Year and Sankran-
ti festivals in the wake of
increasing number of Omi-
cron cases. It cited the restric-
tions imposed by Delhi and
Maharashtra and gave the
state three days to come up
with the directive.
The bench comprising
the Chief Justice Satish Chan-
dra Sharma as well as Justice
Mr N Tukaramji also direct-
ed the state government to
consider setting up screen-
ing facilities at the state bor-
ders, similar to those that exist
at the airport. There is grow-
ing concern about the very
infectious new variant, par-
ticularly after 14 people test-
ed positive for Omicron on
a single day. Most of them
were from non risk catego-
ry countries and were detect-
ed only because of random
sampling. It was noted that
despite the increasing num-
ber of Omicron cases people
were still not wearing masks
or adhering to COVID-19
protocols.
The bench directed the
state government to strictly
comply with the directives
issued by the Union govern-
ment to prevent the spread
of Omicron variant on 21
December.
The court has time and
again taken the government
to task for failing to take
action to tackle the situation.
The state government took
the decision to impose the
second lockdown only after
the court had said otherwise
it will do the needful. It has
also pulled up the state gov-
ernment several times about
issuing regular bulletins as
well as to take action against
errant private hospitals.
4
Bid submission start and end date
Date of technical bid opening
30-12-2021 at 11:30 A.M. up to 07-01-2022 at 10:30A.M.
07-01-2022 at 11:30 A.M.
5 Physical submission of original documents i/c original EMD & Cost of Tender documents etc. 07-01-2022 at 11:00 A.M.
4. Tender Details:-
The tender documents shall be uploaded on line in 2 cover.
i) Cover 1: shall contain scanned copies of all "Technical Documents Eligibility" information.
ii) Cover 2: shall contain "BOQ/Financial bid" where contractor will quote his offer for each item.
5. Submission of Original Documents: The bidders are required to submit (a) original demand draft towards the cost of bid document and (b) original bid
security/Earnest money Deposit (EMD) and other Technical Documents with this office as specified in key dates at Sr.No.5.failing which the bids will be declared nonre-
sponsive.
6. Bid opening Detail: The bid shall be opened on 07-01-2022 at 11:30 HRs in the office of Executive Engineer, Nerchowk Division HP.PWD., Nerchowk. If the office
happens to be closed on the date of opening of the bid as specified the bid will be opened on the next working day at the same time and venue.
7. The bid for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 90 days after the deadline date for bid submission.
8. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The officer inviting tender shall not be held liable for any delays due to system failure beyond its control. Even
though the system will attempt to notify the bidders of any bid updates, the Employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It is the bidders'
responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender.
9. As per Govt. Notification No.PBW (B)A(3)1/2020-I dated 07.10.2021, in case the tendered amount of the lowest bidder comes more than 5% in 1st call the negotiation
can be conducted with him but the negotiated amount should remain within 5% of the amount put to tender (on market rate) and tendered amount below 30% of the esti-
mated cost will be summarily rejected.
Executive Engineer,
HP.PWD Division,
5783/2021-2022 HIM SUCHNA AVAM JAN SAMPARK Nerchowk.

Omicron cases rising in West Bengal HIMACHAL PRADESH

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 23 DECEMBER
Within a gap of hardly 10 days
after the first Omicron variant
positive case reported in Ben-
gal on 12 December three more
cases were found in the state
during the past four days press-
ing an alarm button in the
state health department.
On Wednesday, two foreign
returnees, who had tested pos-
itive for Covid at the NSC Bose
airport earlier in this week,
were found to have been infect-
ed by the Omicron variant.
Their swab samples sent to the
National Institute of Biomed-
ical Genomics (NIBG) in Kalyani,
Nadia district, were tested Omi-
cron variant positive.
One of them, a 19-year-old
boy, came from London on Sun-
day, said an official of a private
hospital where he is admitted.
"His condition is stable, he
has cough and cold,” said the
official. The other patient is also
an 11 year-old minor, it is
learnt. Earlier to these two
cases, another person hailed
DRDO holds second
successful flight test
sequencing of all Covid-posi- PUBLIC WORKS DEPATMENT
29 students test +ve in Kalyani: At least 29 out of 213 stu- tive samples from eight cities, NOTICE INVITING TENDER
dents of a residential Central school at Kalyani in Nadia have including Kolkata, owing to the
Sealed item rate tenders are hereby invited by the Executive Engineer, Bhoranj Division HPPWD., Bhoranj in form No. 6 & 8 on behalf of Governor of H.P. For
tested positive for Covid. All the infected students are from surge in counts of Omicron the following works from the contractors of appropriate class enlisted with HP.PWD. The tender shall be opened in the presence of the contractors / firms or their repre-
class IX and class X of Jawahar Novodaya Vidyalaya in Kalyani. cases with neither travel nor sentative who wish to be present.
Most of the guardians have already taken them back home any apparent contact history. TIME SHEDULE OF TENDER:-
after the panic gripped in the locality and the school The NCDC has directed local 1. Date and time of receipt of application for tender form:- 07/01/2022 up to 5.00 P.M.
2. Date and time of issue of tender form: - 10/01/2022 up to 5.00 P.M.
authorities asked the guardians to take their children back health authorities to send all 3. Date and time of receipt of tenders: - 11/01/2022 up to 10.30 A.M.
home. According to the school authorities, two students were Covid-19-positive samples 4. Date and time of opening of tenders: - 11/01/2022 at 11.30 A.M.
recently suffering from cold and cough. They then under- from Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, The tender forms will be issued to only those contractors who qualify the criteria after the scrutiny of application forms by the Committee constituted for this
purpose.
went rapid test and they were found to be Covid positive. Calcutta, Chennai, Delhi, Hyder-
The school authorities then brought all 211 residential stu- abad, Mumbai and Pune for Sr. Name of Work Estimated Earnest Time Limit Cost of Eligible class
dents to the College of Medicine and JNM hospital for rapid sequencing to determine No. cost Money tender of contractor
test a few days ago. The students found positive were advised whether the new variant was 1 C/O Martyr Raj Kumar Ambulance road to village Daboh GP Bagwara Mauja Bamsom (SH:- C/O C.C 3,94,900/- 8,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
rigid pavement at RD 0/0 to 0/160) (Deposit)
home quarantine as they have symptoms of cough and cold. already circulating in their
2 A/R & M/O link road to village Parol Km. 0/0 to 1/300 (SH:- C/O R/wall at RD 0/225 to 0/245). 2,89,526/- 6,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
The health authorities are now testing other staff and populations. 3 C/O link road to Martyr Pawan Kumar House from Ghran Kanchi Mauja Bamson (SH:- C/O C.C rigid 3,94,817/- 8,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
teachers of the school for the viral disease, sources said. A pavement at RD 0/0 to 0/098) (Deposit)
guardian said, “This infection should not be ignored and 4 C/O link road to village Tikkri Km. 0/0 to 2/300 (SH:- C/O R/wall at RD 0/0 to 0/015)(Deposit work ) 2,79,044/- 6,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
all infected students should be kept in home quarantine 5 R/R damage on Patta Awah Devi road Km. 0/0 to 17/0 (SH:- C/O R/wall at RD 16/630 to 16/637 in 1,66,918/- 3,500/- Two months. 350/- Class D
properly to prevent the spread.” SNS C.C 1:5:10).
6 C/O link road Kakrot to Bhour via Badehar to house of Shri Kamlesh Bhardwaj in GP Badehar Km. 4,95,346/- 10,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
0/0 to 0/150 (SH:- C/O C.C pavement at RD 0/040 to 0/150 and R/wall at RD 0/130 to 0/135).
7 R/R damage on Patta Awah Devi road Km. 9/600 to 17/500 (SH:- C/O R/wall at RD 10/900 to 10/910 2,07,634/- 4500/- Two months. 350/- Class D
from Bengal was also infected old boy who had returned to in C.C 1:5:10).
with the new variant of Covid the state from Abu Dhabi via 8 R/R damage on Patta Awah Devi road Km. 9/600 to 17/500 (SH:- C/O R/wall at RD 10/670 to 10/985 2,42,702/- 5000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
. Hyderabad on 10 December, in C.C 1:5:10).
“In all four Omicron posi- had tested positive for the 9 C/O boundary wall in Police Post Jahu.(Deposit work). 2,97,996/- 6000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
tive patients have been report- Omicron strain. He is a resident 10 C/O link road from Awah Devi Taxi stand to village Bhogon via Dadliyan Km. 0/0 to 2/500 (SH:- 4,98,772/- 10,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
Improvement of road various reaches including providing and laying GSB and WMM at RD 0/620 to
ed in our state so far,” Dr Ajay of Farakka in Murshidabad 0/879)(under OTMNP).
Chakraborty, director of health district. 11 C/O link road to Nablakh (SH:- C/O cement concrete pavement at RD 0/0 to 0/128)(Under MMGSY) 4,99,304/- 10,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
services (DHS), said. The National Centre for 12 R/R damages on Dasmal Kot Kangri road Km. 0/0 to 2/0 (SH:- P/'F W beam metal railing at RD 0/150 3,94,523/- 8000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
The first patient was report- Disease Control (NCDC) on to 0/218 & 1/800 to 1/850).
ed in the state after a seven year- Wednesday asked for genome 13 C/O link road to village Lapodu Gasian Mata Mandir Km. 0/0 to 0/750 (SH:- C/O C.C pavement at RD 4,95,973/- 10,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
0/132 to 0/195 & 0/380 to 0/400)( under OTMNP).
14 C/O link road from Awah Devi Taxi stand to village Bhogon via Dadliyan Km. 0/0 to 2/500 (SH:- 4,98,779/- 10,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
Improvement of road various reaches including providing and laying GSB and WMM at RD 0/350 to
‘Celebration will 0/620)( under OTMNP).
15 A/R & M/O various road under Bhoranj Section HPPWD Sub-Division Bhoranj (SH: - Repair of pot 3,42,666/- 7,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
begin 10 days ahead holes).

of ‘Pralay’
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DEC
Defence Research and Devel-
opment Organisation (DRDO)
today successfully conducted
the second flight-test of indige-
nously developed conven-
tional Surface-to-Surface mis-
sile ‘Pralay’ from Dr APJ Abdul
Kalam Island off the coast of
Odisha. For the first time, two
consecutive flight tests of a bal-
listic missile have been con-
ducted successfully in two
successive days. The flight
test met all the mission objec-
tives.
This launch proves the
system in both the configu-
rations of the missile, the Min-
istry of Defence said. In today’s
launch, the ‘Pralay’ missile
was tested for heavier payload
and different range to prove
the precision and lethality of
the weapon.
This launch was moni-
tored by all the range sensors
and instruments, including
Telemetry, Radar and Elec-
tro-Optic Tracking System
deployed across the eastern
coast and the down range
ships positioned near the
impact point.
Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh has congratulated DRDO
& associated teams for this con-
secutive successful develop-
ment flight trial.
of Durga Puja in WB’ 16 C/O ITI Building Bhakreri Distt. Hamirpur (SH:- P/F fire extinguisher).
17 C/O link road to village Duhka (SH:- C/O R/wall at RD 0/380 to 0/394) (MMGSY).
99,000/-
4,94,796/-
2,000/-
10,000/-
Two months.
Two months.
350/-
350/-
Class D
Class D
18 A/R and M/O Una Aghar Mandi road Km. 67/0 to 79/0 (SH:- C/O R/wall at RD 76/585 to 76/595). 4,99,284/- 10,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
KOLKATA, 23 DECEMBER
19 C/O link road Chattraill to Dadu Km. 0/0 to 1/200 (SH:- ROFD in various RDs)(Under SCSP). 1,64,753/- 3500/- Two months. 350/- Class D
20 C/O link road Dhirar via Dadu Badoh Km. 0/0 to 3/275 (SH:- P/L Cement concrete pavement at RD 2,72,769/- 6000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
To celebrate United Nations 2/475 to 2/500 and R/wall at RD 1/355 to 1/358).
Educational, Scientific and 21 C/O link road HB Balokhar (Balh Balet) road Km. 0/0 to 2/0 (SH:- C/O R/wall at 0/297 to 0/315). 3,36,549/- 7000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
Cultural Organization 22 C/O link road HB Balokhar (Balh Balet) road Km. 0/0 to 2/0 (SH:- C/O R/wall at RD 0/270 to 0/297). 4,98,708/- 10,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
(UNESCO) recognition to 23 C/O link road to Police Quarter at Bhoranj(SH:- P/L MT in Km. 0/0 to 0/100).(DC Deposit) 1,50,000/- 3000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
"Durga Puja in Kolkata", West 24 C/O link road to HB Balh Bag (SH:- C/O 900 mm dia Hume pipe culvert with wing wall at RD 0/275) 4,68,419/- 9500/- Two months. 350/- Class D
Bengal will begin the cele- (SCSP)
25 Micro surfacing on link road Doh to Dhoh Km. 0/0 to 2/0(SH:- Repair of pot holes) 77,225/- 2000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
bration 10 days ahead of
26 A/R & M/O (i)Panjot to Bagwara via Lalyar road Km. 0/0 to 2/700 (ii) Samirpur to Bagwara via 1,74,304/- 3500/- Two months. 350/- Class D
Durga Puja next year. Samlehra road Km. 0/0 to 2/500 (SH:- C/O unlined drain, maintenance of earthen shoulder & trimming
"Celebrations will begin of grass).
10 days before Durga Puja 27 A/R and M/O A.E office building at Samirpur (SH:- P/F wooden panelizing, Almirah, Computer table in 98,311/- 2000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
starts as we got recognition HPPWD Sub- Division Samirpur in Senior Assistant and Junior Engineer room).
from UNESCO, said West Ben- 28 R/R damage on Bhoranj Dialari Sadhiryan road. (SH :- P/L interlocking paver block at RD 0/0 to 4,13,591/- 8500/- Two months. 350/- Class D
0/080).
gal Chief Minister Mamata 29 C/O link road Bhiar to Kot Km. 0/0 to 2/0.(SH:- M/T in Km. 0/0 to 0/250)(from Tikkar Bharaian Side) 2,03,690/- 4200/- Two months. 350/- Class D
Banerjee said on Thursday. (OTMNP)
United Nations Educational, 30 Improvement of blind curve on Patta Awah Devi road Km. 9/600 to 14/0 (SH:-Improvement of blind 3,53,148/- 7500/- Two months. 350/- Class D
Scientific and Cultural Orga- curve on various RD 12/885 to 13/105).
nization (UNESCO) on 31 Panjot to Kanjian via Dharyara Km. 0/0 to 4/500 (SH:- P/L hot applied thermoplastic compound 2.5 4,96,188/- 10,000/- Two months. 350/- Class D
mm in Km. 0/0 to 3/600).
Wednesday inscribed "Durga
Puja in Kolkata" on the "Rep- 1. The earnest money in the shape of National Saving Certificate, Time deposit account in any of the post office in HP / FDR of any Bank duly pledged in favour of
resentative List of the Intan- Executive Engineer, Bhoranj Division, HP.PWD. , Bhoranj must be accompanied with the application for receipt of tender form along with cost of form. Tender
application received without earnest money will be rejected.
gible Cultural Heritage of 2. The contractors / firms should possess the following documents (photo copy to be self attached with application for obtaining the tenders documents):-
Humanity". Celebrated in (i) Latest enlistment / renewal orders with application for obtaining the tenders documents.
Shukla Paksha of the month (ii) GST Number issued by the Sale Tax Department.
(iii) PAN (Permanent Account Number) issued by the Income Tax Department.
Ashwin in the Hindu calendar Shall contain scanned copies of EPF issued from competent authority.
(September-October), Durga 3. The Executive Engineer, Bhoranj Division HPPWD., Bhoranj reserves the right to reject any tender without assigning any reasons(s).
Puja is the major annual fes- 4 The Cess Charges @ 1% will be deducted from the gross amount of work done of the Contractor.
tival in West Bengal. It is also 5. The work will be completed by the contractor within the stipulated period.
6. The contractor /firms are required to insert the rate of each item in wards as well as in figures failing which Executive Engineer reserves the right to accept/rejects
celebrated in other parts of any overall tender.
India and especially amongst 7. The tender shall be issued to only those contractor /firms who are eligible, suitable and competent.
the Bengali diaspora. 8. The tender forms shall be issued to eligible contractors depending upon their past performance and work experience which shall be duly evaluated by the technical
The ten-day festival marks evaluation committee.
10. The Contractor/firm having necessary documents, and past adequate experience shall be preferred.
the worship of Goddess Durga. 11. The Contractor who has failed to start/Complete the work already allotted in his favour with in stipulated period shall not be issued tender forms.
Months before the festival, arti- 12. A contractor enlisted in a particular class shall be eligible to tender for his own class and one step below.
sanal workshops in Kolkata 13. Only two No. tender form will be issued to the eligible contractor.
14. If 11/01/2022 happens to be holiday the tender shall be opened on next working day at 11.00.A.M.
sculpt idols of Durga and her 15. GST will be deducted as per rates fixed by the Govt.
children (Lakhsmi, Saraswati,
Kartik and Ganesh) using
unfired clay from the river bed Executive Engineer,
Bhoranj Division,
of Ganga. ANI
5807/2021-2022 HIM SUCHNA AVAM JAN SAMPARK HPPWD, Bhoranj
 05
Kerala displays India at its cultural and
harmonious best.
PRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND
SPEAKING AFTER UNVEILING THE STATUE OF LATE P.N. PANICKER
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021

PM Modi lays foundation stone of NIA files charge sheet in

Darbhanga Railway blast
various development projects in UP
UP CM Yogi Adityanath & Union Minister Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey were present on the occasion
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Sankul’ will come up at the UP of purity will be easy and the tion Centre at Central Insti-
NEW DELHI,23 DECEMBER State Industrial Development credibility of India's milk tute of Higher Tibetan Stud-
Authority Food Park, products will also increase,” ies, built at a cost of over Rs

A
s part of efforts to
strengthen the rural
economy and help
farmers of the region,
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Thursday laid the
foundation stone of ‘Banas
Dairy Sankul’ in his Lok Sabha
constituency Varanasi.
Modi also inaugurated and
laid the foundation of multi-
ple projects including devel-
opmental projects worth over
Rs 1500 crores in Varanasi
besides distributing rural res-
idential rights record ‘Gha-
rauni’ to over 20 lakh residents
of the State.
Speaking on the occasion,
the Prime Minister paid his
tribute to former prime min-
ister and farmers’ leader
Chaudhary Charan Singh on
the occasion of his birth
anniversary, being celebrat-
ed as ‘Kisan Diwas’.
“People who make fun of
cow-buffalo forget that the
livelihood of 8 crore families
of the country is run by such
livestock. Today, UP is not only
the largest milk producing
state in the country it is also
significantly ahead in the
expansion of the dairy sector.
Dairy sector, animal hus-
bandry and the new push for
white revolution has a big
role in transforming the lives
of farmers,” the Prime Min-
ister said.
The proposed Banas Dairy
We celebrate victory of all
farmers: Mamata on Kisan Divas
Karkhiyaon, Varanasi. Spread
across 30 acres of land, the
dairy will be built at a cost of
about Rs 475 crores and will
have a facility for processing
5 lakh litre of milk per day.
The Prime Minister also dig-
itally transferred about Rs 35
crore bonuses to the bank
accounts of more than 1.7 lakh
milk producers associated
with Banas Dairy. He also
laid the foundation stone for
the Biogas based Electricity
generation plant for the Milk
Producers Cooperative Union
Plant, Ramnagar, Varanasi.
He launched a Portal and
Logo dedicated to the Con-
formity Assessment Scheme
of milk products, developed
by the Bureau of Indian Stan-
dards (BIS) with the help of
National Dairy Development
Board (NDDB).
In another effort to resolve
the land ownership issues at
grassroots level, the Prime
Minister virtually distributed
the rural residential rights
record ‘Gharauni’, under the
Swamitva scheme of the Union
Ministry of Panchayati Raj, to
over 20 Lakh residents of the
State. Inaugurating and lay-
ing the foundation stone of
developmental projects worth
over Rs 1500 crores in Varanasi,
Modi said it would further
strengthen the ongoing 360
degree transformation of
Varanasi.
Underlining the impor-
tance of livestock, Modi said,
“talking about cows can be a
crime for some people, cows
are revered as mothers by us.
People who make fun of cow-
buffalo forget that the liveli-
hood of 8 crore families of the
country is run by such live-
stock.”
He mentioned about the
nationwide immunization
programme for foot and
mouth disease among cattle
population.
“The milk production in the
country has increased by
about 45 per cent as compared
to 6-7 years ago. Today India
produces about 22 percent of
the world's milk. I am happy
that today UP is not only the
largest milk producing state
in the country, it is also sig-
nificantly ahead in the expan-
sion of the dairy sector”, Prime
Minister Modi said.
Expressing his firm belief
SAD demands HC judge monitor
in the role of the dairy sector,
animal husbandry and the new
push in white revolution for
transforming the lives of farm-
ers, Modi said animal hus-
bandry can become a huge
source of additional income
for the small farmers of the
country, whose number is
more than 100 million.
“India’s dairy products
have a huge market abroad,
in which there is a lot of
potential to grow. Animal
husbandry is a great way for
the economic uplift of women,
to further their entrepre-
neurship. The livestock is also
a big basis for biogas, organ-
ic farming and natural farm-
ing. The Bureau of Indian
Standards has issued a uni-
fied system for the country. An
integrated logo featuring
Kamdhenu cows has also
been launched for certifica-
tion. If this proof, this logo is
visible, then the identification
Modi asserted.
Further stressing on nat-
ural farming, the Prime Min-
ister said with the passage of
time, the scope of natural
farming was reduced and
chemical farming became
dominant. “For the rejuve-
nation of mother earth, to pro-
tect our soil, to secure the future
of the coming generations, we
must once again turn to nat-
ural farming. This is the need
of the hour today”, he said. He
also appealed to the farmers
to adopt natural farming and
organic crops. “This will go a
long way in making our agri-
culture AtmaNirbhar,” he
added.
On the occasion the Prime
Minister virtually distributed
the rural residential rights
record ‘Gharauni’ under the
Swamitva scheme of the Union
Ministry of Panchayati Raj, to
over 20 Lakh residents of
Uttar Pradesh. He said this will
open new vistas of develop-
ment and dignity for rural poor
and will make them part of the
development growth story.
The Prime Minister also
inaugurated projects in the
education sector. The projects
include Union Education
Ministry’s Inter University
Centre for Teachers Education.
It is build at a cost of around
Rs 107 crore. He also inau-
gurated a Teachers Educa-
7 crore. He also inaugurated
residential flats and staff quar-
ters at BHU and ITI Karaun-
di. A Doctors hostel, a Nurs-
es hostel and shelter home
built at a cost of Rs 130 crore,
at Mahamana Pandit Madan
Mohan Malviya Cancer Cen-
tre, were inaugurated by
Narendra Modi. He also inau-
gurated a 50 bed Integrated
Ayush Hospital at Bhadrasi and
laid the foundation stone of
Rs 49 Cr Government
Homoeopathic Medical Col-
lege in tehsil Pindra under the
Ayush Mission.
Modi later laid the foun-
dation stone of two (4 to 6 lane)
road widening projects for
Prayagraj and Bhadohi roads.
In a bid to give fillip to the
tourism potential of the holy
city, the Prime Minister inau-
gurated the Phase-1 of Tourism
Development project related
to Shri Guru Ravidas Ji Tem-
ple, Seer Govardhan, Varanasi.
He inaugurated Speed Breed-
ing Facility at International Rice
Research Institute, South Asia
Regional Centre Varanasi and
a Regional Reference Standards
Laboratory at village Payakpur
and an Advocate building at
Tehsil Pindra.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi
Adityanath and Union Min-
ister Dr Mahendra Nath
Pandey were among the
prominent personalities pre-
sent on the occasion.
BJP, Cong
spar over OBC
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
The National Investigation
Agency (NIA) on Thursday
charge sheeted five LeT ter-
rorists in connection with
Darbhanga Railway Station
Blast case before a special
NIA Court in Patna, Bihar.
The charge sheet was filed
against Mohd Nasir Khan alias
Nasir Malik, Imran Malik,
Saleem Ahmed alias Haji
Saleem, Kafil Ahmad alias
Kafil and Iqbal Mohammed
alias Iqbal Kana under sections
120B, 468 and 471 of the IPC,
sections 3, 4 and 5 of the
Explosive Substances Act,
read with sections 16, 17, 18,
18B, 20, 23, 38, 39 and 40 of
the UA(P) Act. The NIA offi-
cial said that Iqbal Kana is
presently living in Lahore,
Pakistan.
In June this year a blast took
place at Darbhanga Railway
Station after which a case was
lodged. A few days later, the
case was transferred to the NIA.
planned huge loss of life of
innocent people and damage
to the public property. Hafeez
Iqbal alias Kana, the Pakistan
based handler was operating
the whole incident.
He was giving instructions
to the other LeT terrorists
who were in India.
"Mohd Nasir Khan and Imran
Malik made an IED using
locally procured chemicals
and placed the same in a par-
cel of clothes. The parcel was
booked in Secunderabad-
Darbhanga Express. They
chose this train since it depart-
ed at night. Their intention was
to trigger the incendiary IED,
the cloth parcel would ignite
and further spread fire in
other parcels booked in the van
converting it into a large con-
flagration," said an NIA offi-
cial.
Investigation also revealed
that accused Nasir Khan had
travelled to Pakistan and was
trained in espionage, han-
dling of arms and ammunition
and fabricating IEDs. He also

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

KOLKATA, 23 DECEMBER:
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee, today, on
Kisan Day said,“We remember
the sacrifice of each and every
farmer who fought for their
right, and we honour their spir-
it and salute their courage. We
celebrate the victory of all our
farmers!”
Meanwhile, TMC Rajya
Sabha MP Derek’O'Brien alleged
that there is‘jumlacracy’ on the
pretence of repealing the farm
laws. He said, "No wonder no
data available since the gov-
ernment, fearing an electoral loss
in the upcoming state elec-
tions in Punjab and Uttar
Pradesh, repealed the contro-
versial farm laws on the open-
ing day of the recently-con-
cluded winter session.” The
MP further said the Farm Laws
Repeal Bill was passed within
minutes of its introduction in
both the Houses of the Parlia-
ment without any discussion.
“When questions were asked
about compensation to the kin
of farmers who lost their lives
during the year-long protests,
Union agriculture minister
Narendra SinghTomar claimed
that the government had “no
data” on the number of farm-
ers who had lost their lives and
hencethere is noquestionof pro-
viding any compensation to
their families."
He alleged that this is not the
first time the central government
has cited non-availability of
data to evade public scrutiny.
“In the past too, the Centre
has claimed that it lacks data on
issues pertaining to migrant
workers’ death, healthcare staff
who died during the Covid
wave.”
investigation into sacrilege cases
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 23 DECEMBER
The Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD) on Thursday demand-
ed a sitting judge of the Pun-
jab and Haryana High Court
to monitor the probe into the
recent cases of sacrilege.
The SAD also announced
a protest at Sri Darbar Sahib
complex in Amritsar on 2
January 2 against police inac-
tion in the cases of sacrilege.
A decision to this effect was
taken at a meeting of the
party’s core committee which
was presided over by party
president Sukhbir Singh Badal
and attended by party patron
Parkash Singh Badal besides
others.
Announcing this decision
while talking to newsmen
later, Sukhbir Badal said
“Sikhs and Punjabis do not
have any faith in the Congress
government and its home
minister. They are convinced
the Congress government is
bent upon saving those
behind the heinous cases of
sacrilege and does not have
any interest in uncovering the
conspiracy behind them.
They have also rejected the
low level policy inquiry
ordered by the government
into the case and want a
high level inquiry monitored
by the high court”.
Sukhbir said the state gov-
ernment had failed to unrav-
el the conspiracy behind
such cases despite the fact that
the Shiromani Gurdwara Par-
bandhak Committee (SGPC)
handed over the person
responsible for throwing the
holy Gutka Sahib into the
‘sarovar’ at Sri Darbar Sahib
to the police. "Had this case
been investigated properly,
the subsequent ghastly event
of December 18 in the sanc-
tum sanctorum of Sri Har-
mandar Sahib would have
been averted,” he said.
On the bomb blast at Lud-
hiana, the SAD chief said, “We
had said earlier that people
will be provoked by com-
munal incidents. This has
happened with sacrilege also
being committed at a tem-
ple after the desecration of
Sri Harmandar Sahib. Now a
bomb blast has also occurred”.
He said the state govern-
ment & especially the State
police chief should also focus
on maintaining law and order.
reservation in
The NIA investigation
revealed that LeT operatives
had planned to set ablaze a
received funds from Pakistan
on various occasions. The
official said that they were still
moving long-distance train probing the matter.
MP Assembly by placing incendiary Impro-
vised Explosive Devices
BHOPAL, 23 DECEMBER (IEDs)/parcel bomb in the
train so that the whole train
A war of words broke out catches fire.
between the ruling BJP The Let terrorists had
and the Opposition Con-
gress in the State Assem-
bly on Thursday after for-
mer chief minister and
the Leader of Opposition
Kamal Nath accused the
state Election Commis-
sion of issuing confusing
notifications regarding
the reservation for Other
Backward Classes (OBCs)
in Panchayat elections in
the state.
As the proceedings of
the Assembly began, Nath
raised the OBC reservation
issue and asked the gov-
ernment to clear its stance.
" Ev e r since the

Tension in U’khand Congress: MP Assembly passes Property Bill

and OBC reservation resolution
Supreme Court's order
came, the state election
commission has been issu-

Priyanka speaks to Harish Rawat STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
A day after party veteran and
Uttarakhand campaign com-
mittee chief Harish Rawat
targeted the Congress for not
giving him a "free hand",
General Secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra on Thursday
spoke to the former Union
Minister to pacify him, sources
said. On Wednesday, in a
series of tweets, Rawat had said
that "it's time to rest, it has
been enough."
"Is this not strange? When
we have to swim in the sea of
election, the party organisa-
tion should extend support-
ing hand, but has rather
turned its face the other way
and is playing a negative role.
I have to swim in the sea
where the ruling party has
released many crocodiles and
my hands and legs are tied.
"Sometimes it feels that I
have worked too much and
now it's time to rest. I am in
dilemma, the new year may
show me a way, and Lord
Kedarnath will show a path
to me," the former Uttarakahd
CM said. According to sources
in the know of things, Rawat
is upset over the ticket dis-
tribution and that he wants
more say in the party affairs.
The Congress has not
declared Rawat as the chief
ministerial candidate which
is the prime demand of his
supporters. Rawat is sched-
uled to meet former Con-
gress president Rahul Gand-
hi on Friday. Meanwhile,
some leaders Pradeep Tamta,
Rajya Sabha MP, and Harish
Dhami, an MLA, have come
out in Rawat's support.
BHOPAL, 23 DECEMBER
The Madhya Pradesh State
Assembly today passed the
‘Madhya Pradesh Damage to
Public and Private Property
Recovery Bill, 2021’ and a res-
olution stating that there
would be no Panchayat polls
in the state without reserva-
tion for the Other Backward
Classes (OBC).
The bill was passed by a
voice vote without a debate
amidst the opposition Con-
gress walking out over anoth-
er issue, related to the OBC
reservation.
The resolution was passed
unanimously, also accom-
panied by bedlam on the
fourth day of the ongoing five-
day winter session of the
Assembly.
The Congress alleged that
Leader of Opposition, Kamal
Nath was not given an oppor-
tunity to speak on the reso-
lution for OBC reservation.
The Congress and ruling
BJP MLAs also traded heat-
ed accusations over the reser-
vation issue. Speaker Girish
Gautam had to adjourn the
house thrice for different
periods during the din over
the OBC reservation.
ing different notifications
at different times which are
creating confusion. I would
request the government to
clear its stand on the OBC
reservation issue," Kamal
Nath said.
In response, state Home
Minister Narottam Mishra,
who is also Parliamen-
tary Affairs Minister, said
that the government has
filed a petition in the
Supreme Court and a date
for hearing on the matter
will be fixed by the court
soon.
After Mishra's state-
ment, MLAs of the Con-
gress accused the Shivraj
Singh Chouhan govern-
ment of being anti-OBC.
This led to a chaos

125-year-old renovated St. Luke’s Church reopens in Srinagar
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, 23 DECEMBER
The 125 years old St. Luke's
Church in Srinagar was on
Thursday reopened after its
massive restoration.
Lieutenant Governor
Manoj Sinha inaugurated the
reopening ceremony of his-
toric St Luke's Church that has
been fully renovated, con-
served and opened for the pub-
lic to offer prayers.
Addressing the gathering
through virtual mode, the Lt
Governor said that the lost
glory of the oldest Church in
Srinagar has been restored.
“Reopening of St Luke's
Church in Srinagar after
restoration is a historic occa-
sion to celebrate and imbibe
Lord Christ's message of sac-
rifice, service, redemption,
love and compassion”,
observed the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor said that
the St Luke's Church is a
unique symbol of J&K's com-
posite culture, which was
built in 1896 on the southwest
slope of Shri Shankaracharya
Hill.
The Lt Governor congrat-
ulated the citizens of J&K,
especially the Christian com-
munity and all the artisans
involved in the renovation
and conservation, besides
the officials associated with
the Smart City program. The
restoration and conservation
work of St Luke's Church has
been carried out under the
‘Smart City Project’. The up-
gradation of the surrounding
landscape has also been
attended to including access
to the Church, lighting and the
allied components. The inside
of the Church has also been
redone with construction of
Alter, wooden flooring, seat-
ing, window panes, access
gate and porch.
India is home to diverse reli-
gions and cultures for cen-
turies. But, despite much
diversity, we are living in unity
without any discrimination,
observed the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor urged
the people to inculcate the spir-
it of social harmony and
strengthen the values of broth-
erhood, peace and selfless
service.
St. Luke's message of peace
and harmony to all human
beings is more relevant today
than ever before. While fac-
ing the challenges of Covid
pandemic, the whole world
is realizing that no nation or
society can survive in isola-
tion. Our dependence on
each other, our connect with
each other has increased sub-
stantially, the Lt Governor
said. On the occasion, the Lt
Governor remembered Dr.
Arthur Neve, and threw light
on his life. Dr. Arthur served
the people of J&K for three
decades, by establishing this
Church as well as saving many
lives as a doctor, he added.
The Lt Governor also
extended his warm wishes to
the people for the upcoming
Christmas festival. Special
prayers were recited to mark
the day, while a documentary
on the history and restoration
of the church was also show-
cased on the occasion.
The Christian communi-
ty of Srinagar has expressed
happiness at the govern-
ment’s initiative to renovate
and reopen the Church ahead
of Christmas.
St Luke's Church is a sin-
gle-storey building constructed
on a cruciform plan. The
Church follows the Gothic
Style of Architecture which is
distinct from the other impor-
tant monuments dotted in the
landscape of Srinagar. Attached
to the porch, there is a bell
tower which is three-story in
height, mounted by a high
pitched CGI roof with dormer
gables on each side.
Before the restoration
works, the Church was lying
in a dilapidated condition, with
the structural members suf-
fering major damage. The
CGI roofing was completely
damaged, the rainwater intru-
sion from the roof aggravat-
ed the decay of important
components.
Chief Priest of St. Luke's
Church, Father Eric and peo-
ple from all walks of life were
present to witness the re-
opening of the Church.
prompting Speaker Girish
Gautam to adjourn the
Assembly for 15 minutes.
Since the first day of the
winter session of the
Assembly (December 20),
both the ruling (BJP) and
the Opposition (Congress)
have been accusing each
other of being anti-OBC.
Earlier on Tuesday,
Chouhan had stated that
the state gover nment
s h o u l d e x p l o re l e g a l
options against the
Supreme Court's Decem-
ber 17 order that stayed
polling on all OBC-
reserved seats.
The ruling follows a
similar order by the apex
court for the Maharashtra
municipal elections.
Chouhan and Nath
were arguing over the apex
court staying the election
on seats reserved for OBC
candidates and directed
the state election com-
mission to re-notify these
as general seats.
06 NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021
Incorporating and directly descended
from THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818
Omicron scanner
E ight Indian cities are to come under the scanner
of the apex disease surveillance agency for a sci-
entific survey of the spread of coronavirus and
the reasons thereof. This will include the increasing
cases of Omicron, especially among those with nei-
ther any history of travel nor contact. Unlike last year,
when ministers (aka the political class) and bureau-
crats were monarchs of all they surveyed in matters of
public health, this year the National Centre for Dis-
ease Control (NCDC) has been brought into the loop.
This is as it should be considering that the medical
fraternity was accorded a relatively minor rating in
2020, when first reports of the virus were highlighted
in “breaking news”. And this short shrift to the medical
fraternity was not unique to any state. The NCDC has
reportedly asked state authorities to send all Covid-
positive samples from Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Banga-
lore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune
for genome sequencing. This will determine whether
Omicron is already circulating in these cities. Accord-
ing to the health ministry’s prognosis, one of the
major epidemiological issues at this stage is whether
Omicron is already in the stage of community trans-
mission in the large metropolitan cities. And the
sequencing will help the government to monitor the
feared community transmission of Omicron. Misgiv-
ings that there are early signs of Omicron circulating
unnoticed in the community are not wholly unfound-
ed. The praxis of physicians will hopefully determine
the finding. There has been an increase in the number
of Omicron patients with no history of international
travel or contacts with “known cases”.
As many as 222 Omicron cases had been docu-
mented in India till Wednesday. The potential source
of infection is as yet unknown. Suffice it to register
that there are 30 in Delhi, eight in Maharashtra, six in
Telangana, five in Karnataka, four in Kerala and three
each in Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir. Citywise
sequencing can help detect Omission transmission
in the community. This will enable the health author-
ities to undertake preventive and containment mea-
sures before any large outbreak. This, in the reckoning
of the sequencing laboratories, is a “good step”. The
average counts of new cases each day are said to be
low enough to “sequence all samples found positive”.
The sequencing effort that has been proposed will
necessitate a streamlined supply of samples to labs.
Apart from coordinated distribution of samples for
sequencing, funds and technical staff might be need-
ed to scale up the process. India’s overall epidemic
load has declined since the country’s first case of Omi-
cron was detected in Bangalore on 22 November, but
there has been a rise in new infections in December in
Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. Several
clusters have been surveyed in various states, but
these have not been linked to Omicron. Once the
case-count exceeds the threshold number, risk of an
Omicron-fuelled wave are frightfully real and it is this
risk that is sought to be addressed.
Easing of sanctions
T
he US sanctions, that have had a crippling effect
on the Taliban government in Afghanistan, are
set to be eased with Washington’s Treasury
department on Wednesday issuing what they call
“new general licences’’. This theoretically will make it
easier for non-government organizations, interna-
tional aid groups and the US government to provide
relief to the Afghan people in general. Economic pres-
sure on the Taliban will be maintained, however. It is
open to question how the Biden administration will
maintain a deft balance between the two. The people
of the country, more than the rulers in Kabul surely,
need assistance as their country countenances a tor-
pid economy. Notably, America is the largest single
provider of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
“We are committed to supporting the people of
Afghanistan, which is why the Treasury department is
taking these additional steps to facilitate assistance,”
was the raison d’etre proffered by Wally Adeyemo, the
deputy Treasury secretary. The United States does not
recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government
of Afghanistan. In the aftermath of the militant outfit’s
takeover of the country in August, the Biden adminis-
tration froze $9.5 billion of Afghanistan’s foreign
reserves, stopped sending shipments of dollars to the
embattled country’s central bank, and even exerted
pressure on the IMF to delay plans to transmit emer-
gency reserve funds to the country. The humanitarian
crisis has placed the Biden administration on the
defensive three months after the Taliban assumed
power and US boots on the ground left the country.
Sanctions can have a crippling effect; but such curbs
can scarcely dislodge a government; Iran still makes
do with an administration seemingly committed to
nuclear proliferation. In Afghanistan, the economic
crisis has been compounded by the pandemic, a
severe drought, the loss of foreign aid and frozen cur-
rency reserves.
It becomes imperative, therefore, for the Taliban
government to enhance its acceptability. An unrec-
ognized dispensation cannot readily expect assistance
from the comity of nations or even a section thereof.
In other words, it must of necessity meaningfully join
the global order if it seeks a helping hand. Just as the
economic crisis is a matter humanitarian concern, so
too must be the attitude towards its people, most par-
ticularly women and children. Children, including
girls, reserve the right to be educated and not suffer
the fate of Malala Yousufzai a few years ago. A decid-
edly more liberal attitude must influence the hard-
liners’ dealings with people, especially women. For
far too long have women led a cloistered existence,
especially in Afghanistan. The cloister and the hearth
are equally antediluvian in this day and age. Women
do deserve the right to work, if not drive to the place
of employment. The Taliban should not expect the
world’s sympathy if it is unable to accommodate its
concerns. At the same time, it must know that sac-
charine assurances alone will not work; after all, the
outfit has a brutal record to address.
Reminiscences
In 1957, Sheikh Mujib, as a young minister, had set up the Film Development Corporation
on behalf of which Matiul Islam later came to Calcutta to import twelve Bengali films.
He met Satyajit Ray, and the maximum price was paid for Apur Sansar — Rs 25,000!
T
he fiftieth anniversary of
the independence of
Bangladesh is being cele-
brated all over. Numer-
ous books and articles have been
published by scholars and practi-
tioners from India, Bangladesh
and even Pakistan. On the Indian
side, books by former ambas-
sador Chandrashekhar Dasgup-
ta India and the Bangladesh Lib-
eration War ( Juggernaut, 2021)
and retired colonel G S Batabyal
Politico-Military Strategy of the
Bangladesh Liberation War,
1971(Routledge, 2020), among
others, analyse the history and
experience of India's political,
diplomatic and military actions.
Noted authorities from Bangla-
desh like Junaid K. Ahmad and
Ishrat Husain, in their articles,
focused on the course of socio-
economic regeneration in Bang-
ladesh, especially during the last
few decades, that is now being
globally acknowledged. From
Pakistan, one reads accounts of
how the discredited defence per-
sonnel were treated and how the
country is yet to come to terms
with the debacle.
In this context, a book Recol-
lections of a Civil Servant-Turned
Banker (Pathak Shamabesh Ban-
gladesh, Dhaka, 2019) by Md.
Matiul Islam, a distinguished
bureaucrat who spent seventeen
years in the Civil Service of Pak-
istan, two years in the private
sector there, six years in the Gov-
ernment of Bangladesh (being its
first Finance Secretary) and six-
teen years thereafter in the World
Bank and the UNIDO, deserves
special mention. I met this gen-
tleman in 1990 when he was
serving as the Country Director
of UNIDO in Delhi and I joined
the UNDP office, on secondment
from the IAS.
Islam's book is a collection
of essays, some published and a
few unpublished, divided into
eight parts, that broadly covers
his personal life and career tra-
jectory. Though not written in the
style of a memoir, the parts
somehow fall into place and cre-
ate a narrative that is rich in de-
tail and compelling to read. It tra-
ces the turns in his evolution as a
multi-dimensional person who,
despite achieving a great deal as
an administrator, retained good-
ness of heart and simplicity of
spirit. More than that, the book
throws important insights into
the working of the higher burea-
ucracy in Pakistan and Bangla-
desh, the enormity of problems
that as a trusted lieutenant of
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman he had
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Boric should show the way
SIR, This refers to your editorial
“Chile turns Left” ( 22 December).
The Latin American country, Chile,
has created history by electing
Gabriel Boric of the Social Conver-
gence defeating Jose Antonio Kast
of the Republican Party by a com-
fortable majority.
The 35-year-old Boric is a stu-
dent activist and has now joined
young leaders in about eight coun-
tries, including France. Boric
deserves all good luck in handling
Vol. CXXXXXV 299
A MEMBER
OF THE
ASIAN VOICES
Chattogram
needs urgent
solution to
dust pollution
C hattogram is well known due to
its diverse natural aesthetics ~
with its mountainous terrain,
flowing rivers and coastal plains. How-
ever, rapid urbanisation has been tak-
ing a toll on this city, home to the
biggest seaport in Bangladesh. Various
important establishments, diversifica-
tion of trade and commerce, rise in
population, and expansion of housing,
businesses and industries continue to
take place in the city every day. As an
adverse effect of this "industrialisa-
tion," which is being done without fol-
lowing proper rules and regulations,
the city and its residents have been
suffering from excessive pollution for a
long time. The air of Chattogram is
to face while steering the nation unfolds! The tender side of Islam's now thick with dust and smoke. The
through, and his grateful remem- But life was not easy. As he personality gets reflected in his increased presence of toxic particles
brance of people, including from reminisces, “The Governement fond remembrances of people in the air has led to a spike in various
India, who had left a deep imp- coffer was empty, the foreign ex- who mattered the most in his life. diseases ~ particularly respiratory
ress on his mind. Also, about the change reserve was zero (except Other than his close family mem- problems like asthma. The quality of
role of providence in human life. for US $5 million deposited by bers including his mother [My air in an area or a region depends on
Islam met Sheikh Mujib for the Government of India with the Gateway To Heaven], he recalls, the amount of fine dust ~ particulate
the first time in 1957, when he RBI, in the name of Bangladesh among others, Dr S R Sen, the matter ~ in it. The amount of particu-
was in Harvard pursuing a mas- Government) and all foreign noted economist. late matter is measured in micrograms
ters’ degree in public administra- exchange earnings arising out of About his mother, “She was per cubic metre or parts per million
tion and Mujib, having resigned exports from the then East Pak- like an island of peace and an (ppm). The Air Quality Index (AQI) is
as a minister in order to devote istan until 16 December 1971 oasis of hope and love. At the age measured based on the presence of
time for party work, went to the were pre-empted by the Govern- of 16, I left home for Calcutta for PM2.5 and PM10 (PM2.5 means parti-
US under a leadership progra- ment of Pakistan... The cost of higher studies but never missed cles are 2.5 micrometres in diameter
mme and was admitted to Bos- running the Government had to the opportunity to come to
ton General Hospital for surgery. be met without the benefit of a Barisal to be with her. The hard-
This marked the beginning of an budget, new departments and ship of the journey, the sleepless
association that continued till the ministries created, foreign mis- night in the steamer from Khulna and smaller, and PM10 means they are
latter's brutal assassination in sions opened...” The list is end- to Barisal, was all forgotten the 10 micrometres and smaller), as well
1975. Islam describes lovingly, less, including the need to de- moment I reached home to my as the presence of pollutants like sul-
but with the impartiality of a sea- monetise Pakistani currency mother...” phur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and
soned bureaucrat, the sterling notes in circulation! Islam shows an amazing nitrogen dioxide. The higher the AQI
qualities of the Bangabandhu In layman's language, Islam facility in dealing with complex score of a city is, the worse its air qual-
whom he first saw in Calcutta in chronicles the process of bring- issues like ‘Realities of Division ity. Air with the AQI score above 100 is
1946. Islam went to Calcutta to ing the economy back to the rails, of Assets between Pakistan and "mildly harmful," while air with AQI
begin his college under the guidance Bangladesh’ as with emotional score above 150 is "unhealthy," above
education when of enlightened and ones like his last meeting with 200 is "very unhealthy," and above 300
Mujib was a final pragmatic leaders Sheikh Mujib. is "extremely unhealthy."
year student in like Sheikh Mujib The seamless manner in Typically, the tolerable level of
Islamia College. and Finance Minis- which the official matters and the dust per cubic metre of air is 150 mic-
Briefly, Islam also ter Tajuddin Ahm- personal issues are discussed, as rograms. But data from the Depart-
narrates what he ed. Islam's story of also the warmth and empathy ment of Environment (DoE) shows
witnessed on Direct those heady and the book exudes combine to that as of November this year, the am-
Action Day, 16 difficult days, in- make it a delectable read. There ount of dust in the air of different parts
August 1946. With cluding 'An Eyewit- are beautiful, some historically in Chattogram city averages more than
life turning uncer- ness Account of significant, photographs too. At 300 micrograms. There was a time
tain, he left Calcut- Indira-Mujib Talks around ninety and still active in when the haze of dust was visible only
ta after the an- AMITABHA on Bilateral Issues, Dhaka as the Chairman of a in the big streets, but now dust-filled
nouncement of BHATTACHARYA February, 1972', prominent financial institution, air can be found in the alleys as well.
partition. Being sel- The writer is a retired provides a nuanced Islam is among the last surviving The air is so polluted that it is some-
ected to the Civil
Service of Pakistan
IAS officer perspective of these
historical events,
members of the old guard who
had been instrumental in the
times difficult to tell the difference be-
tween dust and fog during the winter
in 1952 (qualifying simultane- interspersed with humorous inci- momentous transformation of season. School-going students and pe-
ously as a chartered accountant), dents. Heroes of the war for free- their motherland. destrians suffer the most. It is so bad
he had his run of usual postings, dom are rightly remembered, but On the killings of Ahmadias that the leaves of trees on the side of
having worked as a District Mag- rarely are those who worked in 1952 at Lahore, Sheikh Mujib the roads look grey because they are
istrate of Chittagong and for a behind the scenes in developing observed: “I know at least this covered in dust. The most dangerous
long spell in the Department of a free nation. much that no one shall be mur- particle is PM2.5. It not only causes
Finance in East Pakistan. In 1957, While Islam's respect for dered because he holds views dif- haze, but it also affects temperature.
Sheikh Mujib, as a young minis- Sheikh Mujib is understandable, ferent from mine. That certainly According to the available data, 65
ter, had set up the Film Develop- his account of the post-Mujib era was not what Islam taught and percent of the polluting substance in
ment Corporation on behalf of under Ziaur Rahman, especially such an action was tantamount Chattogram's air is dust. Environmen-
which Islam later came to Calcu- in development of the private to a crime in the religion.” talists say that dust pollution is
tta to import twelve Bengali sector, also deserves notice. Ziaur While returning from their exceeding the pollution caused by
films. He met Satyajit Ray, and was assassinated by his own first visit to the USSR, “I was brick fields. Dust pollution is mostly
the maximum price was paid for army colleagues in Chittagong. summoned by the Prime Minis- caused by development work ~ espe-
Apur Sansar ~ Rs 25,000! When rumours were rife that ter in the VIP cabin. The Prime cially during the dry season. The
After the problem started in General Ershad was planning a Minister made a very unusual authorities overseeing the develop-
1969 with Yahya Khan imposing coup and that Islam was likely to request. He asked me to sing a ment work do not adhere to the rules
Martial Law and ousting Presi- be made Finance Minister, he left Tagore song for him. With the set to control pollution ~ i.e. sprinkling
dent Ayub Khan, Islam faced the for Vienna to join the UNIDO. noise made by the four engines water regularly, for one.
worst humiliation for a civil ser- The book contains interest- as the background music, I did
vant, on trumped up charges, ing snippets from Islam's stint as my best to carry out the com-
IN MEMORIAM
that virtually ended his career in Alternate Executive Director of mand of a great man...”
Pakistan government. the World Bank during 1973-77, During a visit to Dhaka,
The forced retirement when including encounters with its while serving with the World BANIK SUNIL BHUSAN — In the
he was still in his thirties made President, Robert McNamara. Bank, Islam called on Sheikh loving memory, who left us this day
him work for the private sector Islam's long tenure at the Finan- Mujib on 7 August 1975, to take on 1997. — Debasis, Suvashis, Rina,
for two years. Interestingly, a day ce and Industry departments and leave of him. What the Prime Ila (wife), Ranjeeta (daughter-in-law).
after Bangabandhu was sworn- his qualification as a chartered Minister said in parting shocked
in, Islam was appointed as the accountant equipped him to play him, “Come to my Janaza”. He CHAKRABARTI PURABI — In fond
Finance Secretary of the new an important role as a banker in was assassinated eight days later. remembrance on her 96th birthday
Government. This is how destiny his later life. Did he have a premonition? today. — Relatives, friends.
editor@thestatesman.com
witness two different dispensa-
tions. MISUSE THREAT
According to the United
the presidency. Nations, one per cent of the popu- SIR, Apropos the Election Amendment bill 2021 which seeks to link
About Chile, one remembers lation owns 25 per cent of the Aadhaar details with the voter card to identify bogus voters, the argu-
the last liberal President and Marx- country’s wealth, reflecting high ment does not hold good as votes are cast by citizens while Aadhaar is
ist Salvadore Allende who was income gaps. President Boric has not proof of citizenship but of residentship.
overthrown in a coup and commit- the responsibility to expand eco- Moreover, Aadhaar is not free from wrong enrolment issues, so
ted suicide. nomic and social rights of the vast how would you identify bogus voters? It also fails test of proportional-
Then came President Augusto populace and render justice and ity where not giving valid reasons for delinking Aadhaar details with
Pinochet who ruled till 1990; semblance of equality and stability. voter ID card might lead to disenfranchisement. It would cause incon-
reports said about 3000 people Outgoing President Sebastian Pin- venience to valid voters who are unable to present their Aadhaar
were either murdered or disap- era has said that Boric will deliver details. The continuous threat of misuse of data is always there.
peared during the iron-fisted the best of himself and his defeat- Such bills need more debate, not fast and furious enactment by
regime of the dictator. Chile is the ed rival has extended his good mocking the legislative mechanism. There are other ways of ensuring
first country in Latin America to wishes. fair elections with authentic votes using, for instance, block chain
Boric must stand for all technology used in the elections of Sierra Leone in 2018.
Chileans and fulfill expectations of Yours, etc., Taruna, Mukerian, 22 December.
the youth. Though the broad front
“Approve Dignity” has commu-
nists, it may be prudent to go for a pathetic first due to the pandemic of being upholders of radical ideas,
social democratic experiment in and secondly, the impact of dep- human values and dignity, which
Chile, by giving people freedom ression on the democratic space we have lost with the advent of
and challenging inequality. Boric largely due to triumph of conserv- meaningless narratives imposed
has pledged to fight the ongoing ative ideas. There is pain every- by regimes. President-elect Boric
Covid pandemic. where and in everybody. But the must not miss the opportunity to
Results of the election in Chile youth is evergreen, vibrant, and bring on centre stage lost values of
will definitely enthuse Latin Amer- the only force that wants to change equality, freedom, fraternity and
ican people and all progressive the world for a better life on earth. justice.
forces the world over. Today, the As an optimist, my feeling is Yours, etc., Parthasarathy Sen,
situation all over the globe appears that the youth will fulfill the task New Delhi, 22 December.

50-year-old memories
SITARAM SHARMA
E
ven as Indira Gandhi was try-
ing to get a hold on domestic
matters, across the borders in
Pakistan, a major crisis was
brewing. In December 1970, Pakistan
held its first general election based
on adult franchise. In West Pakistan,
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s
Party dominated. In the east, it was
the National Awami League, led by
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Yahya
Khan, who succeeded Ayub Khan as
President and martial law adminis-
trator, had expected that Bhutto
would win the elections and that he
would continue as President. The
results were a shock to both Yahya
Khan and Bhutto. In West Pakistan,
the PPP won 68 out of 144 seats while
in East Pakistan, which had a much
larger population, the National
Awami League won 167 out of 169
seats.
East Pakistan had always been
treated as a colony by the western
part of the country. For both Bhutto
and Yahya, the prospect of a Bengali,
Mujibur Rahman, dominating Pak-
istan was unthinkable. Attempts to
work out a settlement acceptable to
West Pakistan were made but Mujib
was not willing to submit. The repres-
sion that was then unleashed on the
people of East Pakistan is well known.
Following genocide, no less than 10
million refugees crossed the border
to seek shelter in India. The majority
was Hindu but there were quite a few
Muslims, because all Bengali Mus-
lims, especially the intellectuals, stu-
dents and those in the Bengali media
were special targets of attack. They
sought shelter in West Bengal, Tripura
and Meghalaya. The number of those
killed ran into thousands.
The cost of providing shelter and
food to these refugees was a burden
that the Indian economy could ill
afford to bear. Resistance to the Pak-
istan army and its local auxiliaries,
the Razzakars, started with units of
the East Pakistani army deserting and
forming the core of a Mukti Bahini
(liberation army). Disturbed by these
developments, US President Richard
Nixon dispatched his secretary of
state, Henry Kissinger, to Beijing to
formally establish relations with
China. The US-Pakistan-China trian-
gular axis was emerging as a threat to
India.
To make the threat even more
explicit, the US government dis-
patched a nuclear aircraft carrier to
Omicron may be last variant of concern
BEN KRISHNA
I
t is controversial whether viruses
are alive, but – like all living
things – they do evolve. This fact
has become abundantly clear
during the pandemic, as new variants
of concern have emerged every few
months.
Some of these variants have
been better at spreading from person
to person, eventually becoming dom-
inant as they out-compete slower
versions of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that
causes Covid-19. This improved
spreading ability has been ascribed
to mutations in the spike protein –
the mushroom-shaped projections
on the surface of the virus – that allow
it to bind more strongly to ACE2
receptors. ACE2 are receptors on the
surface of our cells, such as those that
line our airways, that the virus
attaches to in order to gain entry and
start replicating.
These mutations allowed the
alpha variant, and then the delta vari-
ant, to become globally dominant.
And scientists expect the same thing
to happen with omicron.
The virus cannot, however,
improve indefinitely. The laws of bio-
chemistry mean that the virus will
eventually evolve a spike protein that
binds to ACE2 as strongly as possible.
By that point, the ability of SARS-
CoV-2 to spread between people will
not be limited by how well the virus
CROSSWORD
Writer first on extreme left Atop T 72 Tank near Jessore
Cantonment as member of first press party
the Bay of Bengal. India’s response
was quick. On 17 August 1971, the
Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friend-
ship and Cooperation was signed. On
3 December, Pakistan made a pre-
emptive strike on India’s air bases in
an unsuccessful attempt to cripple
India’s defence capability. The Indi-
an army, having tasted the bitter fruit
of defeat at the hands of the Chinese
and learnt its lesson, was able to trap
the bulk of the Pakistani forces in
Bangladesh and force them to sur-
render. On 16 December, the Pak-
istani forces surrendered in Dhaka to
Lt General Jagjit Singh Arora, Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Eastern Com-
mand.
Bangladesh, a new state, was
born. Indira Gandhi’s handling of the
situation and her courage in taking
on Pakistan, despite threats from the
US and China, were hailed by her
own party and the opposition alike.
Within her own party there was effu-
sive praise for the Prime Minister and
even Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the senior
most leader of the opposition party,
the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and a Rajya
Sabha member, spoke of her as
‘Durga’, the all-conquering goddess
of Hindu mythology.
can stick to the outside of cells. Other
factors will limit virus spread, such as
how fast the genome can replicate,
how quickly the virus can enter the
cell via the protein TMPRSS2, and
how much virus an infected human
can shed. In principle, all of these
should eventually evolve to peak per-
formance.
Has omicron reached this peak?
There is no good reason to assume
that it has. So-called “gain-of-func-
tion” studies, which look at what
mutations SARS-CoV-2 needs to
spread more efficiently, have identi-
fied plenty of mutations that improve
the spike protein’s ability to bind to
human cells that omicron doesn’t
have. Besides this, improvements
could be made to other aspects of the
virus life cycle, such as genome repli-
cation, as I mentioned above.
But let’s assume for a second that
omicron is the variant with max-
imised spreading ability. Perhaps
omicron won’t get any better because
it is limited by genetic probability. In
the same way that zebras haven’t
evolved eyes at the back of their
heads to avoid predators, it’s plausi-
ble that SARS-CoV-2 can’t pick up the
mutations required to reach a theo-
retical maximum as those mutations
need to occur all at once, and that is
just too unlikely to emerge. Even in a
scenario where omicron is the best
variant at spreading between
humans, new variants will emerge to
YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required. (By arrangement with The Independent, London)
I recall a story of Indira Gandhi
and the war, of which I was a silent
observer. I was a member of a delega-
tion of the Small Newspapers Asso-
ciation, which had an appointment
with the Prime Minister in the
evening of 3 December 1971 at Raj
Bhawan in Calcutta. West Bengal gov-
ernor Shanti Swarup Dhawan, a for-
mer judge of the Allahabad High
Court, was briefing us on what points
needed to be mentioned when we
met the Prime Minister. Governor
Dhawan was a progressive person
and sympathetic to our cause and
would have continued talking had
not Indira Gandhi’s press adviser, H.Y.
Sharda Prasad, called us in. During
our meeting with the Prime Minister,
a slip was passed to her. She read it,
did not react, and continued in her
affable style. We later learnt that the
note contained the news that Pak-
istan had started a war by attacking
five of India’s main air bases!
Before we went in to meet her,
we were warned that the Prime Min-
ister had only a few minutes for us.
As soon as the introductions were
over she asked, ‘If you do not mind,
can I sit in a relaxed manner?’ She
was in a very relaxed and friendly
handle the human immune system.
After infection with any virus, the
immune system adapts by making
antibodies that stick to the virus to
neutralise it, and killer T-cells that
destroy infected cells. Antibodies are
pieces of protein that stick to the spe-
cific molecular shape of the virus,
and killer T-cells recognise infected
cells via molecular shape as well.
SARS-CoV-2 can therefore evade the
immune system by mutating suffi-
ciently that its molecular shape
changes beyond the immune sys-
tem’s recognition.
This is why omicron is so appar-
ently successful at infecting people
with previous immunity, either from
vaccines or infections with other vari-
ants – the mutations that allow the
spike to bind to ACE2 more strongly
also reduce the ability of antibodies
to bind to the virus and neutralise it.
Pfizer’s data suggests that T-cells
should respond similarly to omicron
ACROSS
1 Moved by (hearing)
SOLUTION FOR 18 DECEMBER
7 Timely song about a
8 Staff claim changes,
10 Requires river to pass
11 Backtracking, English
14 Washer programme,
15 Agrees those French
mood and seemed in no hurry. Shar-
da Prasad was also present. I remem-
ber asking her, ‘How do you propose
to implement your progressive and
socialist programmes with a bureau-
cracy so deeply entrenched against
such policies?’ She gave a very
straightforward and direct answer, ‘All
will have to change and will change.
For this I need your support.’ She was
obviously disappointed with big
newspapers and wanted to encour-
age the small ones.
Subinoy Das, a press photogra-
pher friend who was with us, wanted
to be photographed with her. She
agreed, saying, ‘Normally I have a
photograph with pressmen once a
year on my birthday but let it be.’ She
then enquired who would take the
photograph and I offered to do the
honours. Subinoy, a very old friend,
preserves the photograph with great
pride. All this was taking place while
she was actually internalizing the
news that India was under military
attack from Pakistan. I have often
wondered with amazement about the
ability of the lady to deal with such a
grave situation with such equanimity,
as she posed for a group photograph
with us. Indira Gandhi flew back that
night. The Pakistan air force was air-
borne and there was a danger that
the Prime Minister’s plane, if identi-
fied, could be shot down. It is report-
ed that on landing she told her secre-
tary P.N. Dhar that she had not been
sure of reaching Delhi.
The report of our meeting was
published in Pupul Jayakar’s 1992
biography of Indira Gandhi: ‘Indira
was in Calcutta at the time. She had
addressed a public meeting in the
evening and was later on present at a
gathering of writers, artists and liter-
ary personalities. Frantic efforts were
made to contact her. It took two
hours to locate the Prime Minister
and give her the message. Her
demeanor did not alter and she did
not immediately react or end the
meeting.’
I was involved, albeit in a small
way, with the post-war rehabilitation
effort. Along with some friends, I had
gone to the Indo-East Pakistan border
at Benapole on two occasions by
local train from the Sealdah station,
to hand over support materials to the
Eastern Pakistan Rifles soldiers or the
Mukti Bahini, as it was known. I met
senior journalist Barun Sengupta at
Benapole, whose dispatches from the
border in the Ananda Bazar Patrika
were very popular. I remember pub-
as to previous variants, which aligns
with the observation that omicron
has a lower fatality rate in South
Africa, where most people have
immunity.
Importantly for humanity, past
exposure still seems to protect
against severe disease and death,
leaving us with a “compromise”
where the virus can replicate and
reinfect, but we do not get as severely
sick as the first time.
Herein lies the most probable
future for this virus. Even if it behaves
like a professional gamer and eventu-
ally maxes out all its stats, there is no
reason to think that it won’t be con-
trolled and cleared by the immune
system. The mutations that improve
its spreading ability do not greatly
increase deaths. This maxed-out virus
would then simply mutate randomly,
changing enough over time to
become unrecognisable to the
immune system’s adapted defences,
18 More substantial
volume? More rapid,
but not loud (6)
18 15, (one who) 10
19 No power in
23 (takes in) 6 17 –
profundity – one
now? (9,3)
instead makes
lot of cake (5)
conclusion (5)
22 Zero money
restricting University
in disputatious style
lecturer’s wealth (8)
(9)
23 Belief is held by the
through grottoes (6)
opposition? (6)
25 A new church in a
valley – location of
are ready to
mountain tragedy?
impound small, small
(9)
pieces (8)
27 British actor is
keeping working
with movable energy
after bit of resting
control (5)
(5)
28 Came up about
may imprison that
man (6)
promotion that’s
simply balanced (4-8)
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021
lishing a photograph of a receipt by
the Eastern Pakistan Rifles acknowl-
edging our material, in Jan Sansar.
I was also a member of the first
press party to visit the border after
the liberation of Bangladesh. Escort-
ed by the Eastern Command, we left
Calcutta early on 19 December, three
days after the surrender of the Pak-
istani forces. Our first stop was the
Jessore cantonment where 93,000
Pakistani prisoners of war were
detained. I remember they were eat-
ing bananas and listening to transis-
tors. We also went to the Khulna port,
which had been devastated by the
Indian navy. On the way we saw
many bodies of Pakistani soldiers.
Passing by were vehicles carrying
Indian soldiers being wildly cheered
by the Bangladeshis. I also saw local
people carrying the heads of Pakista-
nis on rickshaws. We got ourselves
photographed atop a T-72 Indian
tank that was the mainstay of India’s
artillery in the Indo-Pak war of 1971.
It was an unforgettable journey
and brings back many memories.
Jiban Banerjee of the Bengali daily
Satyajug was with us as we walked
the streets of Jessore, which were full
of enthusiastic, cheering crowds
shouting, ‘Sikh Sena Zindabad’ (Long
live the soldiers; the Sikh regiment of
the Indian army had been deployed
there); ‘Joy Bangla’ and ‘Joy Mukti
Bahini’. On the day of victory, 16
December, Calcutta went berserk
with jubilation. Shouts of ‘Joy Bangla’
filled the air, throughout the night.
Huge processions came out on the
street, disregarding the black-out.
The sight of unknown people con-
gratulating and embracing each other
is etched in the memory.
It is often said that victory does
not spare the victor. Hardly a year had
passed since the war victory and the
triumph of the Congress in the 1971
polls - including in West Bengal –
before widespread social and eco-
nomic discontent rapidly engulfed
the country. Before examining the
consequences of that discontent, it is
necessary to understand the extent
of the victory scored by Indira Gandhi
in the elections. Without this massive
victory she could not have had the
confidence to take the bold decision
that she did over aiding the dismem-
berment of Pakistan and the forma-
tion of Bangladesh.
These are edited excerpts from ‘West Bengal:
Changing Colours, Changing Challenges’ by
Sitaram Sharma published by Rupa
Publication, New Delhi.
allowing waves of reinfection.
We might have Covid season each
winter in the same way we have flu
season now. Influenza viruses can also
have a similar pattern of mutation
over time, known as “antigenic drift”,
leading to reinfections. Each year’s
new flu viruses are not necessarily bet-
ter than last year’s, just sufficiently dif-
ferent. Perhaps the best evidence for
this eventuality for SARS-CoV-2 is that
229E, a coronavirus that causes the
common cold, does this already.
Omicron will therefore not be
the final variant, but it may be the
final variant of concern. If we are
lucky, and the course of this pandem-
ic is hard to predict, SARS-CoV-2 will
probably become an endemic virus
that slowly mutates over time.
The disease might very likely be
mild as some past exposure creates
immunity that reduces the likelihood
of hospitalisation and death. Most
people will get infected the first time
as a child, which could occur before
or after a vaccine, and subsequent
reinfections will barely be noticed.
Only a small group of scientists will
track SARS-CoV-2’s genetic changes
over time, and the variants of con-
cern will become a thing of the past –
at least until the next virus jumps the
species barrier.
The writer is Postdoctoral Researcher,
Immunology and Virology, University of
Cambridge. This article was published on
www.theconversation.com
NO 29127
DOWN husband about
1 Vehicle I’d taken
daughter – split’s
improvident (11)
round river, upset 13 Excellent account,
female figure (8) with documentation,
2 Woman pursuing
expensive cars has to
about movement –
vinegary stuff (6,4)
move on wheels (6-5) 16 Doctor keeping Gloria
3 Errors student has
under treatment,
avoided in small
quantities (4)
making a bloomer (8)
17 Topics? The writer is
4 Filmier oil would ruin engaged in most of
coloured glass (10) the current ones (6)
5 A lot of rubbish
picked up in total (3)
20 Furniture item up to
now reduced (4)
6 Endless sin, in that 21 Junior sky pilot
degree, will engage initially up aboard old
Rector and other
ministers (6)
plane (6)
24 List players
7 Reserve right in supported by United
company for a
(4)
philosopher (6)
9 City day out? This is
26 Everything unknown
disregarded by
the worst part (4) supporter (3)
12 Tired out with
07
100 YEARS AGO
OCCASIONAL NOTE
The Indian National Congress is meeting
at Ahmedabad under a sentence of death.
The expression is not ours, but that of Mr.
Gandhi, who, writing in Young India last
June, took pains to impress upon his fol-
lowers the vital necessity of obtaining
Swaraj by the end of the year. Certain pas-
sages in this pronouncement are certainly
prophetic. "My sanguine temperament,"
he wrote, "cannot visualise Swaraj by
August 1, next." The event has so far justi-
fied Mr. Gandhi's presentiment, or, as he
prefers to call it, his temperament. He
went on, however, to make certain defi-
nite, if sweeping statements, one of which,
as already remarked, affects the very life
and continuance of the Indian National
Congress. "By strenuous efforts," he pro-
ceeded, "it is certainly possible to estab-
lish Swaraj on the first day of October
next. It must be death to Congress if it
can't be established on or before the end
of December." The "Ideas of March," so
to say, are now very near at hand, but
Swaraj seems as distant as ever. What is
the inevitable inference? Mr. Gandhi's
prophecy in June that Swaraj would not
be attained by August 1 has been fulfilled
to the letter. Are we to assume that he was
less inspired when he predicted the down-
fall of Congress taking place, in default of
the attainment of Swaraj within one week
from today?
NEWS ITEMS
TELEPHOTOS OF
MOUNT EVEREST
Sir Francis Younghusband, lecturing at the
Forum Club, showed telephotographs of
Mount Everest at distances ranging up to
100 miles, and said only a handful of the
youngest and most fit of the climbers in
the 1922 Expedition would scale the last
2,500 feet of the summit, and they would
return the same day in consequence of
the risky altitude. He said Mr. Mallory, of
the recent expedition, had opened out a
nasty little bit at the top, but at present
the difficulties were not insuperable, as
the surface was probably thick ice into
which a clamp could be driven. The
recent expedition found that the mon-
soon clouds stopped altogether at a cer-
tain line, after which there was beautiful
sunshine. Sir Francis Younghusband
anticipated that the difficulty of obtain-
ing coolies could be overcome.
BENGAL CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE
TRUST
The second general meeting of the mem-
bers of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce
Trust will be held at the office of the
Chamber, Royal Exchange, Calcutta, on
Friday, to receive the report of the Com-
mittee of Management for the past year.
The Bengal Chamber of Commerce Trust
was founded by Mr. Shirley Tremearne
who made over to the Chamber the sum
of one lakh of rupees with which to estab-
lish it. Mr. Tremearne hoped that ulti-
mately there would be created a large
trust fund for the benefit of the European
British members of the Chamber. The
Trust might, he thought, follow more or
less the lines of the Funds of the Livery
Companies of the City of London. It
would consist, that is to say, of sums of
money given by the wealthier members
of the Chamber.
GERMANY
MUST PAY
After the final meeting of the French and
British Premiers this morning, M. Briand
stated that agreement had been reached
on practically all points. It is understood
that whatever ideas were entertained in
responsible quarters regarding the even-
tual summoning of a European financial
conference, which would include Ger-
many and Russia, they have now been
definitely abandoned. The Cannes meet-
ing will pay close attention to the eco-
nomic restoration of Europe, and there-
fore a separate conference is deemed
unnecessary. Moreover, Germany and
Russia may be consulted diplomatically
as occasion requires, while the American
ambassador, Mr. Harvey, attends officially
with a watching brief. A Havas message
from Paris says that France, Britain and
Italy only are to be represented at the
Cannes conference.
THE POLITICAL
SITUATION
As a result of the ballot held on December
21, twenty non-official resolutions have
been set down for discussion in the Leg-
islative Assembly on January 19. Nine of
these resolutions including one by Mr.
Seshagiri Iyer, relate to the present unrest
and suggest a round table conference. Rai
Sahib Lakshimi Naryan Lal will move for
the appointment of a committee to exam-
ine sections 124A, 153A and 500 of the
Indian Penal Code, and Section 108 of the
Criminal Procedure Code, and to repot in
what manner these sections should be
amended so that the rights of the State
and the public or any section or member
thereof may be safeguarded against abuse
of their power by journalists, while at the
same time protection is afforded to the
latter against unwarrantable by executive
authority.
08
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021
THUMBNAILS
EESL to install 1.6 cr more
'smart LED' streetlights:
The state-run Energy Effi-
ciency Services Ltd (EESL)is
targeting to install an addi-
tional 1.6 crore 'smart LED'
streetlights across the
nation by 2024. The EESL's
Streetlight National Pro-
gramme (SLNP) was primar-
ily rolled out into municipal-
ities or urban local bodies
of the country with an
objective to install LED
lights. IANS
Bajaj Capital: Bajaj Capital,
one of the investment ser-
vices company in India with
pan-India presence in more
than 100 cities, organised a
Next Generation Talk-show
titled 'The FINtastic Talks' in
New Delhi. Bajaj Capital
chairman & MD Sanjiv Bajaj
hosted the event giving the
business leaders of the
financial services industry
and other successful advi-
sors a platform to exchange
their experience, views and
vision on how to take the
industry to higher levels in
the coming years. SNS
MediBuddy: MediBuddy,
one of the largest digital
healthcare platforms,
recently recorded a steep
increase in queries con-
cerning weight manage-
ment and health issues per-
taining to it. The health-
care platform saw an expo-
nential increase of 73%
increase in consultations
regarding overweight
issues and a 23% increase
in consultations regarding
obesity amongst individu-
als, said a Press release. SNS
BitMEX: Crypto exchange
BitMEX announced the
launch of its token, BMEX.
New and existing BitMEX
users are immediately eligi-
ble for exclusive BMEX air-
drops; tokens will be
awarded for trading and
referral activity and will
also be given to all new Bit-
MEX users, said a Press
release statement. SNS
ITALMOPA: Pure Flour
from Europe by ITALMOPA
brings some special
delicacies for Indian
foodies ahead of
Christmas. There are many
similarities between Indian
Christmas and European
Christmas~ especially it
being the season of
feasting like the
sweetness of the treats,
the bright colours of the
decorations. SNS
PNB tie up: Punjab National
Bank has entered into Co-
Lending arrangement with
Paisalo Digital Limited and
Vedika Credit Capital Limit-
ed. With these arrange-
ments, the ultimate benefi-
ciaries under MSME and
Agriculture segment will
get the funds at an afford-
able rate considering the
lower cost of funds from
banks and greater reach of
the NBFCs, said a Press
release. SNS
ITC Master Chef partners
Havmor ice cream: ITC Mas-
ter Chef Frozen Snacks has
entered into a partnership
with Havmor Ice cream
owned by the Lotte group,
a South Korean conglomer-
ate. Around 100 mobile
carts will sell a range of 15
vegetarian frozen snacks
across Delhi-NCR, said a
Press release. SNS
Indian Oil, Adani among top
bidders for city gas licences
ASIAN NEWS INTERENATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
Indian Oil Corporation Lim-
ited and Adani Total Gas Lim-
ited, a joint venture of Adani
Group and French firm Total,
are among the top bidders to
get licences for retailing com-
pressed natural gas (CNG) and
piped cooking gas in differ-
ent cities across the country.
According to data released
by Petroleum and Natural
Gas Regulatory Board
(PNGRB), the government-run
Indian Oil Corporation has
made the bid for 53 out of 65
geographical areas while
Adani Total Gas Limited has
bid for 52 geographical areas.
PNGRB launched the 11th city
gas distribution (CGD) bid-
Global risk-on sentiment buoys
indices; PSU banks' stocks rises
Both the indices opened with an upgap and rose for the third consecutive session
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, 23 DECEMBER
P
ositive global cues
along with rising risk
taking sentiment
buoyed India's key
equity indices -- S&P BSE
Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- dur-
ing Thursday's late-hour trade
session.
Initially, both the indices
opened with an upgap and rose
for the third consecutive ses-
sion.
Globally, Asian shares were
modestly higher on Thursday
after stocks advanced on Wall
Street with encouraging reports
about the potential impact of
the Omicron variant of coro-
navirus and stronger US eco-
nomic data.
Similarly, European stock
markets had a higher but fair-
ly cautious opening on Thurs-
day, building on gains late in
India & Australia decide Petroleum Sector earned huge revenue even during pandemic
to conclude CECA soon
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
India and Australia have
decided to deepen their
engagement by concluding
a Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement
(CECA) at the earliest.
Commerce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal held
talks with his Australian
counterpart Dan Tehan to
expedite the CECA negoti-
ations.
According to a state-
ment released by the Min-
istry of Commerce and
Industry, the two leaders
held talks on 21 December
through video conference.
"The ministers appreciat-
ed the progress made in var-
ious rounds of talks between
the chief negotiators of
both sides and discussed the
way forward for an early
conclusion of the interim
agreement," the Commerce
and Industry Ministry said.
"In this regard, both the
ministers appreciated that
bilateral trade talks have
been very progressive and
Mumbai tops supply
increase in data centre
capacity in Asia-Pacific
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, 23 DECEMBER
Mumbai has recorded high-
est supply increase in data cen-
tre capacity with 24 per cent
in the Asia-Pacific region,
adding 200 megawatt (MW)
in the third quarter this year,
a new report showed on
Thursday, as data consump-
tion explodes in the country
via OTT, IoT devices and
social media.Total IT capac-
ity in Mumbai jumped from
812 MW in Q2 to 1,006 MW
in Q3, according to Interna-
tional Property Consultants
Knight Frank."Mumbai is
among the top established
data centre hubs in the APAC
region. As digital transfor-
mation accelerates amid the
4th industrial revolution,
demand for digital infra-
structure such as data centres
is certain to grow," said Shishir
Baijal, Chairman and Man-
ding round on September
17, 2021, for 65 geographical
areas (GAs) spread over 215
districts (212 complete and
3 part) in 19 States and one
Union territory covering 26
per cent of India's population
and 33 per cent of its area."This
initiative would help in cre-
ating a robust CGD infra-
structure and play a signifi-
cant role in transforming to
a gas-based economy. This
would bring an investment of
more than Rs. 80,000 crore and
generate employment," Petro-
Wednesday's session.
Consequently, at 3.15 p.m.,
the S&P BSE Sensex traded at
57,368.79 points, up 0.77 per
cent from its previous close.
Similarly, the broader 50-
scrip Nifty at the National
Stock Exchange (NSE) rose to
17,085.45 points, up 0.77 per
cent from its previous close.
"Volumes on the NSE con-
both the ministers have
decided to deepen the
engagement and directed
the officials to speed up the
negotiations to pave the
way for a comprehensive
agreement," it said.
Both the ministers also
pitched for a rules-based
international trading sys-
tem.
Recent years have seen
remarkable growth in the
t ra d i n g re l a t i o n s h i p
between India and Aus-
tralia, fuelled by the many
complementarities between
the two economies.
Two-way trade in goods
and services has grown in
value from $13.6 billion in
2007 to $24.3 billion in
2020.
In d i a a n d Au s t ra l i a
launched negotiations for
the CECA in May 2011.
There were nine rounds
of negotiations before both
countries decided to sus-
pend negotiations in Sep-
tember 2015, pending the
outcome of other multi-
lateral regional negotia-
tions.
aging Director at Knight Frank
India.
The "collocation" supply
in Mumbai has increased sig-
nificantly in the first three quar-
ters of this year, and for the
first time the city's total IT
capacity has crossed the
gigawatt mark (alongside
Shanghai and Tokyo in Asia
Pacific) in Q3 2021, said the
report, published in part-
nership with data centre
research and analytics plat-
form, DC Byte.
The report said that the
quarterly take-up of IT power
in Mumbai has increased
from 2.78 MW in Q2 2021 to
6.42 MW in Q3, the highest
quarterly take-up on record.
The Indian data centre
market currently houses an
estimated 445 MW of critical
IT capacity in the seven cities
of Mumbai, NCR, Bengaluru,
Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad
and Kolkata.
leum and Natural Gas Regu-
latory Board said in a state-
ment.Other major bidders
include Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Ltd, Hindustan
Petroleum Corporation Lim-
ited, GAIL Gas Limited, Tor-
rent Gas Private Limited and
Indraprastha Gas Limited.
In order to attract maximum
number of bidders, PNGRB
organized roadshows in India
and abroad (Dubai) during
November-December 2021.
The last date of bid submis-
sion was December 15, 2021.
This round attracted an over-
whelming response from
investors with more than 430
bids against 61 geographical
areas with no Single Bid in
these geographical areas,
PNGRB said.
India has made unprecedented progress in various
domains of technology.
tinue to be lower than normal
due to holiday mood. Advance
decline ratio remains positive,"
said Deepak Jasani, Head of
Retail Research, HDFC Secu-
rities.
"Among sectors, Realty,
Oil & Gas, Power and FMCG
have gained the most while
Telecom and Metals have lost
the most."
VIJAY THAKUR
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
Petroleum Sector continues
to be a milching-cow for the
Union Government even dur-
ing Covid-19 pandemic as it
earned Rs 4,55,069 crores for
the state exchequer when
Covid-19 was at its peak and
most of other revenue sources
dried up for the Centre as
well as State governments.
Though the Petroleum Sec-
tor as a hole could not perform
well and the production data
of crude oil and natural gases
were on the decline, the sec-
tor emerged as a huge tax
earner for the Centre and
State governments, reveals
the data of the Petroleum
Planning and Analysis Cell
(PPAC).
The PPAC data reveals that
government earned Rs 1,17,348
crore more from taxes during
2020-21 (covid-19 pandemic
time) than financial year 2019-
20. Even during the first quar-
ter of 2021-22, when the sec-
ond wave of Covid-19 was at
its peak, the total tax collec-
tion from the sector was Rs
1,52,364 crore almost half of
what government collected in
the entire fiscal year of 2014-
India's service sector export
grows by 33 per cent in 5 years
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
India’s service sector export
has registered an increase of
more than 33 % during the past
five years.
While India’s service export
was mere USD 154311 Million
in 2015-16 it touched to USD
206,090 Million in 2020-21,
said a senior officer of the Com-
merce Ministry here on Thurs-
day. He said the government has
also approved an ‘Action Plan
for Champion Sectors in Ser-
vices’ to give focused attention
to 12 identified Champion Ser-
vices Sectors. With the identi-
fication of 12 Champion Ser-
vices Sectors, Bureau of Indi-
an Standards (BIS) has set up
a dedicated Services Sector
Division Council (SSDC) to
formulate Indian Standards in
various Services Sectors, espe-
cially Champion Services Sec-
tors, the Ministry said. Present-
ly there are 84 published stan-
Popularity of OTT platforms rising
ASIAN NEWS INTERENATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
OTT platforms like Disney+
and Netflix disrupt the idea of
Indian television with their
extensive offerings. Today,
OTT platforms have changed
the way India views enter-
tainment .
The modern-day features
of these OTT platforms have
shaken the supreme Indian
television.
Entering one of the top
economies and high popula-
tion lands like India, OTT plat-
forms continue to transform
entertainment scenarios.Today,
typical TV series that run for
years are being replaced by
short series like Netflix's Money
Heist, Squid Games, and more.
The Indian audience now
realizes the value of quality over
quantity- a prominent fea-
According to Gaurav Garg,
Head of Research, CapitalVia
Global Research: "Domestic
Sentiments are impacted as
the risk sentiment improved
globally after a study showed
hospital stay risk for the Omi-
cron variant of Covid-19 is
lower than the Delta strain."
"Among sectors, Realty
and PSU banks up 2 per cent
each while bank, financial
services and FMCG up by 1 per
cent each."
IPO fund raising all-time high:
Sixty three Indian corporates
raised an all-time high Rs
1.18 lakh crore through main
board IPOs in calendar 2021.
This was nearly 4.5 times
Rs 26,613 crore raised through
15 IPOs in 2020 and almost
double of the previous best year
2017 in which Rs 68,827 crore
was raised.
IPOs from new age loss-
making technology startups,
15 when Narendra Modi came
into power.
On the production per-
formance front, the Ministry
Oil Sector, however, could
not do well due to Covid-19
situation. Till December this
year, Oil companies produced
42.65 MTOE (Million metric
tonnes of oil equivalent), 19.88
MMT (Million Metric tonnes)
crude oil, and 22.77 BCM (Bil-
lion Cubic Meter) natural gas.
This year Ministry award-
ed a total of 105 exploration
blocks covering an area of
1,56,580 sq km, while 50 dis-
coveries have been mone-
tized till November this year,
dards for various services sec-
tors. “Wherever possible, the
Indian Standards are harmo-
nized with international stan-
dards for ensuring that quali-
ty of services match global
expectations,” the Ministry
said.
The 12 sector which has
been approved under the Action
plan include Information Tech-
nology & Information Tech-
nology enabled Services,
Tourism & Hospitality Services,
MedicalValue Travel, Transport
& Logistics Services, Account-
ing and Finance Services, Audio
Visual Services, Legal Services,
Communication Services, Con-
struction and Related Engi-
neering Services, Environ-
mental Services, Financial Ser-
vices and Education Services.
ture of OTT platforms. These
entertainment platforms have
penetrated the urban crowds
and are gaining popularity
among the rural population.
Reports suggest, "the OTT
market in minutes of con-
sumption in India has risen
from 181 billion to 204 billion
minutes in 2021." These sta-
tistics indicate OTT will be the
"new normal" for television.
OTT viewership scenario in
THIRU R.N. RAVI
GOVERNOR OF TAMIL NADU
strong retail participation and
huge listing gains were the key
highlights, according to Pranav
Haldea, Managing Director,
Prime Database Group.
Overall public equity
fundraising crossed the Rs 2
lakh crore mark to reach Rs
2.02 lakh crore in calendar 2021
which was higher than the pre-
vious highest amount of Rs
1.76 lakh crore in the preceding
year.
The overall response from
the public was very good. Of
the 59 IPOs for which data is
available as of now, 36 IPOs
received a mega response of
more than 10 times (of which
6 IPOs more than 100 times)
while 8 IPOs were oversub-
scribed by more than 3 times.
The balance 15 IPOs were
oversubscribed between 1 to
3 times. The year witnessed
tremendous response from
retail investors as well.
the ministry said. According
to the Ministry more than Rs
2,75,781 Crore were spent on
Hydrocarbon infrastructure
this year, it introduced Indi-
an Gas Exchange launched,
and installed a total of 83.7 Lakh
PNG (Domestic) connections
and 3532 CNG stations.
But despite Covid pan-
demic, Petroleum Ministry
kept its welfare and infra-
structure development
schemes rolling and exhibit-
ed a remarkable performance
whether it was its ethanol
and bio-diesel blending pro-
gramme, or giving hassle free
gas connections or reduction
REC gets $169.5 million for
its solar power projects
STATESMAN NEWS SERVIVE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
India’s leading rural electri-
fication public sector unit, REC
has entered into an agreement
with KfW Development Bank
here on Thursday for availing
ODA term loan of USD 169.5
million under Indo-German
Bilateral Partnership to ven-
ture into innovative solar
power generation.
The proceeds of the loan
would be deployed for part
financing of innovative Solar
PV Technology based gener-
ation projects in India at
competitive interest rates.
The MoU was in accordance
IndiaThe use of digital tech-
nology is essential in every sec-
tor, and OTT platforms offer
such versatile content.
The pandemic was also
responsible for the OTT view-
ership surge in India. The plat-
forms are mainly popular
between the 15-35 years pop-
ulation. MICA's Center for
Media and Entertainment
Studies (CMES) reports indi-
cate, "India is expected to wit-
No confidence in govt’s
ability to fathom new crypto
order: Ex-Fin Secy Garg
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
With the government once
again failing to table the (much-
expected) Cryptocurrency and
Regulation of Official Digital Cur-
rency Bill, 2021, in the Winter
Session of Parliament, former
Finance Secretary Subhash
Chandra Garg said on Thurs-
day that he had no confidence
in the ability of government to
figure out the complexities of
this new crypto phenomenon.
"I expressed serious doubts
when the government had
expressed its intent to present
the bill, about the introduction
of the crypto-assets/curren-
cies bill in the Winter Session
of Parliament. I am, therefore,
not surprised to see the present
situation where there is zero clar-
ity over what is the Bill," Garg
said.
This was the second time that
the Crypto Bill 2021 was listed
on the Parliament's agenda
but did not see the light of the
in regulatory compliance bur-
den.
The Ministry released more
than 80.5 lakh deposit free gas
connections under Pradhan
Mantri UjjwalaYojana ( PMUY)
under PMUY-II scheme
launched on August 10 this
year. Government has already
given 8 crore deposit free gas
connections to poor women
since the scheme 2016, when
the first phase of the scheme
was launched. In a bid to
develop gas infrastructure,
government has already laid
21,735 kilometers long gas
pipeline till September this
year.
with the approval granted by
the Department of Econom-
ic Affairs, Ministry of Finance,
said a senior officer of the
Power Ministry.
This was the fifth credit line
signed between REC Limited
and KfW for financing of
Power Sector Projects and
third credit line for financing
of Renewable Energy Pro-
jects, the Ministry said.
He said the REC was con-
tinuously re-shaping its poli-
cies to align with market
requirements and developing
financial solutions and mech-
anisms.
REC has been stressing to
create scalable and effective
ways of channelizing both
Private and Public invest-
ments in the Renewable Ener-
gy space. As a testament to this,
REC offers the lowest inter-
est rates to the renewable
energy sector among all the
segments being financed by
the corporation, he added.
ness an increase in the num-
ber of OTT viewers by 2023,
compared to the current 350
million consumers." This
increase projects nearly 500 mil-
lion consumers.
How Indians across every cor-
ner of the country upvoted for
OTT streamingOTT platforms
have garnered acclaim due to
their convenience and mini-
mal requirements- reliable
internet connections and a
viewing device.
However, in India, the pop-
ularity of these platforms was
not overnight. OTT platforms
like Netflix faced a difficult jour-
ney to acquire 5 million sub-
scribers. However, affordable
technology like smartphones
and cheap internet access
through service providers like
JIO made it possible for OTT
platforms to garner a rural sub-
scriber base.
day. It was also deferred during
the Budget Session of Parliament
in February this year.
Garg, a pioneer in formu-
lating policies around crypto,
headed the inter-ministerial
committee (IMC) that drafted
the cryptocurrency bill entitled
"Banning of Cryptocurrency
and Regulation of Official Dig-
ital Currency Bill, 2019".
According to him, the gov-
ernment has been buffeted by
two forces in this matter.
First, "the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), believing that cryp-
to-technology and businesses
are only in the currency busi-
ness, has been constantly ham-
mering the government to ban
the crypto-currencies and statu-
torily empower RBI to issue dig-
ital bank-notes," said Garg.
"The crypto-currency
exchanges, applying the force
from the other side, want the
government to treat crypto-
currencies as assets and statu-
torily create a regulatory mech-
anism for the same," he added.
This year government has
also expedited its ethanol
blended petrol and bio-diesel
blending programme. Oil
Marketing companies have
already procured 302.30 crore
litre of ethanol till November
this year, which has not only
saved foreign exchange but also
helped Indian ethanol indus-
try and sugar cane farmers,
claimed a senior officer of
the Petroleum Ministry
On the similar pattern,
Government has also intro-
duced Biodiesel Blending Pro-
gramme so as Used cooking
oil based Biodiesel blended
diesel could be supplied. To
further help the bio diesel
sector, government has
reduced the GST from 12% to
5% in October this year.
Towards its commitment
to reduce regulatory compli-
ance burden, the Ministry
has simplified procedures
and improve ‘Ease of Doing
Business’ in the Petroleum &
Natural Gas sector. In the
special campaign launched by
the Government in the year
2021, a total number of 276
compliances were reduced
and procedures simplified,
the Ministry claimed.
Air India wins
dispute with
passenger in
English court
NEWDELHI, 23 DECEMBER
In a significant development for
the law relating to the aviation
industry a bench of the English
Court of Appeal, headed by the
Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey
Voss, has found in favour of Air
India Ltd in a contested dispute
with a passenger after a District
Judge originally found against
them. By winning its case, Air
India has prevented a serious
blow to the international airline
industry, which is already suf-
fering from the disruption
caused by Covid-19.
Thisisalsooneofthefirstcases
where the English Courts have
been asked to determine EU law
post-Brexit. The dispute cen-
tered on the applicability of EU
compensation regulations for
a single booking, where only one
leg of the booking – the only one
within EU/UK jurisdiction –
was delayed. In this case, the third
leg of the passenger's flight
departed from Heathrow late,
resulting in delays in her final
arrival at her destination.
The Court of Appeal after a
full hearing held in favour of Air
India, stating that previous
European Court of Justice case
law reaffirmed the 'single-unit'
principle for a multiple-leg jour-
ney made under the same book-
ing. Air India successfully argued
that there was no reason why
this principle should not be
applied to this case, in circum-
stances where the Claimant's
journey originated from a non-
UK/non-EU destination.
They acknowledged the
principle of passenger protec-
tion, but this principle did not
mean that passengers should be
entitled to compensation in
every circumstance. Article 3(1)
(a) of the EU Regulation was a
territorial gateway to compen-
sation and it should not be
undermined by the principle of
passenger protection. The pas-
senger could not "have their cake
and eat it". IANS
 09
I have tested positive for Covid-19 today.
I am isolating at home with mild symptoms.
UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID
VIA TWEET NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021

Last monument for Tiananmen China puts city of 13 million in Covid-19

massacre removed in Hong Kong
Authorities have banned annual Tiananmen candlelight vigils for two consecutive years
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONG KONG, 23 DECEMBER
lockdown ahead of Winter Olympics
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING, 23 DECEMBER
out every two days to buy
household necessities, a gov-
demic might be worsening in
China will raise questions
China plunged a city of 13 mil-
ernment order said.
Other family members
about whether and how it
will manage to welcome thou-
depicts 50 torn and twisted bers of the now-defunct stu- The dismantling of the lion people into lockdown were required to stay at home, sands of athletes, officials
bodies piled on top of each dent union would wash the sculpture came days after on Thursday to stamp out an although the rule was not and journalists when the
other, was made by Danish statue to commemorate the pro-Beijing candidates scored increase in coronavirus infec- being rigorously enforced, Games open in just weeks on

A
monument at a
Hong Kong univer-
sity that was the best-
known public
remembrance of the Tianan-
men Square massacre on Chi-
nese soil was removed early
Thursday, wiping out the city’s
last place of public com-
memoration of the bloody
1989 crackdown.
For some at the Universi-
ty of Hong Kong, the move
reflected the erosion of the rel-
ative freedoms they have
enjoyed compared to main-
land China.
The 8-meter (26-foot) -
tall Pillar of Shame, which
sculptor Jens Galschioet to
symbolize the lives lost dur-
ing the military crackdown on
pro-democracy protesters in
Beijing’s Tiananmen Square
on June 4, 1989.
”They are sending a signal
to the students that it is over
with the (Hong Kong) democ-
racy movement and that it is
over with free speech in Hong
Kong,” Galschioet said of the
monument’s removal.
The university said it asked
that the sculpture, which had
been standing on its campus
for more than two decades, be
put in storage because it could
pose “legal risks.”
“No party has ever obtained
any approval from the uni-
versity to display the statue on
campus, and the university has
the right to take appropriate
actions to handle it at any
time,” it said in a statement
after its removal.
Each year on June 4, mem-
massacre. The city, together
with Macao, were the only
places on Chinese soil where
commemorations of the crack-
down were allowed.
Authorities have banned
annual Tiananmen candlelight
vigils for two consecutive
years and shut down a private
museum documenting the
crackdown.
The group that organized
the annual vigil and ran the
museum, the Hong Kong
Alliance in Support of Patri-
otic Democratic Movements
of China, has since disband-
ed, with some of its key mem-
bers behind bars.
a landslide victory in Hong
Kong legislative elections, fol-
lowing amendments to elec-
tion laws allowing the vetting
of candidates to ensure they
are “patriots” loyal to Beijing.
Hong Kong leader Carrie
Lam traveled to Beijing this
week to report on develop-
ments in the semi-
autonomous Chinese city,
where authorities have silenced
dissent following Beijing’s
imposition of a sweeping
national security law that
appeared to target much of the
pro-democracy movement
following mass protests in
2019.
tions, as the country dou- according to social media Feb. 4.
bles down on its “zero toler- posts. People who happened On the one hand, there is
ance” policy just weeks before to be staying in hotels became a tremendous amount of
it is set to host the Winter stuck. national pride and invest-
Olympics. There was no word on ment riding on the Olympics
The restrictions in the whether the new cases were and few would want a can-
northeastern city of Xi’an of the recently identified omi- cellation, postponement or
took effect at midnight cron variant that appears dramatic reimagining at this
Wednesday, with no word on more contagious and is dri- late stage.
when they might be lifted. They ving surges in many parts of On the other, Chinese
are some of the harshest since the world — or the previous authorities have adopted
China imposed a strict lock- version, delta. China has draconian measures through-
down last year on more than reported just seven omicron out the pandemic under
11 million people in and cases so far, but none in Xi’an. their policy of seeking to
around the city of Wuhan, Though the latest out- stamp out every last case —
where the coronavirus was first break is 1,000 kilometers and it’s hard to see how wel-
detected in late 2019. (about 620 miles) southwest coming so many people from
One person from each of the Olympic host city of Bei- abroad will square with that
household will be allowed jing, any sign that the pan- strategy.

Turkey, Qatar likely to jointly
operate Afghan airports
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DLEHI, 23 DECEMBER
A joint delegation comprising
Turkish and Qatari officials on
Thursday arrived in Kabul to dis-
cuss their countries' involvement
in the operation of Afghanistan's
five airports, Tolo News report-
ed.
The airports in Kabul, Balkh,
Herat, Kandahar and Khost
province will be jointly operated
by Turkey and Qatar if they
reach an agreement with the
Islamic Emirate's officials.
The Islamic Emirate's Min-
istry of Transport and Aviation
said theTaliban government will
fully focus on the country's
national interests while signing
agreements with Turkish and
Qatari companies.
"The contract will be about
the tower, ground handling
and some more technical sec-
tions," said Imamuddin Ahma-
di, a spokesman of the trans-
port ministry.
The ministry said that after
the agreement is signed, inter-
national flights will be opera-
tional for 24 hours a day in
Afghanistan, the report said.
The Kabul international air-
port was significantly dam-
aged during the evacuation
process in August.
"No serious problems exist
now, readiness has been taken
for flights, and some remain-
ing problems will be resolved
after the agreement," said Abdul
Hadi Hamdan, Director of Kabul
airport.
Meanwhile, several avia-
tion experts believe that inter-
national airlines will resume
flights with full confidence if for-
eign companies operate
Afghanistan's main airports.
"Afghanistan's airports will
meet international norms and
standards after the agreement,"
said an official, as per the report.
International and local flights
were suspended at Kabul's
international airport and across
Afghanistan after the Taliban
seized power in August.
Imran Khan fails to deliver
pandemic economic package as
promised, says Pak audit report
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
ISLAMABAD, 23 DECEMBER
Pakistan PM Imran Khan has failed to
deliver the pandemic economic stim-
ulus package as promised, as per an audit
report.
According to details shared in the Pub-
lic Accounts Committee (PAC) onWednes-
day, the Finance Ministry has released
only Rs 186 billion out of total of Rs500
billion, which are only 37 percent of the
total amount promised by the Prime Min-
ister, according to the Nation. Under PM
package, relief to daily wagers was
promised Rs 200 billion but the actual
release was only Rs 16 billion, funding
to the utilities stores was Rs 50 billion
but it got only Rs 10 billion, subsidies to
power and gas were Rs 100 billion but
the sector received only Rs 15 billion.
However, under the head of relief to
vulnerable families and panagahs was
Rs 150 billion out of which a consider-
able amount of Rs145 billion was released
by the finance ministry.
Meanwhile, the Secretary Finance
informed the PAC that a total of Rs 1240
billion were planned to be spent for coro-
na-related activities that includes Rs 365
billion non cash and Rs 875 billion cash
expenditures.
"As far as the issue related to less spend-
ing is concerned, the corona relief pack-
age was not for one financial year but it
is continuing even in current financial
year,"
"The government had provided Rs 334
billion out of its own budget as supple-
mentary grant during financial year
2019-20 while rest is being spent," he
added.
India, Maldives jointly Taiwan expects US drone deal to be
launch pilot project on finalised by March next year: Report
pre-arrival Customs ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
Data Exchange
TAIPEI, 23 DECEMBER
Taiwan is expecting the US-
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER made Sky Guardian uncrewed
drones deal to be finalised by
A pilot project on pre-arrival cargo March next year, reported
data exchange was jointly launched by local media.
India and Maldives in a virtual ceremony "A letter of offer and accep-
on Thursday under the MoU signed tance (LOA) for US-made Sky
between customs of two countries. Guardian uncrewed drones is
This marked the beginning of the elec- expected in March," Taiwan
tronic exchange of customs data News quoted Minister of
between two countries for swifter EXIM National Defence Chiu Kuo-
clearances. "Mr Vivek Johri, Chairman cheng as saying during a
CBIC & Mr Abdulla Shareef, Commis- meeting of the Legislative
sioner General, Maldives Customs Yuan's Foreign Affairs and
jointly launched Pilot on Pre-arrival Cus- National Defence Committee
toms Data Exchange in a virtual cere- on Wednesday. Taipei is also
mony marking the beginning of an elec- in talks with Washington on
tronic exchange of Customs data a deal for Paladin self-pro-
between two countries for swifter EXIM pelled howitzers.
clearances," CBIC tweeted. The US has also promised
"Electronic exchange of Customs data other weapons to Taiwan as
on the real-time basis between India M2A2T Abrams tanks, F-16V
and Maldives marks a major initiative Block 70 jets, M142 High
by leveraging technology to facilitate Mobility Artillery Rocket Sys-
trade between the two countries and tems and others.
improve compliance," CBIC said in But Taipei has so far no
another tweet. ANI clarity that when it will receive
LOA for these deals.
"The Defence Ministry
had been able to estimate
when it would receive the
Sky Guardian LOA because the
legislature had approved the
drone budget for next year,"
said Lee Shih-Chiang, head
of the Ministry of National
Defense's Department of
Strategic Planning.
Lee also said that the min-
istry received the LOA for
the field information com-
munications systems and
would move forward with
that deal.
With regard to LOA for 40
M109A6 Paladin self-pro-
pelled howitzers, the ministry
said that the deal is under dis-
cussion due to disagreements
on price and the specifications
of precision aiming parts.
However, the ministry said
that it expected a swift reso-
lution of the disagreements
and to receive the LOA for the
deal soon, according to Tai-
wan News.

Changing climate parches Afghanistan, exacerbating poverty Japan to offer free HPV vax
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL, 23 DECEMBER
Fed by rain and snowmelt
from mountains, this valley
nestled among northwest-
ern Afghanistan’s jagged peaks
was once fertile. But the cli-
mate has changed in the last
few decades, locals say, leav-
ing the earth barren and its
people struggling to survive.
Many have fled, heading to
neighboring Iran or living in
abject poverty in camps for the
displaced within Afghanistan
as repeated droughts parch the
land and shrivel pastures.
“I remember from my
childhood ... there was a lot
of snow in the winters, in
spring we had a lot of rain,”
said 53-year-old Abdul Ghani,
a local community leader in
the village of Sang-e-Atash, in
the hard-struck province of
Badghis.
“But since a few years ago
there has been drought, there
is no snow, there is much less
rain. It is not even possible to
get one bowl of water from
drainpipes to use,” he said, as
he observed the Red Crescent
Society handing out emer-
gency winter food supplies to
farmers whose crops have
completely failed.
The severe drought, now
in its second year, has dra-
matically worsened the already
desperate situation in the
country.
Battered by four decades
of war, Afghans have also had
to contend with the coron-
avirus pandemic and an econ-
omy in freefall following the
freezing of international fund-
ing after the Taliban seized
power in mid-August amid a
chaotic withdrawal of U.S.
and NATO troops.
Millions can’t feed them-
selves, and aid groups warn
of rising malnutrition and
a humanitarian catastro-
phe.
For many families in the
Sang-e-Atash area, the Red
Crescent aid is their only life-
line for the harsh winter.
The organization’s region-
al head for western
Afghanistan, Mustafa Nabikhil,
said 558 families had received
the food over three days: flour,
rice, beans, cooking oil, sugar,
salt, tea and high-calorie, vit-
amin-fortified biscuits.
Badghis’s farmers are par-
ticularly vulnerable as the
region lacks an irrigation sys-
tem, leaving them depen-
dent on the weather, Nabikhil
said.If it rains, they will eat.
If it doesn’t, they won’t. Their
desperation is palpable.
“There is no solution, we
are just destroyed,” said Ghani.
“We can’t go anywhere, to
a foreign country, we have no
money, we have nothing. In
the end we must dig our
graves and die.”
Necephor Mghendi, head
of Afghanistan Delegation of
the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, said drought is lead-
ing to “worrying food short-
ages, with around 22.8 million
people — more than 55% of
Afghanistan’s population —
experiencing high levels of
acute food shortages.”
Severe drought has affect-
to women missing jabs
ed more than 60% of the INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE as safe, with the WHO setting
country’s provinces, he said, TOKYO, 23 DECEMBER a global target for the 2020-2030
“but there is no single province period of 90 per cent of girls
not affected since some are fac- Japan's health ministry on being inoculated by age 15.
ing serious or moderate Thursday decided to provide Starting from next April, the
drought.” free vaccines against cervical free vaccines will be provid-
The previous government cancer to women who missed ed to women born between
drew up a drought risk man- a chance to get shots. April 1997 and March 2006 over
agement strategy, Mayar said, The government, in a deci- three years.The three-year
but with the change of gov- sion since reversed, stopped relief measures will include
ernment in August, every- actively promoting inocula- women beyond the age of eli-
thing has stopped. tion in 2013 following reports gibility for the free inocula-
The new deputy governor of adverse reactions. tion. In November, the min-
of Badghis, Taliban special The vaccines against the istry decided to resume active
forces fighter Mohibullah human papillomavirus (HPV), promotion of the free inoc-
Asad, is well aware of the which causes cervical can- ulation programme targeting
severity of the problem. cer, are universally recognised schoolgirls in April.

LEISURE
10 MINUTE CROSSWORD BEETLE BAILEY/Mort Walker NEED TO KNOW
HOSPITALS
� AIIMS 26588500, 26588900
� Moolchand Medcity (formerly
Hospital) 42000000 & 24-hour
Chemist Shop 42000447
� Vidyasagar Institute for Men- � SMS Inquiry Nos. 57886,
tal Health and Neuro-Sciences 54959, 5676747
26924300, 26924304
� Batra Hospital & Medical
Research Centre 29051280,
29958747
� Deen Dayal Upadhyay
25496320, 25494403
� Guru Tegh Bahadur
22586262, 22585007 � Punjab Roadways 23867842,
port 011-25671580; Terminal I-
23860626
B 25671576, Palam Road
RAILWAY INQUIRY � Rajasthan Roadways
25671579, 18001803838
General Inquiry 139 23864470
� JET AIRWAYS Flight Inquiry
� U.P. Roadways 23868709
and Reservation 39841111
� Toll Free Nos. 1800112511
� EMIRATES Flight Inquiry and
FLIGHT INQUIRY Reservation 33773377
� Air Canada Flight Inquiry
� AIR INDIA Flight Inquiry and
25656421/25656431 Reserva-
ROADWAYS INQUIRY Reservation 18001801407 tion 41528181
� ISBT (General Inquiry): � INDIGO AIRLINES New Delhi � Air France Flight Inquiry and
23868836, 23865181 City Office 43513185, Call Cen- Reservation 23466262 (City)
� Haryana Roadways 23861262 tre 09910383838,
25652294 (Airport)
� Himachal Roadways 18001803838, Reservation � Kuwait Airways Flight Inquiry
23717473, 23325320 43513186; Indigo Airlines Air- and Reservation 23354373

RED EYE/Bill Yates & Mel Casson SUDOKU

ACROSS DOWN
1 Increase in size (4) 1 Foreman (Informal) (6)
3 Shade of red (6) 2 Possessor (5)
9 Sugar and water paste 4 Call to mind (5)
(7) 5 Mimic (7)
10 Yellowish-green (5) 6 Cricket team (6)
11 Wading bird (5)
12 Church dignitary (7) 7 Sacred word (6)
13 Set up (11) 8 Condition (11)
18 Attire (7) 14 Strong cheese (7)
20 Exchange of tennis shots 15 Channel (6)
(5)
22 Flying insects (5)
23 View (7)
16 Punctual (6)
17 Young swan (6)
DADDY DAZE/John Kovaleski
24 Bicycle for two (6) 19 Result (5)
25 Small island (4) 21 Non-clergy (5)
SOLUTIONS TO YESTERDAY’S CROSSWORD irections Make a 2 to
7 letter word from the
ACROSS 12 Shield, DOWN 13 Dubai, letters in each row.
Add points of each
1 Cannes, 14 Secret, 1 Chew, 15 Costume, word, using scoring
directions at right, 7-
4 Guru (Kanga- 16 Broad 2 Nurture, 17 Alias, letter words get 50- Sudoku is a number-placing
beans, 3 Embed, 18 Ashen, point bonus. "Blanks"
roo), used as any letter puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with
7 Fear, 20 Diminish, 5 Unify, 19 Aged. have no point value. several given numbers. The
21 Urge, 6 Unhinged, All Judd’s words are
8 Bun-fight, in The Official object is to place the numbers 1
10 Underlying, 22 Gash, 9 Nares, Scrabble Players to 9 in the empty squares so
Dictionary(Merriam-
23 Indeed. 11 Charming, Webster) and OSW that no row, no column and no
Official Scrabble answer to 3x3 box contains the same
By arrangement with The Independent rabble and Scrabble Tiles are registered trademarks. All Words(Chambers).
number. The difficulty level
Figures in parentheses denote
rights in the game are owned in the U.S.A by Hasbro Inc., Judd’s solution previous
in Canada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by J.W. increases through the week.
the number of letters in the words required Spear & Sons Limited, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.
tomorrow.
10-25-12
puzzle
10
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021
WEATHER
CITY MAX(°C) MIN(°C)
SINGAPORE 29 25 H
HONG KONG 19 16 CL
TOKYO 13 6 CL
LONDON 12 7 H
DUBAI 28 17 S
SAN FRANCISCO 14
NEW YORK 12
7 H
4 H
MOSCOW -1 -3 R
S= sunny, CL= clear,
H=hazy, R= rainy...
THUMBNAILS
A homeless man smokes in
his wheelchair during an
event by the Sao Paulo
Invisible NGO, that hands
out food for the homeless
in Sao Paulo, Brazil. � AP
NZ reports 56 new cases
of Delta variant: New
Zealand reported 56 new
cases of Delta variant of
Covid-19 in the community
on Thursday, bringing the
total to 10,432 in the
country's current commu-
nity outbreak. Among the
new infections, 42 were
recorded in the largest
city of Auckland, four in
nearby Waikato, six in Bay
of Plenty, one in Taranaki,
one in Tairawhiti and two
in the Lakes district. IANS
Ethiopia reports 2,992
new Covid-19 cases:
Ethiopia has registered
2,992 new Covid-19 cases
in the past 24 hours, tak-
ing the nationwide tally to
382,371, the country's
health ministry said. The
ministry reported three
new Covid-19-related
deaths and 136 recover-
ies, bringing the national
death and recovery
counts to 6,880 and
351,304. IANS
Omicron less likely to put you in the hospital, studies say
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, 23 DECEMBER
Two new British studies pro-
vide some early hints that
the omicron variant of the
coronavirus may be milder
than the delta version.
Scientists stress that even
if the findings of these early
studies hold up, any reductions
in severity need to be weighed
against the fact omicron
spreads much faster than
delta and is more able to
evade vaccines. Sheer num-
bers of infections could still
overwhelm hospitals.
Still, the new studies
released Wednesday seem to
bolster earlier research that
suggests omicron may not
be as harmful as the delta vari-
ant, said Manuel Ascano Jr.,
a Vanderbilt University bio-
chemist who studies viruses.
Pope demands humility in new zinger-filled Christmas speech
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME, 23 DECEMBER
Pope Francis urgedVatican car-
dinals, bishops and bureau-
crats Thursday to embrace
humility this Christmas sea-
son, saying their pride, self-
interest and the “glitter of our
armor” was perverting their
spiritual lives and corrupting
the church’s mission.
As he has in the past, Fran-
cis used his annual Christmas
address to take Vatican admin-
istrators to task for their per-
ceived moral and personal fail-
ings, denouncing in particu-
lar those pride-filled clerics
who “rigidly” hide behind
Catholic Church traditions
rather than seek out the need-
iest with humility.
As they have in the past, car-
dinals and bishops sat stone-
faced as they listened to Fran-
cis lecture them in the Hall of
Blessings, which was other-
wise decked out in jolly twin-
kling Christmas trees and
poinsettias.
“The humble are those
who are concerned not sim-
Putin urges West to act quickly
to offer security guarantees
The Russian leader welcomed talks with the US that are set to start in Geneva next month
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW, 23 DECEMBER
R
ussian President
Vladimir Putin urged
the West on Thursday
to move quickly to
meet Russia’s demand for
security guarantees preclud-
ing NATO’s expansion to
Ukraine and the deployment
of the military alliance’s
weapons there.
Speaking during a
marathon annual news con-
ference, the Russian leader wel-
comed talks with the U.S.
that are set to start in Gene-
va next month, but sternly
warned that Moscow expects
the discussion to produce
quick results.
“We have clearly and pre-
cisely let them know that any
further NATO expansion east-
ward is unacceptable,” Putin
said.Last week, Moscow sub-
mitted draft security docu-
ments demanding that NATO
deny membership to Ukraine
and other former Soviet coun-
tries and roll back the alliance’s
military deployments in Cen-
tral and Eastern Europe. A key
principle of the NATO alliance
UK study makes case for AstraZeneca boosters
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
LONDON, 23 DECEMBER
A third dose of both the
AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioN-
Tech COVID-19 vaccines sig-
nificantly increased the
immune response to the omi-
cron variant, according to a
new study by University of
Oxford researchers.
The laboratory study, which
hasn’t been peer reviewed
yet, compared antibody lev-
els in blood samples from
people who received two
doses of vaccine with samples
from those who had received
a third dose.
While two doses provid-
ed much less protection
against omicron than earli-
er variants, levels of neu-
tralizing antibodies rose
sharply after a third dose, the
study found.
“In summary, neutraliza-
tion titres against omicron are
“Cautious optimism is per-
haps the best way to look at
this,” he said.An analysis from
the Imperial College London
COVID-19 response team esti-
mated hospitalization risks for
omicron cases in England,
finding people infected with
the variant are around 20% less
likely to go to the hospital at
all than those infected with the
delta variant, and 40% less like-
ly to be hospitalized for a
ply with the past but also
with the future, since they know
how to look ahead, to spread
their branches, remembering
the past with gratitude,” Fran-
cis told them. “The proud, on
the other hand, simply repeat,
grow rigid and enclose them-
selves in that repetition, feel-
ing certain about what they
know and fearful of anything
new because they cannot
control it.”
The proud who are so
inward-looking are consumed
with their own interests, the
pontiff said.
“As a consequence, they nei-
ther learn from their sins nor
are they genuinely open to for-
giveness. This is a tremendous
corruption disguised as a
good. We need to avoid it,” he
added.Since becoming pope
in 2013, Francis has used his
Christmas address to rail
against the Curia, as the Holy
See’s bureaucracy is known,
denouncing the “spiritual
Alzheimer’s” that some mem-
bers suffer and the resistance
he had encountered to his
efforts to reform and revital-
is that membership is open to
any qualifying country.
“Is it us who are putting mis-
siles near the U.S. borders?”
Putin said. “No, it’s the U.S. who
came to our home with their
missiles. They are already on
the threshold of our home. Is
it some excessive demand
not to place any offensive
systems near our home?
Moscow presented its
demand amid soaring tensions
over a Russian troop buildup
near Ukraine that has stoked
fears of a possible invasion.
U.S. President Joe Biden
warned Putin in a confer-
ence call earlier this month that
Russia will face “severe con-
boosted following a third vac-
cine dose, meaning that the
campaign to deploy booster
vaccines should add consid-
erable protection against omi-
cron infection,” the researchers
wrote.
The study also found that
unvaccinated people who
had recovered from COVID-
19 probably have “little pro-
tection from reinfection with
omicron,” though they may
have some protection against
night or more.
That analysis included all
cases of COVID-19 confirmed
by PCR tests in England in the
first half of December in which
the variant could be identified:
56,000 cases of omicron and
269,000 cases of delta.
A separate study out of
Scotland, by scientists at the
University of Edinburgh and
other experts, suggested the
risk of hospitalization was
ize the institution and the
broader Catholic Church.
Those reforms kicked into
high gear this year, and some
of the top Catholic hierarchy
bore the brunt as Francis
ordered a 10% pay cut for
cardinals, imposed a 40-euro
($45) gift cap for Holy See per-
sonnel and passed a law allow-
ing cardinals and bishops to
be criminally prosecuted by
the Vatican’s own tribunal.
On top of that, Francis
added his Christmas greetings
in the form of another pub-
If I'm in the health I'm in now,if I'm in good health,
then in fact, I would run again.
sequences” if it attacks Ukraine.
Putin previously denied
having plans to launch an
attack but has described a
NATO expansion and weapons
deployment in Ukraine as a
“red line.”
Asked Thursday if he could
provide a guarantee that Rus-
sia will not invade Ukraine,
Putin snapped in response: “It’s
you who must give us guar-
antees and give them imme-
diately, now, and not have
idle talk about it for decades.”
“How the Americans would
respond if we put our missiles
on the U.S. borders with Cana-
da or Mexico?” he exclaimed.
The U.S. and its allies have
serious illness.Christmas con-
certs and other events have
been canceled in Greece as part
of new restrictions that include
a mask requirement that
applies outdoors and in all
public areas.
Incoming travelers will
also be required to take
COVID-19 tests on the second
and fourth days after their
arrivals.
The restrictions are set to
take effect Friday and to
remain in effect at least through
Jan. 3 as Greece braces for the
expected impact of the omi-
cron variant of the coron-
avirus.
“Due to the large amount
of Christmas activity and
crowded conditions that it cre-
ates, the mandatory use of
masks is fully justified,” Health
Minister Thanos Plevris said
Thursday during a live-
streamed presentation of the
measures.
two-thirds less with omicron
than delta. But that study
pointed out that the nearly
24,000 omicron cases in Scot-
land were predominantly
among younger adults ages 20-
39. Younger people are much
less likely to develop severe
cases of COVID-19.
“This national investigation
is one of the first to show that
Omicron is less likely to result
in COVID-19 hospitalization
than Delta,” researchers wrote.
While the findings are early
observations, “they are encour-
aging,” the authors wrote.
The findings have not yet
been reviewed by other experts,
the gold standard in scientif-
ic research.
Ascano noted the studies
have limitations. For example,
the findings are specific to a
certain point in time during
a quickly changing situation
lic brow-beating ofVatican cler-
ics, who normally are treated
with the utmost deference
by their underling and the faith-
ful at large.
Francis told them to stop
hiding behind the “armor”
of their titles and to recognize
that they, like the Biblical fig-
ure of Naaman, a wealthy
and decorated general, were
lepers in need of healing.
“The story of Naaman
reminds us that Christmas is
the time when each of us
needs to find the courage to
US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
ON RE-ELECTION IN 2024
said they won’t give Russia the
kind of guarantee on Ukraine
that Putin wants. American
officials are conferring with
European allies in advance of
the Geneva talks.
The Russian leader charged
during his news conference
that theWest had “cheated, bla-
tantly swindled” Moscow by
offering verbal pledges in the
1990s not to expand NATO’s
presence east and then enlarg-
ing to incorporate former
Soviet bloc countries in Cen-
tral and Eastern Europe and
the ex-Soviet republics in the
Baltics.Poland, Hungary and
the Czech Republic joined
NATO in 1999, followed in
2004 by Bulgaria, Romania, Slo-
vakia, Slovenia and the former
Soviet republics of Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania. In sub-
sequent years, Albania, Croa-
tia, Montenegro and North
Macedonia also joined, bring-
ing NATO’s membership to 30
nations.
“It’s not us who threaten
anyone,” Putin said. “Is it us
who came to the U.S. or British
borders? No, they have come
to us, and they now say that
Ukraine will be in NATO.”
Potter jury to return Thursday for 4th day of deliberations
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NETHERLANDS, 23 DECEMBER
The jury at the trial of a sub-
urban Minneapolis police
officer who shot and killed
Black motorist Daunte Wright
was to return Thursday for a
fourth day of deliberations as
the Christmas holiday loomed.
The jury weighing Kim
Potter’s fate got the case Mon-
day following closing argu-
ments and has deliberated for
about 23 hours.
Potter, who is white, said
she meant to use her Taser on
Wright rather than her gun.
She is charged with first- and
second-degree manslaugh-
ter. If convicted of the most
serious charge, Potter, 49,
would face a sentence of
about seven years under state
guidelines, though prosecu-
tors have said they will seek
more.The judge has ordered
that the mostly white jury be
in the United Kingdom and
other countries may not fare
the same way.
Matthew Binnicker, direc-
tor of clinical virology at Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, Min-
nesota, said that in the Scot-
tish study, the percentage of
younger people was almost
twice as high for the omi-
cron group compared with the
delta group, and that “could
have biased the conclusions
to less severe outcomes caused
by omicron.” He nonetheless
said the data were interesting
and suggest omicron might
lead to less severe disease. But
he added: “It’s important to
emphasize that if omicron
has a much higher transmis-
sion rate compared to delta,
the absolute number of peo-
ple requiring hospitalization
might still increase, despite less
severe disease in most cases.”
take off our armor, discard the
trappings of our roles, our
social recognition and the
glitter of this world and adopt
the humility of Naaman,” he
said.Francis also repeated his
call for tradition-minded cler-
ics to stop living in the past,
saying their obsession with old
doctrine and liturgy con-
cealed a “spiritual worldli-
ness” that was corrupting.
“Seeking those kinds of
reassurance is the most per-
verse fruit of spiritual world-
liness, for it reveals a lack of
He accused the West of
trying to make Ukraine “anti-
Russia, constantly beefed up
with modern weapons and
brainwashing the popula-
tion.”
Russia can’t keep living in
anticipation of looming secu-
rity threats posed by possible
deployment of Western
weapons in Ukraine, Putin said.
“Should Russia live con-
stantly looking back at what’s
going on and what new
weapon systems are put there?”
he exclaimed. “We need to
think about ensuring our
security.”He argued that West-
ern weapons could encourage
hawkish forces in Ukraine to
attempt to regain control over
Russia-backed separatist
regions by force and even try
to reclaim Crimea, which Rus-
sia annexed from Ukraine in
2014.
The Russian leader claimed
that Western expressions of
concern about an alleged
Russian invasion could be a
prelude to a possible attempt
by Ukraine to launch an offen-
sive against the rebels in the
east following two botched
attempts in the past.
sequestered during deliber-
ations — meaning jurors
remain under the court’s
supervision in an undisclosed
hotel and cannot return home
until they have reached a ver-
dict or the judge has deter-
mined they can’t reach one.
However, Chu told jurors
at the start of the trial that they
would have time off on Christ-
mas Eve and over the Christ-
mas weekend. She has not indi-
cated that she would change
that plan if deliberations were
Italy meets EU recovery fund targets, govt
ready to keep supporting economy: PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME, 23 DECEMBER
Italy has achieved the targets
required to receive the funds
provided by the European
Union (EU) post-Covid recov-
ery programme, and the gov-
ernment is still ready to sup-
port the national economy in
case of a new slowdown,
Prime Minister Mario Draghi
has said.
Speaking at a traditional
year-end press conference, he
specified that "all of the 51
targets" needed for the coun-
try to qualify for the next
installment of European
funds have been met, Xinhua
news agency reported.
Italy is meant to receive
191.5 billion euros ($216.7 bil-
lion) in low-interest loans
faith, hope and love; it leads
to an inability to discern the
truth of things,” he said.
Francis this year took his
biggest step yet to rein in the
traditionalist wing of the
church, reimposing restrictions
on celebrating the old Latin
Mass that Pope Benedict XVI
had relaxed in 2007.
He intensified those restric-
tions last weekend with a new
set of rules that forbids even
the publication of Tridentine
Mass times in parish bul-
letins.Francis said the proud
who remain stuck in the past,
“enclosed in their little world,
have neither past nor future,
roots or branches, and live with
the bitter taste of a melancholy
that weighs on their hearts as
the most precious of the devil’s
potions.”
“All of us are called to
humility, because all of us
are called to remember and
to give life. We are called to find
a right relationship with our
roots and our branches. With-
out those two things, we
become sick, destined to dis-
appear,” he warned.
UK government rules out new
restrictions before Christmas
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON, 23 DECEMBER
The British government said
Thursday it won’t introduce
any new coronavirus restric-
tions until after Christmas, and
called early studies on the
severity of the omicron vari-
ant encouraging.
Health Secretary Sajid
Javid said two studies sug-
gesting omicron carries a sig-
nificantly lower risk of hos-
pitalization than the previously
dominant delta strain was
“encouraging news.” But he
said it was “not very clear
yet...by how much that risk is
reduced.”The U.K. Health
Security Agency is due to
publish new data on omicron
later Thursday. It follows two
studies, from Imperial College
London and Scottish
researchers, that found
patients with omicron were
between 20% and 68% less
likely to require hospital treat-
ment than those with delta.
Data out of South Africa,
where the variant was first
detected, have also suggest-
ed omicron might be milder
there. Scientists stress that even
if the findings of these early
studies hold up, any reduc-
tions in severity need to be
weighed against the fact omi-
cron spreads much faster
ongoing.“I think the holiday
will put pressure on them to
agree,” Joe Friedberg, a Min-
neapolis defense attorney
who is not involved in the case
but is following it, said Wednes-
day.
Jurors gave a hint Tuesday
of difficulty reaching agree-
ment, when they asked Chu
what to do if they could not
agree. She sent them back to
keep trying. The court report-
ed no questions from the jury
on Wednesday.
During closing arguments,
prosecutors accused Potter of
a “blunder of epic proportions”
in Wright’s death in an April
11 traffic stop — but said a mis-
take was no defense.
Potter’s attorneys coun-
tered that Wright, who was
attempting to get away from
officers as they sought to
handcuff him for an out-
standing warrant on a weapons
charge, created the condi-
and grants over the next six
years. This is its portion of an
806-billion-euro European
Recovery Fund provided
through the Next Genera-
tion EU scheme, which was
approved in 2020 to help
member states recover from
the pandemic.
In return, Brussels requires
all countries to implement a
package of reforms to address
specific economic or sys-
temic weaknesses and to
push digitalisation.Italy has
received a first tranche of such
funds -- about 24.9 billion
euros -- in August.
"Currently, the (European)
Commission is discussing
the signing of what is called
'the operative agreement',
which is the step that follows
the achievements of the 51
Aussie astronomers
capture black hole eruption
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
SYDNEY, 23 DECEMBER
Astronomers from Curtin
University, as part of an inter-
national team, have pro-
duced the most compre-
hensive images of the near-
est active black hole to earth.
The discovery, published
in the Nature Astronomy
journal and released to the
public on Thursday, took a
deep dive into the black hole
at the center of the galaxy Cen-
taurus A, about 12 million
light-years away.
Despite being galaxies far
away, the erupting black hole
extended across a length equal
to 16 moons placed side by side
in the night sky. However, it
is not visible to the naked
eye.The images were created
using the MurchisonWidefield
Array (MWA) telescope in
outback Western Australia,
which is able to detect and
image emitted radio waves.
"These radio waves come
from material being sucked
into the supermassive black
hole in the middle of the
than delta and is more able
to evade vaccines.
Given those factors, the
new variant could still over-
whelm health systems because
of the sheer number of infec-
tions. Confirmed coronavirus
cases in the U.K., where omi-
cron is now dominant, have
surged by almost 60% in a
week.Britain’s Conservative
government this month rein-
stated rules requiring face
masks in shops and ordered
people to show proof of vac-
cination or a negative coro-
navirus test before entering
nightclubs and other crowd-
ed venues in an attempt to
slow omicron’s spread.
Officials also urged people
to get tested regularly and
cut back on socializing. Many
in Britain have heeded that
advice, leaving entertainment
and hospitality businesses
reeling at what should be their
busiest time of the year. The
govt has offered grants and
loans to support restaurants
and other venues, but many
say it is not enough to stop them
going under.
The government is hoping
vaccine boosters will pro-
vide a bulwark against omi-
cron, as the data suggests, and
has set a goal of offering
everyone 18 and up a third shot
by the end of December.
tions that led to his own death.
Wright’s death set off angry
protests in Brooklyn Center just
as nearby Minneapolis was on
edge over Derek Chauvin’s
trial in George Floyd’s death.
Potter, who resigned two
days after Wright’s death, tes-
tified Friday that she “didn’t
want to hurt anybody” and that
she was “sorry it happened.”
Chu told jurors that the state
doesn’t have to prove Potter
tried to kill Wright.
The judge said for first-
degree manslaughter, prose-
cutors must prove that Potter
caused Wright’s death while
committing the crime of reck-
less handling of a firearm.
This means they must prove
that she committed a con-
scious or intentional act while
handling or using a firearm that
creates a substantial or unjus-
tifiable risk that she was aware
of and disregarded, and that
she endangered safety.
targets required," Draghi
explained."
The major challenge for us
is to increase our long-term
growth rate and solve the
structural weaknesses of our
economy, beginning with
geographical, gender, and
generational inequalities,"
he specified.
The prime minister
recalled the good perfor-
mance the Italian economy
has overall shown this year,
which would end with an
expected 6 percent annual
growth after a 9 percent
decline in 2020.
On the pandemic situa-
tion, he reiterated the need
to trust in the ongoing vac-
cination campaign.
Participation so far has
been high.
galaxy," said lead author on
the study Benjamin McKin-
ley from the Curtin Univer-
sity node of the Internation-
al Centre for Radio Astrono-
my Research (ICRAR).As the
black hole that possesses 55
million times the mass of
the sun erupts, it feeds on gas
and ejects material at near
light speed, which causes
"radio bubbles" to expand
outwards.
"It forms a disc around the
black hole, and as the mat-
ter gets ripped apart going
close to the black hole, pow-
erful jets form on either side
of the disc, ejecting most of
the material back out into
space, to distances of prob-
ably more than a million
light-years," said McKinley.
McKinley said this is why
the images appear brighter
in the center, as energy is dis-
sipated as particles are shot
out and settle.He said the
shape it forms, two con-
nected ovals, is likely the
result of particles being re-
accelerated by a strong mag-
netic field.

Breaking through the clutter
Here’s a list of
the Indian
series on
streaming
platforms that
made a mark
this year
SUBHASH K JHA
W
ith people being forced
indoors because of pan-
demic-induced restric-
tions, streaming plat-
forms saw huge traffic again this year.
And that is here to stay -- “over-the-
top”, or OTT content has now taken a
permanent place alongside traditional
forms of entertainment.
Given such a scenario, here’s a
personally curated list of a few engag-
ing Indian series on streaming web-
sites that stood out from the crowd in
2021.
� City of Dreams 2 (Disney+Hot-
star): Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor
and produced by Applause Entertain-
ment, this series is about power, poli-
tics and personal loss, not strictly in
that order. It retains its compelling
core even while introducing new and
interesting characters who grow as the
yawning arc of Maharashtra’s politics
opens to multiple interpretations.
Atul Kulkarni is brilliant as
“Saheb” Amey Rao Gaikwad with
Kukunoor and his co-writer Rohit
Banawilkar weaving in and out of fact
and fiction and creating a riveting
political pastiche that proves what we
already know -- absolute power cor-
rupts absolutely. One of this season’s
MELODIOUS FEST
The three-day Sabarna Roychowdhury Sangeet
Sammelan included young aspirants as well as
veteran artistes
MEENA BANERJEE
T
he Sabarna Roychowdhury
Sangeet Sammelan, spread
across three evenings, came
to a scintillating end, with a
brilliantly designed “Tabla Melody”. It
was presented by the celebrated mae-
stro and revered guru Pandit Kumar
Bose and his five senior disciples. This
conference is annually organised by
members of the renowned, music-
loving Sabarna Roychowdhury family
at their residential premises in Beha-
la, Kolkata.
To facilitate a grand finale, Pandit
Kumar Bose arrived on stage in his
characteristic regal manner, followed
by Rohen Bose, Chiranjit Mukherjee,
Arunabha Mukherjee, Dhiman Gangu-
ly and Arkadip Das. The guru, who is a
proficient pakhawaj player as well, and
intended to play on the occasion, sat
in the middle, flanked by his worthy
disciples on six pairs of tablas tuned
in different notes of raga Bhinna
Shadaj. Rohen Bose had two tablas
tuned in the lower and upper tonic,
while the rest, one after the other, sang
out the remaining notes (G-M-D-N) of
great joys was to watch the amazing
Priya Bapat essay the role of the
estranged wife to a political activist,
Mahesh Aravale (played well by Addi-
nath M Kothare).
� Bombay Begums (Netflix): Like
them or loathe them, hug them or
spurn them, the five women leave a
lasting impression. This is a series like
no other, replete with plot twists that
will keep one hooked till the end. And
when the “end” arrives, one wants to
know what these ladies will do with
their lives after viewers leave them.
The women in this universe creat-
ed by Alankrita Shrivastava stray from
a solid marriage in search of solid sex.
A recurring image in her cinema is that
of a woman lying inert under a heav-
ing, lurching man who clearly isn’t giv-
ing his partner the promised paradise.
My favourite woman of this
resplendent bunch is Amrita Subhash’s
Lily, the sex worker who wants a good
life for her son. She connives, schemes
and when anyone steps on her
dreams, she screams. What a volcanic
performance! Not only her, as a dither-
ing wife, struggling mother and self-
seeking woman, Pooja Bhatt gives her
role the kind of menopausal imperi-
ousness not seen before in Hindi cine-
ma. The ever-dependable Shahana
Goswami is bang-on, much like Aad-
hya Anand as the delightfully young
but wise narrator.
It is a series that defies the norms
of gender stereotyping but doesn’t
make a brouhaha about being “bold”.
� The Family Man Season 2 (Ama-
zon Prime Video): The new season
the raga.
While remaining firmly rooted on
their assigned swaras, the group began
their recital with a simple but tuneful
melody of a lahara, set to slow teental
and simultaneously, elaborated the
raga with a peaceful elaboration. For
that, each note was sustained by fin-
gertip-based quick and continuous
strokes on a particular note assigned to
that tabla.
After seven minutes, Pandit
Kumar Bose’s pakhawaj took an
impressive entry, and the rest revert-
ed to lahara. The majestic sound of
pakhawaj and its powerful bols added
soulful depth to the uniquely designed
presentation.
It was interspersed with the tablas’
melody-based chhandakari, which
was shared by all in turns. The perfect
coordination between them was
something to be seen and heard. The
pakhawaj, in the hands of the master,
came up with superbly crafted com-
positions and their percussion-
mnemonic-based elaboration. After 30
minutes, the laya was increased from
slow to fast teental.
Then, it was time for some rela-
escapes the proverbial “curse of the
second season” and how. Raj and D K’s
The Family Man 2 is a lean, mean,
sinewy, dramatic and topical piece of
work that shows organic growth from
season one. Though it runs into 10
episodes there is not an ounce of flab,
as the sprawling yet taut narrative
moves across a luscious labyrinth of
global terrorism and domestic warfare.
Our unlikely hero Srikant Tiwari
is still at it with his wife -- played by
the underused Priyamani-- continu-
ing to sulk and his children, Vedant
(Atharv Tiwari) and Dhriti (Ashlesha
Thakur), thinking that their father is a
bit of a fool.
This season, the action moves to
Chennai where Rajalaxmi, or Raji, and
her rebel friends are planning a mas-
sive attack. The most gripping
sequences in the narrative recur each
time Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Raji is
on screen. She is ominous in her
silences and one knows that when she
erupts, there will be hell to pay. I would
love to see a feature film based on Raji!
Manoj Bajpayee’s Srikant is a
character of immeasurable possibili-
ties. He is hopelessly naïve with his
family but devilishly sharp at work.
And his partnership with J K Talpade --
essayed by the outstanding Sharib
Hashmi -- accommodates some of the
series’ most entertaining episodes.
Super-skilled writing and an alert
narration that catches the drama even
as it falls, make this a constantly
watchable sequel with actors from
every generation pitching in with per-
formances that sweep the storytelling
forward into a sinfully winning swoop
of adventure and drama.
� Grahan (Disney+Hotstar): I was
a shocked teenager when the 1984
riots wiped away thousands of Sikhs.
Well-known politicians and even polit-
based pieces, steeped in melody. The
last five minutes were dedicated to fast
tempo in which all five got engaged in
sawal-jawab with their guru and
reached the climax with a thrilling
tihai that was divided between all the
six participants. Each played his part
with superb precision to facilitate its
pristine execution.
“Tabla Melody” was originally
conceptualised and presented at
Mahajati Sadan by the maestro Pan-
dit Biswanath Bose, late father of the
Bose Brothers (Kumar, Jayanta and
Debojyoti). In the earlier days of
their musical journey, the hugely tal-
ented trio continued with the unique
idea and gave several recitals, but
later Acharya Jayanta Bose emerged
as a versatile performer-teacher,
while Debojyoti Bose focused on
sarod. As a result, this concept was
shelved for decades. Its impressive
revival is sure to go places and win
hearts.
The fest had a well-balanced
itinerary that included young aspi-
rants as well as veteran artistes. Fol-
lowing the traditional ritual, the
opening day commenced with an
ically motivated celebrities incited
mobs to go out and take revenge
against an entire community for their
beloved Prime Minister’s assassina-
tion.
Quality conscious producer Ajay
Rai (who has invested in many a sig-
nificant cinematic project, from the
Marathi masterpiece Killa in 2014 to
the recent achievement, Fire in The
Mountains) lays bare the wounds of
1984. Directed by Ranjan Chandel, the
eight episodes have a consistent
momentum in the storytelling.
Though it moves through several time
periods, the plot never becomes a
jumble of unnerving jump-cuts as is
often the wont of serials about multi-
time passages.
The story is pronouncedly dra-
matic and that’s how it should be, con-
sidering the improbable brutality of
what transpired on those three fateful
nights. Bokaro was one of the cities to
be most harshly affected and that is
where Grahan is set. Shot on location,
Kamaljeet Negi’s camera captures the
frozen-in-time quality of those Indian
towns which have never grown up.
As the troubled protagonist,
Pavan Malhotra again reminds view-
ers why he is one of Indian cinema’s
most brilliant, underrated and under-
utilised actors. Standing frail but tall,
this aging man becomes the living
embodiment of and abiding testimony
to all the wrongs that the community
suffered. Malhotra is an actor at par
with the world’s finest acting talent.
� The Last Hour (Amazon Prime
Video): Although the plot may seem
dense and unnecessarily cryptic to
begin with, there is plenty to admire
in this series. In a cluttered market, it
dares to venture into the never-never
world of North-eastern mysticism,
thereby cracking the code of a gripping
crime thriller. The narrative moves
along at a pace that is never too urgent
but always heedful of the brisk
momentum required by the genre. The
writing by Anupama Minz and director
Amit Kumar secretes a sort of primeval
Pandit Kumar Bose with his disciples presenting Tabla Melody
invocation of Saraswati by Srina Roy.
Swami Kripakarananda, a medico
w it h th e Ra mak r is hn a Mis si on
(Varanasi), is a well-known classical
vocalist. His opening recital blessed
all with a bouquet of evening ragas
led by Bhupali.
Indrajit Bose, a dedicated police
officer, proved with his flute recital that
he can handle his official baton and
passion for music with equal ease.
With the vocal recital of Gautam Roy-
chowdhry, the first evening came to an
end.
Young vocalist Rosy Dutta opened
the second evening’s session, which
also showcased the talent of Dhiman
Chowdhury (vocal) and the dexterity
of the renowned Violin Brothers --
Debshankar and Jyotishankar. It was
they who crafted the melodic climax
to the evening. But earlier, between the
first two vocalists, Pandit Partha Bose’s
imaginative presentation on sitar stole
the show.
Perfectly suited to the mood of the
early evening hours -- the time for
homecoming and offering prayers --
Pandit Partha Bose chose to play an
elaborate alap, steeped in the devo-
tional pathos of raga Purvi Kalyan. It
was followed with skillful jod and jala,
but for a detailed gatkari, he selected
raga Kafi.
Without much ado he played the
key phrase of the raga with a few
strokes and loving meends and
revealed its charming persona within
seconds! Thus, keeping the aochar
short and sweet yet effective, he began
the gatkari in slow teental with sensi-
NEW DELHI, FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021
wisdom that could be taken as border-
line mumbo-jumbo.
Set in an imaginary North-eastern
state called Mangchen (that looks
uncannily like Sikkim), this series is a
visual treat with cinematographer
Jayesh Nair capturing the local flavours
and rituals with integrity rather than
touristic curiosity. The mountains,
meadows, lakes and streams are
omnipresent, but they never overpow-
er the characters. Till the end, it
remains a study of the afterlife as seen
through the prism of a rapidly chang-
ing social structure where the modern
and ancient are uneasy bedfellows.
As the lead character Dev, Karma
Takapa is so unconditionally convinc-
ing that he takes viewers along on his
fascinating and frightening journey.
He does most of the heavy lifting in the
plot. But Takapa is more than capable,
conveying a deep sense of hurt pride
while showing himself to be a natural
product of his culture and ethos.
Many of the roles are played by
talented actors from the North-east
who infuse a large dose of authenticity
to proceedings. Dewashish Lama as
the polio-affected college student with
a dark past and Tenzien Choden as the
spunky self-employed woman, secret-
ly in love with Dev, are worth a special
mention.
� Decoupled (Netflix): A riot of mar-
ital discord, carnival of profanities and
fiesta of frank-speak, this series is a
year-end whammy, of a kind never
seen before on Indian streaming plat-
forms.
The extremely talented R Madha-
van plays a wickedly unfiltered pulp
fiction writer who speaks his mind
even if it means offending everyone
around, including the viewers and his
none-too-impressed wife, played by
Surveen Chawla.
Manu Joseph’s writing is witty, sar-
castic and acerbic. But the series is not
everyone’s cup of tea as it’s more like
unfiltered black coffee!
The writer is a senior film
journalist based in Patna
tive support by celebrated musician
Ujjwal Bharati on tabla.
Initially, Pandit Partha Bose
played steady and tuneful theka, only
to let the melody flower into its full
beauty. Once the raga’s romantic per-
sona was finely etched, he moved
towards melody-oriented rhythmic
designs. The tabla rose to the occasion
at this juncture, and its jawabi sangat
added thrill.
For medium and fast tempos,
he chose a beautiful gat, composed
by his guruji, the late Pandit Monoj
Shankar of the Maihar Gharana.
After fast taankari, suitably replied
by the tabla, it closed with a neat
tihai. Finally, he played a brilliant
c o m p o s i t i o n o f Ba b a A l a u d d i n
Khan, the founder of Maihar Gha-
rana. It was set to another sweet
raga, Pilu.
The third and final evening began
with Sohini Singha Majumdar’s vocal
rendition, and also featured sarod
maestro Anirban Dasgupta (younger
son-disciple of the legendary Pandit
Buddhadev Dasgupta), before Pandit
Kumar Bose and his team took the
stage by storm.
The support system of the
entire fest was quite impressive with
the active and effective participa-
tion of Pandit Samar Saha, Bivash
Sanghai, Soumen Nandi, Abhishek
Chatterjee, Rupak Bhattachar ya
(tabla), Pandit Deba Prasad Dey and
Pradip Palit (harmonium) along
with several others.
The writer is a senior music critic
11
Milestone
along the
way
Beadon Street
Shubham is
celebrating its
silver jubilee with
a children’s
theatre festival at
Minerva Theatre
Samiyana
Bheem Bodh
TIRTHANKAR MITRA
I
f a week is a long time in politics,
then a quarter of a century of
eventful existence points to a pas-
sage through more years for a chil-
dren’s theatre group. The journey has
not been a long series of encores after
Beadon Street Shubham came into
being in 1996 on a November day.
Solely devoted to children’s theatre,
it operates without a specific rehearsal
room. But it marches forward undaunt-
ed with the girls and boys, who had
their first brush with theatre there,
growing up into names to dot the Ben-
gali stage and screen.
Those children mouthed their first
lines of a play at an open space at
Umesh Datta Lane in North Kolkata.
The space, which had been cleared dur-
ing the day, was lit up by a bulb in the
evening. With the night sky their
canopy, the budding actors spoke the
lines of Khirer Putul. It was their maid-
en venture.
The words of a wicked queen
together with a neglected one as well
as a talking monkey rang out loud and
clear in the narrow lane. The lively char-
acters penned by Abanindranath
Tagore became livelier when the play
was staged for a packed house at Girish
Mancha.
Thus began the journey of Bead-
on Street Shubham spurred on by the
enthusiasm of Asish Kumar Khan,
Raghunath De and Ashok Das com-
bined with the enthusiasm of the child
actors. Incidentally, Madhurima Pal
and Sourin Sett, from the first batch of
child actors, are still associated with the
group. After a stint with another the-
atre group, Pal has returned to her
roots.
Apart from rehearsing under the
night sky amid the occasional street
noises, rain turned out to be a stum-
bling block. The pack up call was
sounded whenever the skies opened.
On the other hand, the group’s elders
ran into a wall when convincing par-
ents from the locality to send their chil-
dren to learn acting in the evening.
Studies being hampered by over-
stretching their powers of concentra-
tion was the standard parental objec-
tion.
But somehow the barricade of
objection was breached. It was like
achieving what appeared to be a near
impossible task, Khan, the driving force
of the group, feels.
Later, the academic excellence of
Asmita and Anamitro Khan together
with that of Sudhir Dhara, Sett and
Abhishek Jain helped change the mind-
set of unwilling parents. The myth of a
clash between studies and theatre had
thus been rubbished.
Asish Kumar Khan, one of the
founders of the theatre group, is a crim-
inal lawyer by profession and a theatre
enthusiast by choice. He feels that
scholastic achievements have gone a
long way in negating parental objection
to joining the children’s theatre group.
For the last six years, a repertoire
has been formed comprising actors
who have grown up in the group. Some
of the children become directors them-
selves. Small wonder then that new-
comers get their mistakes quickly cor-
rected as the director recalls his/her
own slips in the initial periods of
rehearsal.
Come 29 December this year, a
clutch of plays will be staged at Minerva
Theatre to celebrate 25 years of Beadon
Street Shubham. In the three-day-long
festival, the 25-year-old group will per-
form Bharate Chai, followed by a mime
show. The next day, the opening play
will be Bheem Bodh, followed by Gob-
ardanga Naksha’s Gabbu and Chetla
Krishti Sansad’s Icchemoto.
The festival will bring down its cur-
tains with the Beadon Street repertoire’s
Cap-Char and Samiyana on the con-
cluding day.
The writer is a Special Representative, The
Statesman, Kolkata

For more updates www.thestatesman.com
Pujara confident of
series win in S Africa
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
JOHANNESBURG, 23 DECEMBER
I
ndia top-order Test bat-
ter Cheteshwar Pujara
has expressed confi-
dence that his team has
the capacity to win a series
in South Africa. He added that
his experience of touring
South Africa and Australia will
come handy in the upcom-
ing Test series, starting from
December 26 in Centurion.
Citing the past perfor-
mances of India in Australia
and England, Pujara said in
an interview to bcci.tv, "I
think having done well in
England and Australia will
make a big difference in this
squad's confidence and self-
belief that we can win over-
seas, we can win in any con-
ditions and with our bowl-
ing and batting line-up, I am
very confident that we have
the capacity to win a series
in South Africa."
Pujara felt that the current
Indian batting order can
tackle pace, bounce and lat-
eral movement on South
African pitches. "Pace and
bounce is there, lateral move-
ment is also there. Facing fast
bowlers is a big challenge
when we go out of India. I
feel that this is a much more
balanced batting lineup and
I think we will be able to han-
dle South Africa's bowling
attack. With out prepara-
tion, I am confident we will
put up a good show."
La Liga: Real beat Athletic
2-1 to end year on a high
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
BILBAO (SPAIN), 23 DECEMBER
Karim Benzema scored two
goals as Real Madrid ended
the year 2021 with a superb
away win over Athletic Bilbao,
closing out the year with a 15-
match unbeaten run.
Real flew out of the blocks
San Mamés and that result-
ed in three swift goals inside
the first 10 minutes -- two for
the visitors and one for the
hosts.
Toni Kroos fired off a
warning shot in the opening
minute but it was the next
move of the match that yield-
ed the first goal. The German's
one-touch lay-off was perfect
for Benzema, who effort-
lessly whipped the ball into
the far corner from the edge
of the box.
The league leaders knew
one was not enough and
wasted no time in doubling
their lead. Ernesto Valverde
won the ball back in the cen-
India men placed third in year-end
hockey rankings; women in 9th spot
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
LAUSANNE, 23 DECEMBER
A historic bronze medal for
the men's team and fourth
place for the women's team
at the Tokyo Olympics has
ensured India ended 2021
with their best-ever posi-
tions in four decades in the
year-end FIH rankings.
India are ranked third in
men's rankings and ninth in
women's section in the year-
end rankings revealed on
Thursday.
Besides the Tokyo
Olympics, where they won an
Olympic medal after a gap of
Printed and published by VINOD KUMAR GUPTA for THE STATESMAN LTD, Statesman House, 148 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi ��Editor: RAVINDRA KUMAR ��Executive Editor: ARYA RUDRA ��Printed at Vibha Publication Pvt Ltd, D-160 B, Sector 7, NOIDA 201301 (UP). ��The Statesman Ltd. RNB REG. No. M-8905,RNI No. 507/57
SOUTH AFRICA ARE NO PUSHOVERS
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri thinks South Africa are not
pushovers at home but believes India have got the firepower
and arsenal to match the hosts in the three-match Test series
starting from December 26 at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Shas-
tri, whose four-year stint with the Indian team ended after the
Men's T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman, said he will continue
to back the Virat Kohli-led side. The 59-year-old Shastri has been
featuring in Star Sports' 'First ka Thirst' promo ahead of the mar-
quee series, which will be broadcast on the channel.
The 33-year-old, who has-
n't scored a Test century
since January 2019 and has
got two half-centuries in
the last ten innings, thinks
that the experience of play-
ing in South Africa will keep
him in good stead. "When I
came here in 2011, Dale
Steyn and Morne Morkel
were at their peak. I visited
tre of the field and laid the
ball for Eden Hazard.
The ball flicked off a
defender and fell to Benze-
ma, the Frenchman making
no mistake as he swept it past
goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala
to complete his double in the
seventh minute.
That spurred the hosts
into life and their first shot
on goal ended up in the back
of the net.
Oihan Sancet scored a
beautiful goal, his long-range
effort flying in off the post leav-
ing Thibaut Courtois with no
chance. The game sudden-
ly opened up and Carlo
Ancelotti's side had the
chance to increase their lead
in an end-to-end spell on the
half-hour mark. Hazard cut
in from the right, making
his way into the penalty area,
and pulled the ball back for
Benzema before De Marcos
nicked it from him just when
it looked like a goal was on
the cards.
four decades, the Indian
men's hockey team also
bagged a bronze medal in the
2021 Asian Champions Tro-
phy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on
Wednesday.
Australia men and the
Netherlands women topped
the year-end rankings.
Belgium had overtaken
again in 2013 and 2017, so I
understood what is expect-
ed. With experience you
learn so many things, I feel
you start believing in your
preparation and don't need
to change too much."
"Because of my tours in
South Africa and Australia,
I know the conditions little
better than what I had seen
18 Indian referees selected in FIFA’s Int’l list for ’22
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 23 DECEMBER
As many as 18 Indian refer-
ees have been selected for the
2022 FIFA Refereeing Inter-
national Lists. The extensive
list includes officials who are
qualified to be Referees and
Assistant Referees.
Out of a total list of 18 ref-
erees, four are women (two ref-
erees and two assistant ref-
Ashes: ‘England must be brave with
bat if they wish to make turnaround’
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
MELBOURNE, 23 DECEMBER
Former Australia all-rounder
Shane Watson believes that
England have to be brave
with the bat if they wish to
make a turnaround in the
rest of the Ashes.
He added that the tourists
have not shown intent with
the bat and been defensive
with their mindset.
England are 2-0 down in
the Ashes, losing by nine
wickets in the first Test at
Brisbane followed by a crush-
ing 275-run loss in the second
Test at Adelaide.
"If England are to turn
things around in this Ashes
series their batsmen are going
to have to be braver. So far, and
especially in the second Test
in Adelaide, the intent has just
not been there. They have had
a very defensive mindset.
When you are batting at your
best, you are always looking
to score, even if someone
Australia after winning the
Olympic gold medal but a
draw and defeat to the Nether-
lands in the FIH Pro League
was enough to see the Red
Lions lose the top spot to Aus-
tralia, the team they beat in
the final in Tokyo.
Australia close the year with
2642.25 points, just ten ahead
of FIH Hockey Pro League and
Olympic champions Bel-
gium, who have 2632.12.
India sit third with 2296.04,
with the Netherlands (2234.33)
and Germany (2038.71) in
fourth and fifth positions
respectively, the FIH said in
a release on Thursday.
in the past. So, with the
experience, I know how to
prepare, what kind of shots
one needs to play and what
shots have to be avoided. You
get a little clearer with your
preparation and mindset."
Talking about the prepa-
ration since landing in the
Rainbow Nation on Decem-
ber 16, Pujara lauded the
support staff for the same.
"We have the best support
staff and most of the play-
ers have played in South
Africa in the past. It is an expe-
rienced side and we know
what is expected out of our
team. In terms of prepara-
tion, all of us are ready and
know what is expected. Most
of the teams play well in
their home conditions and
same is the case with the
South African team. They
have a very good bowling
attack and facing them has
been challenging."
The 33-year-old signed off
by saying that the Irene
Country Lodge, where the
Indian team is staying in a
bio-secure bubble, has been
the best bubble he has ever
been in. "This is the best bub-
ble I have been a part of,
where you can just move
around freely and you can get
fresh air. There is a lot of space
to go around, that helps in
your mental preparation as
you are much more relaxed
and you are in an environ-
ment where you are close to
the nature."
erees), and 14 are men (six ref-
erees and eight assistant ref-
erees). Here is the compre-
hensive list: Men Referees: Tejas
Nagvenkar, Srikrishna Coim-
batore Ramaswamy, Rowan
Arumughan, Crystal John,
Pranjal Banerjee, Venkatesh
bowls really well. The energy
that you have at the crease to
put pressure on the bowling
side is all-important," wrote
Watson in his column for The
Times on Thursday.
Watson was also sur-
prised over the batting
approach of vice-captain
Ben Stokes in the Ashes.
Coming back to the game
after a long break to take care
of mental well-being and
heal from a finger injury,
Stokes has made 34, 12, 5 and
14 with the bat. With the ball,
he has registered figures of
0/65, 3/113 and 0/24.
"What has really blown
me away is to see the defen-
sive way in which Ben Stokes
has batted. I'm gobsmacked.
It goes against everything
that he is - the person he is,
the player he is. It is obviously
a tactic because of his big back-
and-across movements to
the quick bowlers; he's just not
trying to score."
Watson thinks that lack of
Women football team pay emphasis on mental health to sharpen decision-making skills
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
KOCHI, 23 DECEMBER
Indian women football team
are leaving no stone unturned
as they prepare forward togeth-
er for the AFC Women's Asian
Cup India 2022. From technical
to tactical, and strength and
conditioning, all measures
are being taken to ensure that
the team is prepared to face
the best in Asia.
One aspect, however, goes
mostly unnoticed by the out-
side world - mental training.
The team has now stayed
together for the better part of
the year, away from families
and loved ones.
"Footballers are people who
‘Don’t let Omicron
spoil T20 fun’
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 23 DECEMBER
The Board of Control for
Cricket in India is so deter-
mined to hold the next Indi-
an Premier League at home,
rather than, say, West Asia,
it is going to tell the franchises
how it proposes to go about
its, well, business if the coro-
navirus's Omicron strain
proves as deadly as epi-
demiologists fear it could
be.
"There is a meeting
scheduled to let the own-
ers of the two new fran-
c hi ses, Luc kn ow a nd
Ahmedabad, get to know
their peers in the other out-
fits but it could turn out to
be mostly about the IPL's
emergency plans," a source
in the know of things said
today. The talks are fixed for
the near future.
"That a third wave of
coronavirus infections
touched off by Omicron has
already been spoken offi-
cially of is not ignored by the
BCCI but it is also deter-
mined to hold the next IPL
in India because it is not
considering the United Arab
Emirates as an option," the
source said, insisting on
anonymity as he was not
authorised to speak to the
Press.
Though the BCCI is fab-
ulously rich with deep pock-
ets, it minds the resultant fall
in the takings when the IPL
has to be taken abroad, it was
said.
Ramachandran
Men Assistant Referees:
Sumanta Dutta, Antony Abra-
ham, Tony Joseph Louis,Vaira-
muthu Parasuraman, Samar
Pal, Kennedy Sapam, Arun
Sasidharan Pillai, Asit Kumar
Sarkar
Women Referees: Ranjita
Devi Tekcham, Kanika Barman
Women Assistant Referees:
Uvena Fernandes, Riiohlang
Dhar.
preparation might be the rea-
son behind Stokes being away
from his usual self on-field.
"I'm racking my brain as
to why this would be his game
plan. I think it is perhaps
because he has come into the
series underdone in terms
of preparation. Maybe he's try-
ing to find his way into the
series by spending time in the
middle. But the Australian
bowlers are just dictating
play. They can bowl wherev-
er they want. He's not going
to score. At some stage he is
going to get out and without
having really made an impact
on the scoreboard," he wrote.
"When he is at his best he's
got no fear, he's taking the
bowling on no matter what the
conditions, and he has such
incredible skill that it doesn't
matter whether he's facing spin
or the quicks. The bowlers have
to bowl the perfect ball oth-
erwise he's all over it because
he's got shots all around the
ground," he said.
like open spaces, and it does
affect if you can't take a break
from it all and maybe go out
for a walk, or go for a coffee.
Giving your mind that rest is
important. In terms of general
training, we try to do differ-
ent things that help them in
that. Fun sessions certainly
help, but the simple parts of
everyday training also help
build a team. When players
help each other lift more
weights in the gym or push
each other to do the extra laps
around the pitch, it's all a
part of building the mental
aspect," said head coach
Thomas Dennerby. ANI
When the players eat, sleep
and think football all day,
‘The third wave of
coronavirus infec-
tions touched off by
Omicron has already
been spoken official-
ly of is not ignored
by the BCCI but it is
also determined to
hold the next IPL in
India because it is
not considering the
United Arab Emi-
rates as an option’
According to the source,
the board did not relish hold-
ing 2021's IPL 11 in West
Asia as it believed it could have
carried on with the tourna-
ment despite the breach in
its bio-secure bubble. A rash
of infections inside it caused
some players to pull out,
much to the BCCI's dis-
pleasure.
The source claimed con-
sistency in the board's
approach.
"The board was unflus-
tered when the coronavirus
invaded India and people
started panicking. Sourav
Ganguly, as BCCI chief, said
that the IPL would be held
on time all right. It got
de la yed b ut t h a t w a s
because of Lockdown One
" he said.
The implication is that the
IPL is more fun even behind
closed doors when it is held
at home and Omicron will not
be allowed to spoil it.
England name squad for W Indies T20Is;
Garton, Payne earn maiden call-ups
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
LONDON, 23 DECEMBER
Bowling all-rounder George
Garton and left-arm seamer
David Payne earned their
maiden call-ups as England
on Thursday announced a 16-
player squad for the five-
match T20I series against
West Indies.
The squad led by Eoin
Morgan features eleven play-
ers who participated in the
ICC Men's T20 World Cup ear-
lier this year. Paul Collingwood
will take charge as England's
stand-in head coach for the
five-match series, which is slat-
ed to be played in Barbados'
training the mind also becomes
important.
"Bubble life is hard.We were
all happy that we're doing
what we love, but sometimes
everyone needs a bit of a
break. We are literally eating,
sleeping, and thinking foot-
ball every day. That takes a toll."
said fullback of the Indian
women's football team Dal-
ima Chhibber.
To overcome such chal-
lenges, Dalima, who apart
from being a footballer, is
also a student of sports psy-
chology, had suggested a sim-
ple exercise that helped gal-
vanise the Tigresses.
"The team had gone
through a difficult phase when
NEW DELHI
FRIDAY 24 DECEMBER 2021
Postal Reg. No. DL (ND)-II/6088/2018/-19-20
NBA gears up for Christmas Day
action with 5 blockbuster games
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
MUMBAI, 23 DECEMBER
The National Basketball Asso-
ciation (NBA) have a can't-
miss slate of games prepared
for the annual Christmas
Day extravaganza.
This year's Christmas slate
promises nearly 13 hours of
back-to-back basketball
action from the top teams
across the league. The slate
of games tip-off at 10:30 PM
(December 25) with an East-
ern Conference rivalry
matchup between the Atlanta
Kensington Oval from Janu-
ary 22-30 while Marcus
Trescothick has been named
as assistant coach.
The stand-in coach for
the series explained the deci-
sion behind the selection,
citing the preparation for the
ICC Men's T20 World 2022 in
mind. "We have selected a
strong squad with some seri-
ous batting power and a bal-
anced attack as we begin
preparations ahead of the
T20 World Cup in Australia,"
said Collingwood who led
England to victory in the
2010 edition of the tourna-
ment. "The World Cup is less
than a year away and there
everybody was being affect-
ed by the monotony, and that
was reflecting on the players'
decision-making on the pitch.
So we practised this activity
that is pretty common in
sports psychology, where we
anonymously wrote down
what we liked about each
player, and then everyone
read out the favourite com-
ments about themselves,"
said Dalima Chhibber.
Winger Soumya Guguloth,
who is one of the younger play-
ers in the squad, is someone
who especially felt the good
effects of such a mental health
exercise.
"Sometimes, it gets too
much. The Asian Cup is mas-
12
Hawks and the New York
Knicks.
The Hawks and Knicks
met in the first round of the
2021 Playoffs, which saw the
Hawks triumph en route to
an Eastern Conference finals
berth.
The spirited series, which
electrified both fan bases,
could signal a new chapter
in a rivalry between two fran-
chises that have played against
each other since 1949. Christ-
mas night sees them add
more chapters to this bud-
ding rivalry.
will be increased opportunities
for the squad in the absence
of those players who are with
the Ashes squad.I have good
memories winning a World
Cup in Barbados and I'm
really looking forward to
going back there with this
squad to face a very good West
Indies who will test all aspects
of our skills," he added.
Squad: Eoin Morgan (c),
Moeen Ali, Tom Banton, Sam
Billings, Liam Dawson, George
Garton, Chris Jordan, Liam
Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood,
Tymal Mills, David Payne,
Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil
Salt, Reece Topley, James
Vince.
sive for us all, and we all want
to do well. But when you're in
a bubble for six months, it
affects you. You're always
under pressure to perform, and
when that happens, appre-
hensions creep in and you tend
to think that you can't do
things that you generally can
do. After such exercises, when
we see everyone saying such
positive things about us, it gives
us a lot of confidence to make
those split-second decisions,"
said India's winger Soumya
Guguloth.
The Indian women's foot-
ball team need to be in the right
frame of mind ahead of the AFC
Women's Asia Cup 2022 start-
ing next month.