cmyk
THE ASIAN AGE
NATION| 4
Lata Mangeshkar has recovered
from Covid-19 and pneumonia,
says Maha health minister Tope
www.asianage.com
WINDOWS
Paris Saint-Germain’s
Argentinian forward Lionel
Messi before a training session
at the Camp des Loges training
ground in Saint-Germain-en-
Laye on Sunday. — AFP
EC will meet today
to review its ban
on physical rallies
New Delhi: The Election
Commission will meet on
Monday to assess the
Covid-19 situation in the
five poll-going states and
decide on whether to con-
tinue the ban on physical
rallies.The Commission may
also decide on whether
fresh relaxations can be
extended to political parties
and candidates in holding
physical campaigning
events. Citing the rise in
Covid cases, the poll panel
had imposed a ban on phys-
ical rallies and roadshows
when it announced the poll
schedule for UP, Uttarak-
hand, Goa, Punjab and
Manipur on January 8. — PTI
BJP to fight all 60
seats in Manipur
Imphal: The BJP will contest
all the 60 seats of Manipur
Assembly and announced
its entire list of candidates
for the February-March
election on Sunday. The list
of candidates was released
at the BJP state headquar-
ters here and signed by
party national general sec-
retary Arun Singh. — PTI
Full report on Page 3
2nd dose from today
for 15-18 age group
New Delhi: Beneficiaries in
the age group of 15 to 18
years will start receiving
their second dose of Covid-
19 vaccine from Monday,
officials said. The drive to
inoculate the adolescents in
this age group had begun
on January 3. Delhi has
around 10.14 lakh beneficia-
ries in the age group. — PTI
Low-intensity blast in
busy Shillong area
Shillong: A low-intensity
blast rocked Shillong’s busy
Khydailad area on Sunday
evening, the police said. No
one was injured in the blast
that happened around 6.30
pm in the commercial hub,
it said. A large number of
casualties could have hap-
pened if it was a working
day, the police said. — PTI
COUNTERPOINT
ISSN 1352-3082
05 >
9 771352 308519
75% Indians
fully jabbed,
aim for 100%
quickly: PM
2.34L cases, 893 deaths
nationwide in 24 hours
SANJAY KAW
NEW DELHI, JAN. 30
With India achieving the
landmark of fully vacci-
nating 75 per cent of its
eligible adult popula-
tion, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on
Sunday lauded the peo-
ple’s faith in the indige-
nous vaccines against
Covid-19 and underlined
the need to accelerate
the “Har Ghar Dastak”
programme to achieve
100 per cent vaccination
coverage.
While asserting India
was fighting the new
Covid-19 wave with
“great success”, Mr
Modi said: “People
should be safe, the pace
of economic activities of
the country should be
maintained — this is the
wish of every person in
the country.”
Exactly two years ago,
on January 30, 2020,
India saw its first Covid-
19 case when a third-
year medical student
from Wuhan University
tested positive for the
deadly virus after she
returned home for the
semester holidays. Since
then, India battled three
waves of Covid-19 and its
seven mutated variants
— Alpha, Beta, Gamma,
Delta, B.1.617.1 and
B.1.617.3, AY series and
Omicron. The Delta and
Omicron variants were
the most dangerous vari-
ants, with the former
driving the Covid-19 sec-
ond wave as the latter
was behind the ongoing
third wave.
With 2,34,281 people
testing positive for
Covid-19, driven by
Omicron, in the last 24
hours, India’s total case
tally has gone over 4.10
crores. The death toll
■ Turn to Page 4
Shah: Pick BJP’s
‘Golden Goa’, not
Gandhi Parivar’s
‘TMC, AAP or NCP can’t form govt’
Ponda (Goa), Jan. 30:
Launching the BJP’s elec-
tion campaign in Goa,
Union home minister
Amit Shah on Sunday
said people of the state
need to choose between
BJP’s “golden Goa” and
Congress’ “Gandhi pari-
var ka Goa”, and asserted
that only the BJP can pro-
vide political stability for
development of the
coastal state.
Mr Shah was address-
ing an indoor public
meeting in Ponda, about
30 km from state capital
Panaji, to campaign for a
BJP candidate ahead of
the February
Assembly polls.
14
“Congress’ Gandhi pari-
var treats Goa as its
Bengal BJP leader to
push for CAA in state
RAJIB CHOWDHURI
KOLKATA, JAN. 30
Unhappy over non-imple-
mentation of the Citizen-
ship Amendment Act for
refugees in West Bengal,
Union minister of state for
shipping Santanu
Thakur, who hails from
the sizeable Matua com-
munity, will meet BJP
central leaders, including
Union home minister
Amit Shah, this week to
press for the CAA’s intro-
LONDON MONDAY 31 JANUARY 2022
Nadal makes history, wins record 21st title
Rafael Nadal celebrates as he made his-
tory on Sunday night, breaking the men’s
record for most Grand Slam singles titles,
coming back from two sets down to beat
Daniil Medvedev in an Australian Open
Corruption can’t last if duty
becomes paramount: Modi
Homage to Gandhi ■ ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti lives on at war memorial’
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JAN. 30
Days after the controver-
sy over the flames at
“Amar Jawan Jyoti” near
India Gate being
“merged” into those at the
National War Memorial
in its vicinity, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
on Sunday said that “like
the ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’,
our martyrs, their inspi-
ration and their contribu-
tion are also immortal”,
as he urged all to visit the
National War Memorial.
Also, pointing out that
“corruption hollows the
country like a termite”,
Mr Modi, in response to a
letter by a child who had
asked him why one
should wait till 2047 (100th
anniversary of India’s
Independence) to get rid
of corruption, said where
“duty is paramount, cor-
ruption cannot even
think of entering there”.
In his first Mann Ki
Baat monthly radio
tourist desti-
nation. They
come here
often. But as
for BJP, we
are fulfilling
(late Goa CM) Manohar
Parrikar’s “golden Goa”
dreams. People of Goa
need to choose between
BJP’s “golden Goa” and
Cong-ress’ “Gandhi pari-
var ka Goa”, he said.
Hitting out at the TMC,
AAP, NCP for contesting
the next month’s Goa
polls, Mr Shah said these
parties have entered the
fray just to expand their
base or get national
recognition. “These par-
ties cannot form a gov-
ernment here,” he
asserted. — PTI
duction in the state.
Bongaon’s BJP MP, who
is popular among state
unit rebels for heeding
their grievances, is also
likely to complain to the
party top brass over the
crackdown on dissidents
dropped in the last organ-
isational rejig.
Mr Thakur, before leav-
ing for New Delhi on
Sunday, held a meeting of
the All India Matua
Mahasangha.
■ More on Page 4
cmyk
WORLD| 6 DELHI AGE| 16
No threat to Ukraine, Actress Keerthy Suresh may
want mutual ties with be planning on going easy
US, says Russia minister with female-centric movies
Vol. 28 No. 344 | 16 PAGES | £1.50
■ Session begins today; Union Budget tomorrow
■ Cong wants privilege move against IT minister
Opp. to target govt on
Pegasus, Covid & jobs
AGE CORRESPONDENT
FM tables Eco Survey today,
NEW DELHI, JAN. 30
The Opposition parties
plan to corner the govern-
ment on a variety of
all eyes are on GDP forecast
issues in the Budget New Delhi, Jan. 30: The the President’s Address
Session of Parliament pre-budget Economic to both Houses.
which starts on Monday. Survey, which is tabled One of the most-
The Congress, the princi- in Parliament ahead of watched numbers in the
pal Opposition, has sent the Union Budget to pre- pre-Budget Economic
final that lasted over five and a half feelers to other Opposit- sent the state of the Survey, authored by a
hours. With the 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 ion parties to unite economy and suggest team led by the chief
win, Nadal has one more than his long- against the government policy prescriptions, economic adviser, is the
time rivals Roger Federer and Novak on some specific issues. quite often misses on the projection of the Gross
Djokovic. ■ Report on Page 8 — AP The Congress has high- GDP forecast, some- Domestic Product for
lighted issues like the times by a significant the next fiscal. The gov-
Pegasus spyware leak, the margin. This time, ernment named econo-
Chinese military incur- finance minister mist V. Anantha
sions, unemployment, the
state of the economy, the
Nirmala Sitharaman
will table the Economic
Nageswaran as the new
CEA days before the
sale of Air India and relief
for Covid-19 victims. On
Friday, Congress presi-
dent Sonia Gandhi held a
Survey in the Lok Sabha
on Monday soon after
Economic
tabling.
Survey’s
— PTI
virtual meeting with
senior party leaders of
◗ THE LATEST Pegasus during
Session.
the Budget
spyware revelations
both Houses, comprising Information technology
the Congress’ parliamen- have come as a shot in minister Ashwani
tary strategy group. the arm for the Cong Vaishnaw has already
The latest Pegasus spy- with a New York Times clarified the govern-
ware revelations have report claiming ment’s position in the last
come as a shot in the arm the spyware was sold sessions of Parliament.
for the Congress with a to India as part of Congress’ Lok Sabha
New York Times report an India-Israel deal leader Adhir Ranjan
claiming the spyware was Chowdhury wrote to
sold to India as part of an cal answers from the gov- Speaker Om Birla on
India-Israel deal. The ernment over its role and Sunday demanding that a
Congress wants categori- it will press the matter ■ Turn to Page 4
Farmers to hold ‘Betrayal Day’ today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to Mahatma Noida, Jan. 30: Alleging government on December The protest on Delhi’s
Gandhi at Rajghat in New Delhi on Sunday on the betrayal by the Centre, 9 but those remain unful- borders had started under
occasion of Martyrs’ Day, observed to mark the death Bharatiya Kisan Union filled. the banner of the
anniversary of the Father of the Nation. — PTI (BKU) leader Rakesh “A nation-wide ‘Betra- Samyukta Kisan Morcha,
Tikait on Sunday announ- yal Day’ will be observed a farmers’ collective, in
address this year, Mr “digital sculpture of ced a country-wide obser- on January 31 because of November 2020 over the
Modi also said that now Netaji has also been vance of “Betrayal Day” government’s betrayal to main demands of with-
the Republic Day func- installed at India Gate” on Monday over farm farmers. The movement drawal of three con-
tions start “from 23rd of and that “we can never issues. The national was suspended on the tentious farm laws that
January — the birth forget the way the coun- spokesperson of the influ- basis of a letter given by were introduced by the
anniversary of Netaji try welcomed this, the ential north Indian farm- the government on Dece- BJP-led Centre.
Subhas Chandra Bose — wave of joy that arose ers’ union claimed the mber 9 but those promises The farmers also
and will continue till 30th from every corner of the over-a-year-long protest have not been fulfilled,” demanded a legal guaran-
of January — Gandhiji’s country; the kind of feel- at Delhi’s borders was Mr Tikait, whose BKU is a tee for minimum support
death anniversary”. The ings expressed by every withdrawn on the basis of part of the SKM, said in a price (MSP) of crops.
PM also pointed out that a ■ Turn to Page 4 a letter of promises by the tweet in Hindi. — PTI
Key terrorist,
Cong fields
CM Channi 4 more Jaish
from 2 seats men killed in
J&K gunfights
in Punjab
New Delhi, Jan. 30:
The Congress on
AGE CORRESPONDENT
SRINAGAR, JAN. 30
Sunday released its
third list of eight can- Five militants, includ-
didates for
February 20 Punjab
the ing a top commander, of
the proscribed Jaish-e-
Assembly polls, field- Muhammad (JeM) were
ing chief minister killed in separate
Charanjit Singh encounters with the
Channi from Bhadaur security forces in twin
and Chamkaur Sahib districts of Pulwama
seats. The Congress and Budgam overnight,
also fielded former officials said here on
Patiala mayor Vishnu Sunday.
Sharma from the Security personnel near the site of the encounter with militants at Tahab area of Jammu They identified the
Patiala Assembly and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Sunday. — PTI slain JeM commander
seats against its for- as Zahid Ahmed Wani
mer leader Capt. alias Uzair and said he
North Korea test-fires most
Amarinder Singh. was one of the master-
Mr Sharma was minds behind the vari-
once considered a ous IED attacks carried
close confidant of the out across the Valley in
former chief minister. the past few years. “He
Former Union min-
ister Pawan Kumar
Bansal’s son Manish
Bansal has been
powerful missile since 2017 was a categorised terror-
ist active since May 2017
and involved in several
terror crime cases,
fielded from the Seoul, Jan. 30: North including attacks on
Barnala Assembly Korea on Sunday tested security forces and civil-
constituency. its most powerful missile ian atrocities,” a state-
The party since 2017, ramping up the ment by the Jammu and
announced
Singh Phalianwala
from the Jalabad
Mohan firepower for its record-
breaking seventh launch
this month as Seoul
Kashmir police here
said.
The officials said a
Assembly seat against
Shiromani Akali
Dal’s Sukhbir Singh
warned nuclear and long-
range tests could be next.
Pyongyang has never
Pakistani national
Kafeel Bhai alias Chotu
killed with Wani in an
Badal. test-fired this many mis- encounter in Pulwama’s
The Congress also siles in a calendar month Naira village was active
named Sukhpal Singh before and last week in the twin districts of
Bhullar as its candi- threatened to abandon a Pulwama and Shopian
date from Khem nearly five-year-long self- A television screen shows a news broadcast with a file for quite some time and
Karan and Tarsem imposed moratorium on footage of a North Korean missile test at a railway was involved in “a series
Singh Siala from testing long-range and station in Seoul on Sunday after North Korea fired a of terror crime cases”.
Attari (SC) seat, while nuclear weapons, blam- “suspected ballistic missile”. — AFP Two other militants
Satbir Singh Saini ing US “hostile” policy for killed during the clash
Balichiki will fight forcing its hand. Pyongyang’s military when tensions were last were identified as
from Nawanshahr. With peace talks with muscles despite biting at breaking point, warn- Waheed Ahmad and
From Ludhiana the US stalled, North international sanctions. ing Pyongyang could soon Inayat Ahmed. A fifth
South, the Congress Korea has doubled down South Korea said on restart nuclear and inter- man, Bilal Ahmed Khan,
has named Ishwarjot on leader Kim Jong Un's Sunday that North Korea continental missile tests. was killed in a gunfight
Singh Cheema. — PTI vow to modernise the regi- appeared to be following a — AFP with the security forces
me’s armed forces, flexing “similar pattern” to 2017, ■ More on Page 6 ■ Turn to Page 4
 CITY
THE ASIAN AGE | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022 | LONDON
SHORT TAKES
‘AirVaidya’ fumes
can help preventing
airborne infections’
New Delhi: Researchers at
Banaras Hindu University
have found that anti-viral,
anti-bacterial and anti-
inflammatory properties of
the fumes of ‘AirVaidya’
herbal incense sticks can be
effective in preventing air-
borne infections. Prepared
by AIMIL Pharmaceuticals,
‘AirVaidya’ contains phyto-
chemicals from 19 medicinal
which are known for their
potential therapeutic effects
to combat the coronavirus.
The ingredients include raal,
neem patr, vasa, ajwain,
haldi, lemongrass (lamajja-
ka), vacha, tulsi, peeli sar-
son, safed chandan, ushir,
sudh guggal, nagarmotha,
mehendi, tagar, loban,
kapoor, jigat and cardamom
husk. Dr K.R.C. Reddy, pro-
fessor in the department of
rasa shastra (ayurveda),
Institute of Medical
Sciences, BHU, who led the
research, said: “Participants
were divided into two
groups — intervention group
(150 people) and controlled
group (100 people). They
were asked to inhale
‘AirVaidya’ Herbal Dhoopa
fumes for ten minutes twice
a day, while the control
group was not given such
treatment. The results were
encouraging. Just 4 per cent
of the intervention group on
the medicinal therapy
showed Covid-like symp-
toms such as fever, cough,
cold, or no taste or smell.
On the other hand, at least
37 per cent, who were not
given such therapy, were
found to have Covid-19 like
symptoms.” — PTI
‘Incense stick project
to employ over 1,000
women workers’
New Delhi: Mysore Deep
Perfumery House (MDPH)
with its brand Zed Black, has
inked a deal with
HelpUsGreen, the pioneer in
flower recycling technology
to launch “Nature Flower”
fragrant incense sticks made
from recycled flowers. From
floral waste to fragrant sticks,
the Zed Black Nature Flower
Incense sticks are launched in
four natural fragrances,
Sandal, Mogra, Kasturi, Rose
across the country. The joint
project aims to impact the
lives of over 1,000 indige-
nous women workforce. By
using flower recycling tech-
nology and establishing a
first of a kind circular eco-
nomic model in India,
HelpUsGreen are the forerun-
ners in starting the move-
ment to clean the rivers and
the places of worship, thus
giving the future generations
a clean environment and
decrease the carbon foot-
print in the country.
City records 3,674 new Maha auto driver reunites
Covid cases, 30 deaths runaway Delhi girl with kin
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JAN. 30
Delhi logged 3,674 cases with a
positivity rate of 6.37 per cent,
while 30 more fatalities were
reported, according to data
shared by the city’s health
department on Sunday.
On Saturday, the national
capital had reported 4,483
Covid-19 cases with a positivi-
ty rate of 7.41 per cent. As
many as 28 deaths were also
reported.
According to the latest
update, the national capital’s
case count has increased to
18,27,489 and the death toll to
25,827. The number of Covid-
19 tests conducted a day ago
A worker sanitises a cinema hall ahead of its reopening in
Gurgaon on Sunday.
Schoolchildren at Rajghat on the occasion of Martyrs’ Day, observed to mark the death anniversary of Mahatma
Gandhi in New Delhi on Sunday.
Delhi civic buildings decorated
for ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’
Parks thematically decorated, martyrs’ memorials, Metro pillars beautified
New Delhi, Jan. 30:
Municipal buildings have
been decked up with the-
matic murals, Metro pil-
lars decorated with images
of various dance forms of
India, and martyrs’ memo-
rials beautified in Delhi to
mark the 75th year of
India’s Independence.
The three civic bodies in
the national capital—
North, South, and East cor-
porations—have come up
with a host of activities as
part of the ongoing ‘Azadi
ka Amrit Mahotsav’ cele-
brations.
From school buildings to
hospital structures and
parks to public round-
abouts, thematic decora-
tions have been done to
mark the occasion.
“To commemorate 75
years of progressive India
and ‘Azadi ka Amrit
Mahotsav,’ SDMC has
beautified corporation
buildings, Metro pillars,
schools, parks, and round-
abouts with murals and
other artworks,” a senior
official said.
The civic agency is mak-
ing the city more beautiful
and cleaner through
‘Swachhta’ campaigns, he
was 57,686, it said.
On Friday, Delhi had record-
ed 4,044 cases with a positivity
rate of 8.60 per cent and 25
deaths. The day before, on
Thursday, it recorded
4,291 cases with a positivity
rate of 9.56 per cent and 34
deaths.
The number of daily cases
in Delhi has been on the
decline after the record high
of 28,867 on January 13. The
city had recorded a positivity
rate of 30.6 per cent on
January 14, the highest dur-
ing the ongoing wave of the
pandemic.
It took just 10 days for daily
cases to drop below the 10,000
mark.
— PTI
◗ THE THREE civic bodies
in the national capital—
North, South, and East
corporations—have come
up with a host of activities
as part of the ongoing
‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’
celebrations.
◗ From school buildings to
hospital structures and
parks to public round-
abouts, thematic decora-
tions have been done to
mark the occasion.
said. The South Delhi
Municipal Corporation
has carried out beautifica-
tion drives in all its four
zones.
South zone has also por-
trayed the national bird,
peacock, through art on
the wall of a six-storey
building of SDMC’s House
Tax department in R.K.
Puram, the official said.
The bird has been paint-
ed on the wall measuring
70-ft in length and 26-ft in
width and is a symbol of
grace and beauty, he
added.
As part of the efforts
towards environmental
sustainability, the SDMC
Palghar (Maharashtra),
Jan. 30: A 14-year-old girl,
who ran away from her
home in New Delhi after
being pressured by her
parents to focus on studies,
was reunited with her fam-
ily here in Maharashtra
after an auto-rickshaw
driver promptly alerted
police, an official said on
Sunday.
On Saturday morning,
the auto-rickshaw driver,
Raju Karwade (35), was
waiting outside Vasai sta-
tion here for passengers
when the girl approached
him and asked if she could
get a room to stay in the
area, Manickpur police sta-
tion’s senior inspector
Bhausaheb K Aher said.
The driver, out of suspi-
cion, checked the girl’s
Cops introduce Hindi phonetic keyboard
in criminal tracking network & systems
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JAN. 30
To facilitate professional
investigation along with
data and records manage-
ment, Delhi police com-
missioner Rakesh
Asthana has introduced a
phonetic keyboard system
with Hindi voice typing
facility in the crime and
criminal tracking net-
work & systems (CCTNS)
on which all works of
investigation beginning
with lodging of FIR, writ-
ing case diaries and sub-
mitting chargesheets are
done across the country.
This has been developed
has taken various initia-
tives to overcome the chal-
lenges of waste manage-
ment so as to build a sus-
tainable country for the
next generation.
At its recently inaugurat-
ed Bharat Darshan Park, a
‘Tree of Unity’ has been
created using electric
poles, tyres, and other
scrap material. Besides, a
chariot has been made
from parts of a discarded
car’s body frame at an
upcoming Shaheedi Park.
In Najafgarh zone, Kargil
Chowk at Dwarka has been
beautified. The artefacts
have been freshly painted,
a wall of an adjacent park
has been painted in a tri-
colour theme, and boards
showing ‘Azadi ka Amrit
Mahotsav’ have been
installed, officials said.
Besides, several Metro
pillars in SDMC’s
Najafgarh zone have been
painted to portray the
dance forms of India and
its rich cultural diversity.
The Delhi Metro itself
has also marked the occa-
sion by launching a spe-
cially decorated train on
the eve of Republic Day.
The exterior of the eight-
◗ THE GIRL told the police
that she was from Pushp
Vihar in New Delhi and ran
away from her home on
Friday as her mother was
pressuring her to focus on
studies. The Palghar police
contacted the Saket police
station in Delhi, where a
case on charges of kidnap-
ping was already regis-
tered by the girl’s parents.
identity card and enquired
about her. The girl
informed him that she was
from New Delhi and had
come here alone.
The three-wheeler driver
immediately alerted a traf-
fic cop and then took the
girl to the Manickpur
police station, the official
and executed under
Special Commissioner of
Police (Technology and
Implementation) Muktesh
Chander, it is the first of
its kind system innova-
tion to have taken place in
north Indian Hindi speak-
ing states, police said.
As a pilot project, the
system has been launched
in all the police stations of
New Delhi and North dis-
tricts of the force and
shall be rolled out in all
the districts shortly, said
Chinmoy Biswal, the
spokesperson of Delhi
Police.
“With this technological
solution now investigat-
— PTI
coach special train has
been exclusively wrapped
and decked with collage of
photographs and slogans
depicting the glorious his-
tory of India’s people, cul-
ture, and achievements in
the last 75 years signifying
the spirit of ‘Atmanirbhar
Bharat,’ officials earlier
said.
In East Delhi, the area’s
civic body has recently got-
ten made thematic murals
on the walls of Swami
Dayanand Hospital, the
only municipal facility in
the region, as part of the
commemorative celebra-
tions.
Images of freedom fight-
ers like Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose,
Rani Lakshmi Bai, Bhagat
Singh, and Chandra
Shekhar Azad have been
depicted, EDMC officials
said.
Former president and
noted scientist A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam has also been
paid tribute through the
artwork on the wall of the
hospital, which also seeks
to improve the level of san-
itation for the Swachh
Survekshan 2022.
said. The girl told the
police that she was from
Pushp Vihar in New Delhi
and ran away from her
home on Friday as her
mother was pressuring her
to focus on studies, he said.
The police here contacted
the Saket police station in
Delhi, where a case on
charges of kidnapping was
already registered by the
girl’s parents.
Later, the police informed
the girl’s parents of her
whereabouts.
The girl’s parents then
took a flight and reached
Vasai where they were
reunited with their daugh-
ter late Saturday evening,
the official said. The auto-
rickshaw driver was later
felicitated at the police sta-
tion, he added. — PTI
ing officers (IOs) will be
able to speak and record
their work electronically
using phonetic keyboard,
dispensing the dependen-
cy on Hindi typists or the
compulsion to record
hindi versions in English
alphabets, bringing in
efficiency, accuracy and
transparency in investi-
gation works,” said
Biswal.
Till now, police person-
nel, especially IOs were
experiencing difficulty in
operating CCTNS in Hindi
for official works like
writing FIRs, case diaries,
final report as very few
personnel are adept in
■ ‘App designed to disturb communal harmony’
Delhi court denies bail
to Bulli Bai app creator
New Delhi, Jan. 30: A
Delhi court has dismissed
the bail application of
Niraj Bishnoi, the alleged
creator of the Bulli Bai
app, saying his offence
was not only against the
essence of womanhood
but was also designed to
disturb communal har-
mony.
Additional sessions
judge Dharmender Rana
denied the relief to the
accused on January 29,
noting that the allegations
against him were serious
in nature and the investi-
gation was at a nascent
stage.
Several complaints were
received by police stations
in the country regarding
the listing of Muslim
women for “auction” on
the ‘Bulli Bai’ mobile
application with photo-
graphs sourced without
permission and doctored.
It has happened for the
second time in less than a
year. The app appeared to
be a clone of ‘Sulli Deals,’
which triggered a similar
Man held for
cheating over
`1.75cr from
home buyers
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JAN. 30
A 47-year-old man was
arrested for cheating
more than `1.75 crores
from home buyers
allegedly on the pretext
of providing luxury
apartments in Delhi
NCR, police said on
Sunday.
Sanjeev Kumar Mavi is
a resident of southwest
Delhi’s Najafgarh. The
police had declared
`25,000 on his arrest in
connection with a 2017
case registered at
Ranhola police station.
Mavi, the mastermind
behind the racket, had
been absconding for
quite some time while
his co-accused (brother-
in-law) Pawan Bhadana
and Ravi Shukla have
already been arrested in
the case, police said,
adding a number of FIRs
were registered in Delhi
and NCR against the
gang.
According to police,
constables Mintu and
Shyam Sunder of Crime
Branch developed infor-
mation about Mavi who
was wanted in half a
dozen cases. “On
Saturday, our team
received information
that accused Mavi would
be coming to sector 134 of
Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
A trap was laid and the
accused was apprehend-
ed by them,” said
Dheeraj Kumar, Joint
Commissioner of Police
(Crime).
Mavi disclosed that he
used to work as broker
for some real estate
firms in Delhi-NCR. In
2016-17, he along with
his brother-in-law
hatched a plan to dupe
home buyers, he said.
They recruited Ravi
Shukla who is Mavi’s
friend. They created
shell companies and
launched fake luxury
apartment projects. After
collecting money from
home buyers they shut
their office. They
launched a project at
Crossing Republic, NH-24
Ghaziabad. They collect-
ed about `1.75 crores and
then vanished, the offi-
cer said.
Hindi typing; and often
sought help of profession-
al Hindi data entry opera-
tors, said Biswal.
“However, the newly
developed procedure is
quick, easy and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) based. A
dictionary of traditional
Hindi/Urdu words, often
used in police working,
has been added for con-
venience of users.
The system catches new
Hindi and Urdu words
also and stores the same
for database, thus expand-
ing its vocabulary to
include all words and syn-
tax used in police works,”
Biswal said.
row last year. The judge
passed the order after
hearing the arguments of
the accused as well as the
prosecution.
“The sardonic conduct
of the applicant accused
in targeting women jour-
nalists of a particular
community, using offen-
sive monikers with
derogatory communal
overtones on a social plat-
form, is not only an
offence against the
essence of womanhood
but also an act designed to
enrage passion and cause
ill will amongst communi-
ties and disturb commu-
nal harmony,” the judge
said in the order.
The accused had sought
bail on the ground that
the investigation against
him was already complete
and no fruitful purpose
would be served by keep-
ing him behind the bars.
He had submitted that he
is an engineering student
and has no criminal
antecedents.
The prosecution had
Scribe held for
impersonating
MP Adityanath
BHASKAR HARI SHARMA
NEW DELHI, JAN. 30
A freelance journalist
was arrested for alleged-
ly impersonating him-
self as Lok Sabha MP
Yogi Adityanath and
sending forged letters to
different public sector
units seeking advertise-
ments for his local news
publication, police said
on Sunday.
Accused Manoj Kumar
Seth, 41, was arrested
from his native
Bhubaneswar in Odisha
by the Intelligence
Fusion and Strategic
Operations (IFSO) unit
of Delhi Police’s Special
Cell, they said.
A complaint was file by
Rajbhushan Singh
Rawat, PS to Lok Sabha
MP Yogi Adityanath
alleging that some
unknown persons had
created a fake email id
purportedly of Yogi
Adityanth, police said.
According to the com-
plainant, the alleged per-
sons had sent emails and
forged letters to public
sector units including
Power Grid Corporation
of India, ONGC and
GAIL India. They have
even attached scanned
letters, wherein they
had forged the signa-
tures of MP Yogi
Adityanath.
Deputy Commissioner
of Police (IFSO) K.P.S.
Malhotra said that dur-
ing the course of investi-
gation, the fake email ID
yogiadityanath.mp@gm
ail.com was identified
and the analysis of the
email header was done.
The contents of the
email was also analysed
to understand the motive
of fake email.
“The alleged email was
with request to release
advertisement in favour
of English news paper
“Breaking News”.
Atal Aahar Yojana: SDMC
changes rule for licence
New Delhi, Jan. 30: The
South Delhi Municipal
Corporation (SDMC) has
removed the condition of
producing acceptance
letter from councillors to
apply for a licence under
the “Atal Aahar Yojana”,
which aims to provide
subsidised food to the
poor, it said on Sunday.
A proposal in this con-
nection was approved by
the SDMC’s standing
committee on Friday.
Under the scheme,
nearly 40 food kiosks
having inbuilt kitchens
will be set up to provide
food at “extremely
cheaper prices”. People
will get a thali (food
plate) at a subsidised
rate of `15.
Standing committee
chairman B.K. Oberoi
said this scheme was
first implemented on
pilot basis in 2018-19 but
was put on hold due to
pg 2
opposed the bail applica-
tion arguing that in the
present case, doctored
photographs of the com-
plainant, a journalist,
were shared on Twitter
handle @bullibai through
a web app.
It submitted that the
accused created a web app
‘Bulli Bai’ on GitHub web-
site/portal platform by
using ProtonVPN to hide
his identity.
Bishnoi, a 21-year-old
engineering student, is
said to be the main con-
spirator and creator of
the Bulli Bai app on
GitHub and the main
Twitter account holder of
the app. He was arrested
by the Delhi police’s spe-
cial cell from Assam’s
Jorhat on January 5, 2022.
An engineering student
from Bengaluru, a young
girl from Uttarakhand,
and one of her friends
have also been arrested by
the Mumbai police in con-
nection with the ‘Bulli
Bai’ app case.
— PTI
◗ ACCORDING TO the
complainant, the alleged
persons had sent emails
and forged letters to pub-
lic sector units including
Power Grid Corporation of
India, ONGC and GAIL
India. They have even
attached scanned letters,
wherein they had forged
the signatures of MP Yogi
Adityanath.
Similarly, fake emails
and fake letters were
sent to ONGC and GAIL
for the advertisement
support in favour of TOP
News. Through the IP
Address analysis and
human intelligence, we
identified the accused as
Manoj Kumar Seth,” he
said.
Police said Seth was
aware that his plan to
gain advertisement
favour was not success-
ful and inorder to evade
investigators, he was
continuously changing
his hideouts. Several
times, raids were con-
ducted at the possible
hideouts of accused but
he escaped every time.
On Friday, the accused
Manoj Kumar Seth was
arrested
Bhubaneshwar by our
from
team and during interro-
gation, he revealed that
he is a freelance journal-
ist and also publishes his
newspaper fortnightly
“Samaj Aina”. He had
created the fake email
and prepared the forged
letters to seek advertise-
ment support in favour
of his local newspapers,
Malhotra said.
Seth is also involved in
a case of extortion regis-
tered against him in 2020
at Chaulia Ganj police
station in Cuttack on
complaint of an execu-
tive engineer of PWD,
Odisha, police said,
adding further investiga-
tion is in progress.
Covid. He said the corpo-
ration wants to restart
the scheme with certain
modifications like allow-
ing anyone to apply for a
license unlike earlier
when only municipal
workers could do so.
“Applicants will no
longer have to procure a
consent from the local
councillor to get a
licence under the
scheme. We have on
Friday removed this con-
dition,” Oberoi said.
“Breakfast and lunch
will be served at prices
decided by the munici-
pality. Tentative rates for
breakfast and lunch are
likely to be `10 and `15,”
Oberoi said.
He said the breakfast
menu will consist of
puri-sabji and stuffed
parathas while for lunch
there will be chapattis,
rice, lentils, vegetables,
and curd. — PTI
 NATION
THE ASIAN AGE | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022 | LONDON
pg 3

SHORT
Around 60 cattle
TAKES
die in cow shelter
run by BJP leader
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
BHOPAL, JAN. 30
Mass death of cattle in a
‘gau-shala,’ cow shelter, run
by a BJP leader, on Sunday,
sparked a political row with
Congress demanding action
against the ruling party
member. Around 60 cattle
were found dead in the cat-
tle shelter here run by BJP
leader Nirmala Devi
Shandilya. Bhopal district
collector Avinash Lavania
rushed to the spot after
learning about the incident.
Mr Lavania ordered the
local sub-divisional magis-
trate (SDM) to take action
against the management of
the cattle shelter for piling
carcasses of cattle at one
Votes from polarisation politics
not acceptable to BJP: Rajnath
Kasganj (UP), Jan. 30: On
the campaign trail in
Uttar Pradesh, defence
minister Rajnath Singh on
Sunday hit out at the
Samajwadi Party and said
that BJP seeks votes on
the basis of humanity and
justice only.
Taking forward Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s
jibe at the Akhilesh Yadav-
led party - “Red topi of SP
spells red alert”, Mr Singh
said, “We do not want
votes on the basis of caste,
creed and religion. We
Union home minister Amit Shah spins the ‘charkha’ to unveil Mahatma Gandhi’s seek votes only on the
basis of justice and
mural made with clay kulhads at the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
humanity.”
— PTI
“Samajwadi Party is
doing politics. They have
Baghel: Amar Jawan Jyoti to crossed all limits to get the
vote of a particular reli-
gion. Votes from polarisa-
Rajnath Singh
out to the people has been
the drastic improvement
in the law and order situa-
tion in the state since 2017.
Expressing confidence
that the BJP will repeat
the win of 2017, Mr Singh
said, “You all want
Lakshmi ji (wealth and
prosperity) to come home.
He also coined a new
term for Kasganj and said
that it is Khasganj
(Special Place).
Mr Singh further said
that as a leader, Kalyan
Singh refused to open fire
at the Kar Sevaks and
chose to go to jail instead.
“His contribution to the
people of Uttar Pradesh
was so special that’s why
the government of the day
under Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has
bestowed the Padma
Award on him...,” he said.
As he signed off from the
day-long campaign, Mr
Singh said that this Uttar
Pradesh assembly elec-
tion, which happens to be
the pre-final to the 2024
Lok Sabha elections, will
be no ordinary election
Manipur: BJP to
contest 60 seats,
declares entire
list of candidates
Imphal, Jan. 30: BJP will
contest all the 60 seats of
Manipur Assembly and
announced its entire list of
candidates for the
February-March election
on Sunday.
The list of candidates
was released at the BJP
state headquarters here
and signed by party nation-
al general secretary Arun
Singh. Among the main
contestants are chief min-
ister N. Biren Singh who
will be contesting from

be build at C’garh by Cong

place and not disposing of tion politics are not Lakshmi ji does not come but a defining one. Heingang constituency,
them appropriately, an offi- acceptable to us,” he on a cycle (SP symbol), she It is from Uttar Pradesh PWD minister Th Biswajit
cial press release issued added. does not come on an ele- that the largest chunk of Singh from Thongju,
here on Sunday said. He Lauding Yogi phant (BSP symbol), she 80 Lok Sabha seats comes. Govindas Konthoujam, the

C’garh: Police band plays Abide

also removed Ms Shandilya
from her position and
handed over the manage-
ment of the cattle shelter
to the local Janpad. Mr
Lavania ordered the district
veterinary doctor to con-
duct a post-mortem of
some of the dead cattle to
ascertain the cause of their
deaths, the release said.
Pictures of dead cattle in
the cow shelter went viral
in social media prompting
the district collector to
spring to action. Several
dead cattle were seen
dumped in a well in the
locality while some carcass-
es of cattle were lying scat-
tered in the area. Congress
spokesman Narendra Singh
Saluja claimed that the BJP
leader has been running the
cattle shelter for the last 20
years. He demanded action
against her for the death of
a large number of cattle in
the facility.
1 killed, another
New Delhi,
J a n . 3 0 :
Chhattisgarh
chief minister
B h u p e s h
Baghel today
announced
that an eternal Bhupesh
flame, ‘Amar Baghel
Jawan Jyoti’
will be lit in Chhattisgarh
as a tribute to soldiers who
have sacrificed their lives
for the country. The Amar
Jawan Jyoti will be con-
structed in the premises of
‘Chaithi
Chhattisgarh
Vahini
Armed
forces” at Mana in Raipur.
Member of Parliament
Rahul Gandhi will lay the
foundation stone of the
Amar Jawan Jyoti on
February 3. The chief min-
ister said that Congress
leaders had sacrificed
their lives for the nation
and the party knows how
to give respect to martyrs.
He said that the eternal
flame in New Delhi was lit
by former Prime Minister
With Me to pay tribute to Gandhi
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
RAIPUR, JAN 30
‘Abide With Me’ was
among other favourite
hymns of Mahatma
Gandhi, played by Raipur
police band here to pay
tribute to the father of
nation on his death
anniversary.
‘Abide With Me’ hymn
was shot into the news
after it was dropped for
the first time in 70 years
Amar Jawan Jyoti at the
India Gate was visible to
visitors and instilled a
sense of pride and grati-
tude towards the martyrs
of the country.
The chief minister said
that he is deeply saddened
by the extinguishing of the
in the beating retreat cere-
mony, marking the end of
Republic Day celebrations
in the country this year.
“On the occasion of the
death anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi, a spe-
cial programme is being
held by the Chhattisgarh
police band at Marine
Drive in Raipur.
It is said that the police
band will play favourite
hymns of Mahatma
Gandhi including ‘Abide
With Me’ song.
armed forces, as well as the
brave hearts who sacri-
ficed their lives in
Chhattisgarh by lighting
‘Chhattisgarh Amar
Jawan Jyoti’.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti in
Raipur will have a wall of
brown marble with mar-
Adityanath-led UP govern-
ment, Mr Singh said, “The
Samajwadi Party has to
accept the fact that it was
in their tenure only that
so many riots took place.
They need to answer why
did this happen. And, you
all need to understand
why no one could dare to
riot under the rule of
Bharatiya Janata Party.”
One of the planks on
which the BJP is reaching
BJP not aware of my loyalty, says Jayant
Hapur,(UP), Jan. 30:
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)
chief Jayant Chaudhary,
who has stitched an
alliance with Akhilesh
Yadav’s Samajwadi Party
(SP) for the Uttar Pradesh
Assembly elections, has
said that the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) is not
aware of his loyalty and
emotion and he will not
change his mind.
does not move her hand Rajnath Singh’s younger former Manipur Pradesh
(congress symbol); when son, Pankaj Singh, is in Congress Committee presi-
Lakshmi ji comes, she the electoral contest as he dent who joined BJP
comes riding on a lotus
(BJP symbol).”
Addressing the audience
continues to contest from
Gautam Budh Nagar
where he is already sitting
recently, from Bishnupur.
BJP has given party tick-
ets to three women candi-
during a ‘Prabhavi MLA. dates and denied three sit-
Matdaata Samvad’ (effec- Uttar Pradesh goes into ting MLAs.
tive voter dialogue) pro- elections in seven phases Seven MLAs who had
gram in Kasganj, Mr with the first phase on defected from Congress
Singh paid rich tributes to February 10 and the last and joined BJP have been
former Chief Minister phase on March 7. The poll given nominations accord-
and one of BJP’s tallest results would be declared ing to the list of candidates
leaders Kalyan Singh. on March 10. — PTI issued on Sunday. — PTI
“The BJP Shah’s election campaign Pradesh.
is not in Muzaffarnagar, Mr Mr Chaudhary earlier
aware of Chaudhary said, “Good said, “They (BJP) did
my loyalty that they are hitting the nothing for farmers. The
and emo- road. But what matters in police force was used
tion. Amit an election is the last five against students in Bihar
S h a h years' track record which and Uttar Pradesh two
knows that is very bad. The law and days back. In such an
I won’t Jayant order have deteriorated environment, how can
b r e a k Chaudhary in the state. There has they think that anyone
down or been an increase in would join hands with
change my mind. By say-
ing that Azam Khan will
crimes against women
and SCs in the state.”
them?”
The RLD chief in a

injured in Rourkela Indira Gandhi in 1972 in

Bhubaneswar: A contractual
employee of Rourkela Steel
Plant (RSP) was killed while
another sustained critical
injuries in a mishap that
reportedly occurred at
Captive Power Plant -1 (CPP-
1) of the unit on Sunday. The
deceased was identified as
Amar Panda while the
injured is Sushil Kumar. The
injured employee was admit-
ted to Ispat General Hospital
(IGH), Rourkela. The mishap
reportedly took place when
a plate fell on the duo at the
CPP-1. While Amar reported-
ly died on the spot, Sushil
was severely injured in the
accident. The duo was work-
ing as a contractual employ-
ee at the steel plant, sources
informed. The RSP authori-
ties have set up a team to
carry out an investigation
into the matter.
honor of the martyred
brave soldiers of the coun-
try, but the Central govern-
ment shifted it from India
Gate to the National War
Memorial. He said that
Dubai Expo: J&K signs 6
investment agreements
YUSUF JAMEEL
SRINAGAR, JAN. 30
Jammu and Kashmir
authorities, on Sunday,
said that the recently
held Dubai Expo is
expected to prove a cata-
lyst to international
investments in the
Union Territory, mainly
in real estate, infrastruc-
ture, tourism, health-
care, and food process-
ing sectors.
Amar Jyoti at India Gate in
Delhi. He added that now
Chhattisgarh will honor
the martyrdom of the sons
of Chhattisgarh who sacri-
ficed their lives for the
country by joining the
◗ THE GOVT signed at
least 6 agreements in
these and other poten-
tial sectors, generating
a large number of
investments which will
be ‘remarkable’ for the
industrial growth of
J&K
Jammu.
“Several global
investors are now eyeing
tyrs’ names on it, a memo-
rial tower and also a VVIP
platform. The wall will be
in the form of a crescent of
about 25 feet high, length of
about 100 feet and thick-
ness of 3 feet.
International.
Further, the Emaar
Group, the UAE’s biggest
real estate developer, for-
mally signed an agree-
ment with the J&K gov-
ernment to develop a
5,00,000 square feet shop-
ping mall in Srinagar.
“This investment is
expected to pave the way
for further investments,”
they said.
Lulu Group, on the
other hand, has pledged
Mr Chaudhary’s
remarks came as Union
minister Amit Shah dur-
ing a meeting with Jat
leaders in New Delhi had
said the BJP’s doors are
always open for the RLD.
replace Jayant
Chaudhary he is trying to
divert our supporters and
Jayant Chaudhary on
Thursday denied the pos-
sibility of a post-poll
tweet earlier said that the
invitation should not be
given to him, but to all
end the brotherhood alliance with the the families of farmers
among the people,” the Bharatiya Janata Party whose lives were
RLD chief told ANI. in the upcoming destroyed during the
When asked about Amit Assembly polls in Uttar farmers’ protest. — ANI
‘Centre’s silence
on Pegasus is
worrying, need
credible answer’
Lucknow,
Jan. 30:
Bahujan
Samaj Party
supremo
Mayawati on
Sunday tar-
geted the
Central gov- Mayawati
ernment on its “silence”
over the Pegasus contro-
versy saying that it is
necessary to give credi-

BJP HAS FIELDED They said that during

the expo, the government
the untapped market and
industrial potential of
`600 million to develop a
food processing unit in
ble answers and be
accountable towards the

99 CRIMINALS,
signed at least six agree- J&K,” he added. J&K. Century Financial, country and its people.
ments in these and other Officials claimed that whose owner incidental- She also slammed Union
potential sectors, gener- several UAE-based com- ly is originally a resident Police personnel pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of ‘Martyr’s Day’ in minister Gen. V.K. Singh

SAYS AKHILESH ating a large number of panies like Al Maya of J&K’s Doda district, Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. — PTI for his “supari media”
investments which will Group, MATU will be investing $100m remark.

Lucknow: The BJP

is one short of
hitting a “centu-
ry” of tickets
given to candi-
dates with a crim-
inal history,
Samajwadi Party
chief Akhilesh Akhilesh
Yadav alleged on Yadav
Sunday. In a
tweet, the former Uttar
Pradesh chief minister
claimed that the BJP has, so
far, fielded 99 candidates
with a criminal history for
the upcoming assembly
polls in the state. “Breaking
news about baba ji (chief
minister Yogi Adityanath)
BJP is just one candidate
short of hitting a century of
criminal candidates... So far,
99 candidates with a crimi-
nal history have been given
tickets,” he tweeted in Hindi
in a tit-for-tat attack. Yogi
Adityanath had on Saturday
alleged that Mr Yadav was
patronising criminals,
goons, and mafia and
termed the SP as ‘dangawa-
di’ (promoting riots),
‘tamanchawadi’ (fond of
country-made pistols) and
‘pariwarwadi’ (working for
family). The BJP has, so far,
declared 294 candidates for
the upcoming assembly
elections. Meanwhile, down-
playing Samajwadi Party’s
claims that it was going to
form the government in
Uttar Pradesh, deputy chief
minister Keshav Prasad
Maurya on Sunday said its
chief Akhilesh Yadav was
daydreaming and that the
BJP wave was evident. “Just
like 2017, the Bharatiya
Janata Party will form the
government in 2022,” he
said. — PTI
be “remarkable” for the
industrial growth of
J&K.
“The expo has opened
the gateway for industri-
al investments for the
entire J&K which will be
the ‘dawn of a new era’
for the industrial devel-
opment here,” an official
spokesman said in
Modi pays homage to
‘supermom’ tigress in
‘Mann Ki Baat’ telecast
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
BHOPAL, JAN. 30
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on
Sunday paid rich trib-
ute to ‘Supermom’
tigress Collarwali that
passed away at the age
of 16 in Pench Tiger
Reserve (PTR) in
Madhya Pradesh last
fortnight, in his 21st
episode of “Mann Ki
Baat” programme.
Mr Modi highlighted
the contribution to the
conservation by the
famed big cat in his
‘Mann Ki Baat’ pro-
gramme, describing
how people bade the big
cat an emotional
farewell after her death
in the PTR.
“Her (Collarwali’s)
death has made people
(in PTR) so emotional
that they felt as if they
lost one of their family
members. People per-
formed her last rites.
Investments LLC,
Century Financial, Noon
E-commerce, and others
signed memorandums of
understanding (MoUs)
with the J&K govern-
ment. Also, letters of
intent (LsoI) were signed
with Magna Waves
Private Limited, Emaar
Group, and Lulu
They bade
h e r hit out at Punjab Congress
farewell
filled with
respect and
affection”,
the Prime
Minister
said in his
Narendra latest radio
Modi p r o -
gramme.
Mr Modi’s ‘befitting’
tribute to Collarwali,
considered a legend in
Madhya Pradesh’s his-
tory of conservation,
has made the forest offi-
cers of state nostalgic
about the tigress, which
birthed a record 29 cubs
in her eight litters.
“I felt emotional to see
a befitting tribute on
legendary Collarwali by
the PM in Mann Ki
Baat. I became nostalgic
to remember those days
when I was monitoring
her breeding ecology in
Pench as a PhD scholar
of Wildlife Institute of
India (WII).
to build three hotels and
one commercial-residen-
tial complex in the UT,
the officials said.
Dubai ports giant DP
World is set to build an
inland port in J&K and
the 250-acre site for the
project will be finalised
shortly, an official state-
ment said.
Odisha: 5 held for
allegedly selling
toddler for `12K
AKSHAYA KUMAR
SAHOO
BHUBAENSWAR, JAN. 30
The Odisha police on
Sunday arrested at least
five persons, including
an Anganwadi worker in
connection with the
alleged sale of a newborn
babygirl by a couple at
Sanaraipara village of
Jajpur district.
The parents of the
infant- Natabar Behera
and Kanchan are also
among the arrested per-
sons. The anganwadi
staff was reportedly the
middleman in the deal.
As the couple already
had three daughters, they
allegedly sold the new-
born to a childless couple
of Mahakalapada area in
Kendrapara for `12,000
soon after the delivery at
Dharamsala Community
Health Centre (CHC).
However, Natabar
claimed that he is a daily
wage labourer and it
would be difficult for
him to take care of four
children.
Kejri: Photos of only Bhagat,
Ambedkar in Punjab offices
Amritsar, Jan. 30: AAP
leader Arvind Kejriwal on
Sunday said if his party
comes to power in Punjab
after the February 20
Assembly polls, photo-
graphs of B.R. Ambedkar
and Bhagat Singh will be
put up in all government
offices in the state. He fur-
ther said there will be no
photograph of any politi-
cian in these offices.
The Delhi chief minister
chief Navjot Singh Sidhu
and Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD) leader Bikram Singh
Majithia for indulging in a
verbal spat and ignoring
the issues plaguing people
in the Amritsar East
Assembly segment, calling
them “political elephants”.
He alleged that Mr Sidhu
is not fighting against cor-
ruption, rather his fight is
only for becoming the next
chief minister of the state.
Talking to reporters here,
Kejriwal said he had
announced a few days ago
that in every Delhi govern-
ment office, there will be
photographs of Ambedkar
and Bhagat Singh.
“Today, we announce that
after the formation of the
(AAP) government in
Punjab, there will be no
photo of the chief minister
or any other political
leader in any government
office.
“Photos of Babasaheb
Ambedkar and Shaheed-e-
Arvind Kejriwal
Azam Bhagat Singh will be
put up in all government
offices, so that by looking at
these photos, we and the
next generation can draw
inspiration from them,” he
said. Recounting the strug-
gles of Ambedkar and
Bhagat Singh, Kejriwal
said both wanted good edu-
cation and health for every-
one and that the country
should progress after inde-
pendence.
Replying to a question on
Amritsar East MLA Sidhu
and Majithia, who has been
pitted against the cricketer-
turned-politician from the
seat, he said the public
issues of the Assembly seg-
ment are getting buried
because of their verbal
spat.
“Both them are abusing
each other and the public
issues are getting buried
because of it. Nobody is
talking about the public
issues. Both of them are
kind of very big political
elephants under whose feet
the public gets crushed,”
the AAP national convenor
said. He said the voters of
Amritsar East have noth-
ing to do with the verbal
duel between Sidhu and
Majithia, they are con-
cerned about basic issues
concerning electricity,
drinking water, roads and
schools.
Kejriwal alleged that
Sidhu does not answer
phone calls nor does he
meet people personally.
He also alleged that the
Congress leader has done
nothing for his constituen-
cy.
On the other hand,
Majithia is contesting the
polls from Amritsar East
only to defeat Sidhu,
Kejriwal claimed.
“What do people have to
do with all this?” he asked.
Kejriwal said AAP candi-
date from Amritsar East
Jeevanjot Kaur is carrying
out door-to-door campaign-
ing and she will always be
available to listen to peo-
ple’s problems.
The voters of Amritsar
East should ensure that
Kaur wins the electoral
contest, defeating Sidhu
and Majithia, he added.
Replying to a question,
Kejriwal said when he
describes his party col-
league Bhagwant Mann as
“kattar imaandar” (fiercely
honest), his political rivals
feel that they are “kattar
bhrashtachari” (corrupt)
and it makes the difference
very clear. — PTI
“The Pegasus espi-
onage case is making the
Central government and
the BJP go sleepless. In
this very serious matter,
there have been new rev-
elations on a regular
basis. Instead of giving
reliable answers by
being accountable and
responsible towards the
country, the silence of
the Centre raises more
questions. The govern-
ment should disclose
(the issue),” the former
Uttar Pradesh chief
minister said in a tweet
in Hindi.
In another tweet, she
called out the “narrow
thinking of the govern-
ment”.
“India’s name in
Pegasus case along with
countries like Mexico,
Poland and Hungary is
no less a matter of con-
cern,” she wrote.
A report in the US
newspaper The New
York Times claimed that
India had purchased
Pegasus spyware in 2017
as part of a two-billion-
dollar defence deal with
Israel. Following this, a
major controversy
erupted on Saturday and
the opposition accused
the government of
engaging in illegal espi-
onage and termed it
“treason”.
While the government
is yet to react on the
issue, former Army
chief and currently the
minister of state for
road transport Gen. V.K.
Singh had tweeted, “Can
you trust NYT?” They
are known ‘Supari
Media’.” — PTI
 NATION
THE ASIAN AGE | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022 | LONDON
SHORT
Raut kin have stakes
TAKES
in liquor firm: BJP
Mumbai: BJP leader Kirit
Somaiya on Sunday alleged
that Shiv Sena leader Sanjay
Raut’s family is having part-
nership in a wine company
of a big industrialist.
Because of this, Mr Raut is
supporting the decision of
“sale of wine” in supermar-
kets, he said. Speaking with
the reporters on Sunday, Mr.
Somaiya said that both
daughters of Mr Raut have a
partnership in Ashok Garg’s
Magpie group. The BJP
leader alleged that in order
to serve the interests of Mr.
Raut, the state cabinet has
approved the sale of wine in
supermarkets and grocery
shops. “To benefit Mr. Raut,
the state government has
changed the policy and
allowed wine to be sold in
supermarkets,” Mr Somaiya
said. The Raut family had
signed a partnership agree-
ment on April 16, 2021 for
the business with Mr Garg’s
Magpie Group, Mr Somaiya
said.
Real Hindutvawadi
would have shot
dead Jinnah: Raut
BHAGWAN PARAB
MUMBAI, JAN. 30
Maharashtra’s ruling party
Shiv Sena has dismissed the
possibility of a reunion with
the BJP in Maharashtra.
There is no truth in such
speculations and the Maha
Vikas Aghadi (MVA) govern-
ment consisting of Sena,
NCP and Congress is here to
stay, said senior Sena leader
Sanjay Raut. In his weekly
column ‘Rokhthok’ (forth-
right) in the party mouth-
piece Saamana, Mr Raut
slammed Godse, the assassin
of Mahatma Gandhi, saying
he was not a “real
Hindutvawadi”. Speaking on
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi’s tweet on Mahatma
Gandhi being assassinated
by a Hindutvawadi, the Sena
MP said, “Formation of
Pakistan was Jinnah’s
demand. If there was a real
Hindutvawadi, he or she
would’ve shot dead Jinnah,
not Gandhi. Such an act
would’ve been an act of
patriotism.” Ruling out
future alliance with the BJP,
the Shiv Sena MP said,
“Chief minister and Sena
president Uddhav Thackeray
in his address to Shiv Sainiks
on January 23 has sent a
clear message that the MVA,
comprising the Shiv Sena,
NCP and Congress, is the
political future of
Maharashtra. There is no
‘under the table’ deal hap-
pening between the Shiv
Sena and BJP to join hands
together.” Mr Thackeray had
accused his former ally of
practising ‘hollow’ Hindutva
for power. He also regretted
that the Sena ‘rotted’ in
alliance with the BJP.
Replying strongly to him, BJP
leader Devendra Fadnavis
had said Sena’s Hindutva is
merely on paper and it grew
politically when it was in
alliance with the BJP.
‘Corruption can’t last
if duty becomes first’
■ Continued from Page 1
countryman”.
Mr Modi further spoke about
how “more than one crore chil-
dren” have written to him
through their “Mann Ki Baat”
post cards in which they have
highlighted their vision for the
country. He also spoke of the
spread of Indian culture abroad,
including in faraway Argentina,
through an organisation called
the Hastinapur Foundation that
is involved in the propagation of
Indian Vedic traditions in
Argentina. He said the outfit had
been founded 40 years ago by a
lady, Prof. Aida Albrecht, who
will turn 90 today.
The PM also announced
Ladakh “will soon be blessed
with an impressive Open
Synthetic Track and Astro Turf
Football Stadium being built at a
height of more than 10,000 feet,
and its construction is going to
be completed soon”. He added
that “this will be the largest
open stadium in Ladakh, where
30,000 spectators can sit together
(and that) this modern football
stadium in Ladakh will also
have a synthetic track with 8
lanes”. He added that “apart
from this, there will also be a
hostel facility with one thousand
beds and that this stadium has
also been certified by FIFA, the
biggest (global) organisation of
football”.
On conservation of wildlife,
the PM lauded efforts that have
led to a steady decrease in the
hunting of rhinos in Assam.
“Where 37 rhinos were killed in
2013, two killings in 2020 and
only one in 2021 have come to the
‘Hitlershahi’: BJP ally after Bihar MLC seat denial
No Council seat given to Sahani’s and Manjhi’s parties
Patna, Jan. 30: National
president of the
Vikassheel Insaan Party,
Mukesh Sahani, on
Sunday, hit out at the NDA
alliance parties, Janata
Dal (United) (JDU) and
BJP in Bihar, calling it
“Hitlershahi” after they
did not give his party even
a single seat for contest-
ing in the Member of the
Legislative Council (MLC)
election likely to be held
in March-April this year.
On Saturday, the ruling
alliance in Bihar, JD(U)
and BJP agreed on a seat-
sharing formula for the
upcoming MLC polls in
which the BJP will con-
test on 13 seats, one of
which the party has given
to the Rashtriya Lok
Janshakti Party (RLJP)
led by Pashupati Kumar
Paras while the JD(U) will
field candidates on 11
seats.
Notably, no seats were
given to the former chief
minister Jitan Ram
Manjhi-led Hindustani
Awam Morcha-Secular
Wrestlers participate in an open air wrestling compitition organised on the occasion
of Martyr’s Day to observe 74th death anniversary of the father of the nation,
Mahatma Gandhi, in Kolkata on Sunday.
Assam: 2L land cases settled
under mission Basundhara
MANOJ ANAND
GUWAHATI, JAN. 28
Assam chief minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma
here on Friday while
acknowledging the efforts
of state government
employees said that his
government has achieved
another milestone by dis-
posing off over two lakh
land related cases so far
under the ongoing mission
Basundhara.
The “Mission
Basundhara” which was
launched by the chief min-
ister on October 2, envis-
ages reducing the penden-
cy in updating of land
records through a mission
mode and creating an ease
of doing business environ-
ment in the land manage-
fore. I appreciate the resolve of
the people of Assam to save the
rhinoceros,” he said.
Mr Modi said: “Friends, in the
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the
country is re-establishing its
national symbols through these
efforts. We saw that the ‘Amar
Jawan Jyoti’ near India Gate
and the jyoti lit at the National
War Memorial in the vicinity
were merged. There were tears
in the eyes of many countrymen
and martyrs’ families on this
emotional occasion. At the
National War Memorial, the
names of all the bravehearts of
the country who have been mar-
tyred since Independence have
been inscribed. Some former
soldiers of the Army have writ-
ten to me saying that “the Amar
Jawan Jyoti lit at the memorial
is a symbol of the immortality
of the martyrs”. Truly, like
“Amar Jawan Jyoti”, our mar-
tyrs, their inspiration and their
contribution are also immortal.
I would urge all of you to cer-
tainly visit the National War
Memorial whenever you get an
opportunity.”
The PM added: “Today is also
the death anniversary of our
revered Bapu, Mahatma Gandhi
ji. The 30th of January reminds
us of the teachings of Bapu. Just
a few days ago, we celebrated
Republic Day as well… One
change you must have noticed is
that now Republic Day functions
will start from the 23rd of
January — the birth anniver-
sary of Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose, and will continue till the
30th of January — Gandhiji’s
death anniversary.”
Bihar chief minister Nitish
Kumar pays floral tribute
to Mahatma Gandhi on
Martyr’s Day observed
on the death anniversary
of Gandhi in Patna on
Sunday. — PTI
(HAM-S) and Vikassheel
Insaan Party.
Speaking to news agency
ANI, Mr Sahani said,
“The government in
Bihar stands because of
Manjhi-Sahani. JD(U)-
— PRITAM BANDYOPADHYAY
ment ecosystem.
Mr Sarma, who has
assigned a task to the state
bureaucracy to switch
over the state secretariat
into online mode by dis-
posing off entire pending
files, said, “Extremely
happy to share that
Mission Basundhara has
achieved yet another mile-
stone today with disposal
of 2 lakh cases. We
are resolving all pending
land related matters in
Assam in a mission mode.
Gratitude to concerned
officers for their sincere
effort.”
The Mission Basundhara
was launched to render
land revenue services to
the general public and
facilitate easy access to the
public for their land-relat-
Opp. to target govt on Pegasus, Covid
■ Continued from Page 1
privilege motion be moved
against Mr Vaishnaw for
allegedly misleading the
House on the Pegasus issue.
The New York Times, in its
report, claimed the Indian
government bought the spy-
ware in 2017 as part of a $2
billion package for weapons.
“In the light of the latest
revelations by the New York
Times, it appears that the
Modi government has mis-
led Parliament and the
Supreme Court and lied to
the people of India… In view
of the above, I demand that a
privilege motion may be ini-
tiated against the minister
of information technology
for deliberately misleading
the House on the Pegasus
issue,” the Congress leader
said in his letter to the
Speaker. He also alleged that
the government “lied to the
Supreme Court when it was
directly questioned about
the purchase and deploy-
ment of Pegasus”.
The government, however,
is unlikely to accept a full
debate on the Pegasus issue
and might point out that a
75% Indians fully jabbed, aim for fast 100% : PM
■ Continued from Page 1
also climbed to 4,94,091
with 893 fresh fatalities,
including 311 backlog
deaths in the same time
span. The daily positivity
rate rose to 14.50 per cent
from the previous day’s
13.39 per cent. The weekly
positivity rate stands at
16.40 per cent. The number
of people who have recu-
perated surged to
BJP think they’re power-
ful and have taken the
right decision. This is like
Hitlershahi.”
Mr Sahani announced
that his party will contest
on all the 24 seats on its
own.
“We have decided to con-
test on all 24 seats on our
own,” he said.
On the other hand,
ahead of the Legislative
Council elections, the
‘Mahagathbandhan’ of
Congress-Rashtriya
Janata Dal is on the verge
of a split as Tejashwi
Yadav refused to contest
the elections together, fol-
lowing which Congress
said the party is capable
of contesting the polls on
all 24 seats on its own.
Tejashwi Yadav hinted
on Saturday, while speak-
ing to the media, that his
party would contest the
MLC polls on its own
while RJD is in alliance
with Congress in New
Delhi.
— Agencies
ed work. The mission was
also aimed at eliminating
the existence of middle-
men or brokers from the
system and enabling the
public to resolve their land
related issues through
online mode.
Mr Sarma in his social
media post said, “A total of
8,08,112 applications have
been received, out of
which a total of 2,01,539
applications have been dis-
posed so far.”
During the ceremonial
launch of the mission in
2021 the chief minister had
announced that a total of
`225 crore will be spent on
the implementation of the
programme and the mis-
sion would also enable the
rebuilding of all lost land
records of the state.
committee appointed by the
Supreme Court was already
looking into the matter. The
spyware row had nearly
washed out last year’s
Monsoon Session, with the
Opposition seeking a debate
and a reply from Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
The unemployment fig-
ures will also be raised in
the House by the Opposition
parties. In the last session of
Parliament, the Congress
was mostly able to present a
united Opposition front. In
this session, several leaders
will be busy as there are
Assembly elections in five
states.
In the first leg of the
Budget Session, there will be
just ten sittings till February
11, out of which the first day
will be the President’s
address to both the Houses
and the tabling of the
Economic Survey. On
Tuesday, finance minister
will present the Union
Budget. The motion of
thanks to the President’s
address is expected to see
fireworks as the Opposition
leaders will be taking on the
3,87,13,494, while the case
fatality rate has been
recorded at 1.20 per cent.
The cumulative number of
anti-Covid-19 vaccine doses
administered has crossed
165.70 crores. In his month-
ly “Mann Ki Baat” radio
broadcast, Mr Modi said:
“Now the cases of corona
infection have also started
decreasing, this is a very
positive sign.” He said it
‘With heavy heart’: Ex-Jharkhand
minister resigns from Cong party
Ranchi, Jan. 30: Former
Jharkhand minister and
AICC member, Geetashree
Oraon has resigned from
the Congress party.
“With a heavy heart and
deep regret I tender my
resignation from all
responsibilities assigned
to me by the Indian
National Congress party
including primary mem-
bership”, Ms Geetashree, a
former education minister
of Jharkhand, stated in
her resignation letter
addressed to All India
Congress Committee
(AICC) president, Sonia
Gandhi on Saturday.
She further stated that
the recent controversy and
uncalled for complications
of tribal and regional lan-
guage for 3rd and 4th grade
jobs and the dilutions of
5th Schedule provisions in
13 districts of Jharkhand
was “highly con-
Thakur to meet Shah for CAA,
steps on BJP rebels in Bengal
RAJIB CHOWDHURI
KOLKATA, JAN. 30
Unhappy over the non-
implementation of the
Citizenship Amendment
Act (CAA) for the refugees
in West Bengal, union min-
ister of state for shipping
Santanu Thakur, who hails
from the sizeable Matua
community of Hindu
migrants, is going to meet
the BJP central leadership
including union home min-
ister Amit Shah this week
for the CAA introduction in
the state.
The Bongaon BJP MP,
who has become popular
among the rebel leaders of
the state unit for paying
heed to their grievances, is
also expected to complain to
the top brass of the party
about the crackdown on
some of the dissidents who
were dropped in the last
organisational rejig.
Before leaving for New
Delhi on Sunday, Mr
Dhankhar: Bengal a gas chamber of democracy
AGE CORRESPONDENT
KOLKATA, JAN. 30
West Bengal governor
Jagdeep Dhankhar on
Sunday alleged the state
turning into a “gas cham-
ber of democracy” under
the rule of chief minister
Mamata Banerjee. He also
disapproved of certain
comments of the
Trinamul Congress supre-
mo inside and outside
the state.
Paying tribute to father
of the nation Mahatma
Gandhi on his death
anniversary, Mr
Dhankhar told the media,
government. The govern-
ment wants to see the
smooth functioning of both
Houses and has said it is
ready to discuss issues that
are raised by the Opposition
parties.
Given the ongoing Covid-
19 third wave, the Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha will return
to have separate sittings in
shifts with members seated
across both chambers of
Parliament to ensure dis-
tancing norms. The Lok
Sabha will take up the dis-
cussion on the motion of
thanks from Wednesday and
the Prime Minister is
expected to reply to the
debate on February 7.
Lok Sabha Secretariat offi-
cials said four days starting
from February 2 have been
provisionally allotted for the
discussion on the motion of
thanks on the President’s
address. The session is being
held amid a heated election
campaign in five states —
Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa,
and Manipur — which go to
polls in seven phases from
February 10 to March 7.
was a matter of pride that
till now about four-and-a-
half crore children were
administered the first dose
of the coronavirus vaccine.
“This means about 60 per
cent of youth in the 15-18
age group have got their
vaccines within three to
four weeks. This will not
only protect our youth but
will also help them to con-
tinue with their studies.”
Geetashree Oraon
demnable”.
“Our rights are being
encroached upon by the so
called ‘outsiders’ while the
provision of preferring
native language in employ-
ment and education is
respectfully applied in the
states of West Bengal,
Odisha, Maharashtra,
Gujarat, North Eastern
states and majority of
South Indian states”, she
said.
Ms Geetashree alleged
that the Congress
Santanu Thakur
Thakur, who is the joint
president of the All India
Matua Mahasangha and
also held a meeting of the
forum recently on the CAA,
said, “All issues will be dis-
cussed with the central lead-
ership because realities are
associated with it. The CAA
had a deadline which is over
now. It will be taken up with
the union home minister
because our people have
been the sufferers. If this is
not sorted out, problems
will continue as there has
been a pressure on us from
our own organization. This
“After administering the
oath to the CM, I had
expressed my serious con-
cerns to her before all that
we can not see blood on
the holy land of Bengal.
People are talking about
Bengal becoming a ‘gas
chamber of democracy.’ I
can not tolerate this like I
can not accept the viola-
tion of human rights here.
As a result the Calcutta
High Court ordered the
National Human Rights
Commission to conduct a
probe.”
He added, “I will not
deviate from my stand
irrespective of the degree
Key terrorist, 4
more Jaish men
killed in J&K
encounters
■ Continued from Page 1
in Charar-e-Sharief area
of the neighbouring
Budgam district.
The locals claimed
Inayat Ahmed, killed in
the Naira gunfight, was
the son of the owner of
the house where mili-
tants had been holed up
during a cordon-and-
search operation
launched jointly by the
J&K police’s counter-
insurgency Special
Operations Group
(SOG), the Army’s 55
Rashtriya Rifles and the
CRPF’s 182nd and 183rd
Battalions late Saturday
night.
The police confirmed it
but said that he too was
a militant killed in the
exchange of fire with
the security forces. IGP
(Kashmir range) Vijay
Kumar said that after
taking on the hiding mil-
itants, Ahmed was asked
to surrender “but he
along with other terror-
ists opened fire at the
security forces and got
killed”. He added: “He
was a hybrid terrorist.”
The IGP also said the
house owner is being
booked under the rele-
vant sections of the
Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act 1967 for
providing shelter to mil-
itants.
He termed the twin
operations as “very
successful”.
Jharkhand unit has been
fostering the recent lan-
guage controversy and
hostility, thereby demean-
ing the very cause of for-
mation of a separate state
of Jharkhand and the
party high command was
also silent on the issue.
“The legacy of advocat-
ing and defending the
rights of adivasis that was
passed down to me by my
father Kartik Oraon, for-
mer Union Minister in
Indira (Gandhi) ji’s cabi-
net, mother Sumati Oraon,
former Union Minister in
Rajiv ji’s cabinet, seriously
stand challenged.
“The recurrent of socio-
cultural and political apa-
thy towards the people of
my state has hit hard on
me. The broader INC ideol-
ogy that once armoured
the rights and privileges of
the adivasis has turned
hostile”, she said. — PTI
has to be understood.”
On his secret meeting with
two temporarily suspended
state BJP leaders, Ritesh
Tiwari and Joy Prakash
Majumdar, Mr Thakur
added, “They have been
with the party over the last
30 years. Suddenly they
have been suspended from
the party. Where will they go
now? They have not sided
with the Trinamul
Congress or Congress or the
CPI(M). They only met a
minister from their party.
What is the problem in it?”
State BJP president
Sukanta Majumdar howev-
er said, “Mr Thakur is one
of the prominent leaders of
our party. Few days ago I
spoke to him over the phone.
Our party MLAs can visit
him. There is no problem
with it. Mr Thakur can also
talk about his problems
with the central leadership.
Problems can be solved
through discussion. I
believe it will happen soon.”
After administering
the oath to the CM, I
had expressed my
serious concerns to
her that we can not
see blood on the holy
land of Bengal.
People are talking
about Bengal becom-
ing a ‘gas chamber
of democracy’.
— J. Dhankhar
of insult I face and how
much the situation turns
hostile and sensitive. It
‘Priyanka only coins
slogans’: Yadav slams
Cong’s women drive
Lucknow, Jan. 30: BJP
leader Aparna Yadav on
Sunday took a swipe at
the Congress party’s
“Ladki hoon, lad Sakti
hoon slogan” in Uttar
Pradesh and said that
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
only coins slogans but
doesn’t do anything.
Addressing a press con-
ference, Ms Yadav said
that the party has not
given a single ticket to
women in Punjab state,
while they are stressing
on the women-empower-
ment slogan in Uttar
Pradesh.
“Nowadays Congress is
saying ‘Ladki hoon Lad
Sakti Hoon’. As per a
news article, Punjab
Mahila Congress Chief
Balveer Rani Sodhi said
that women were
ignored in the ticket dis-
tribution. Priyanka
Gandhi only gives slo-
gans but doesn’t do any-
thing,” said the BJP
leader.
She further praised the
work done by the BJP
government in the last
five years and said that
there was not a single
riot and scam in the state
during the Yogi
Adityanath government.
“Under the Ayushman
scheme, the poor of the
state have been given
pg 4
Lata Mangeshkar
Mangeshkar
recovered from
Covid infection:
Health minister
BHAGWAN PARAB
MUMBAI, JAN. 30
In a news that will bring
music to the ears of
crores of fans of Lata
M a n g e s h k a r ,
Maharashtra health
minister Rajesh Tope on
Sunday informed that
the legendary singer has
recovered from Covid
and pneumonia.
“Lata Mangeshkar has
recovered from Covid
and pneumonia. She is
no longer on a ventila-
tor,” said Mr Tope.
The 92-year-old singer
had tested positive for
coronavirus with mild
symptoms and was
admitted to the
Intensive Care Unit
(ICU) of the Breach
Candy Hospital in south
Mumbai on January 8.
Giving a health update
about the singing legend,
Mr Tope said, “I spoke
with Dr Pratit Samdani
who is treating Ms
Mangeshkar. She’s recov-
ering, was on a ventilator
for some days, but is bet-
ter now. She is no longer
on the ventilator. Only
oxygen is being given to
her. She is responding to
the treatment.”
On Saturday, Dr
Samdani had informed
that Ms Mangeshkar’s
ventilator support was
removed two days ago as
there was an improve-
ment in her health,
though she will continue
to be under medical
observation in ICU. “She
has been off the ventila-
tor for two-and-half days
but continues to be
under observation. She
has been put off the
ventilator because of
marginal improvement
in her health. Her health
condition demands
her to be in the ICU,”
he said.
was unbecoming the way
the CM passed comments
in the state and beyond.”
Lashing out at the gover-
nor, state education minis-
ter Bratya Basu said, “He
knows neither the history
of Bengal nor the political
awareness. He always car-
ries a grudge. If there
was any incident of post-
poll violence, the onus
goes to all and not any par-
ticular party. I still urge
him not to act as a
spokesperson of a party.
He should rather dis-
charge his duty according
to the Constitution and
cooperate with the CM.”
Aparna Yadav
health cover. 43 lakh peo-
ple have got pucca hous-
es in five years. Two and
a half crore people have
been given toilets. Free
ration is being given to
15 crore people of the
state,” she said.
Ms Aparna said that
the law and order situa-
tion in the state has
improved and the state is
free from goonda raj, cor-
ruption and riots under
the BJP government.
n Uttar Pradesh, the
first phase polling will
be held on February 10,
the second phase on
February 14, the third
phase on February 20,
the fourth phase on
February 23, the fifth
phase on February 27,
the sixth phase on March
3 and the seventh phase
on March 7.
The counting of votes
will take place on March
10. — PTI
 EDIT
THE ASIAN AGE | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022 | LONDON
pg 5

Subhani

31 JANUARY 2022

Meaningful debate critical,

beware of sabotage by govt
P
arliament meeting for progressively shorter durations than was previous-
ly the case, and even these short durations being disrupted on account of
volatile actions by Opposition parties and carefully calibrated actions by
ruling parties aimed to ensure Opposition members storm out and allow
governments to have their agenda cleared without any questions asked, have been
the bane of our parliamentary practice. We should keep this in mind when the
Budget Session commences today.
In recent years, India has been called an “elected autocracy”, which means the
show of elections is maintained but in practice the ruling party steamrolls its way
through overwhelming numbers in Parliament. Even outside the forum of
Parliament, the government conducts itself in an overbearing manner. The best
that Opposition parties can do is to make the government accountable on the floor
of the House. The first thing which suggests itself is that no matter what the provo-
cation from the Treasury benches, they will persist in asking the right questions.
They owe this to those who elected them. Noisy protests and walkouts are fine and
may become unavoidable at times. People will understand. The proviso is that
they will understand if their elected representatives speak on their behalf and
bring their concerns to the attention of the nation.
This is especially the case since the government would like nothing better than
to have the Opposition benches leave the House in
The government anger and protest. This should be uppermost in the
LETTERS
would like nothing minds of Opposition MPs and their parties. We are
better than to have living in a very different era from the Nehruvian
the Opposition times. The Opposition was miniscule in size.
Governments were elected with a large majority.
benches leave the But the government, especially in Nehru’s day,
Opp. divide to make it easy ON THE CARDS...

for govt in Budget Session

House in protest. This encouraged the Opposition to play an important Debit cards used to be
should be uppermost part and this produced outstanding parliamentari- handed over to customers
in the minds of ans who were staunch opponents of the govern-
ment. The Budget Session is the longest in the par- by banks across the
Opposition MPs and liamentary calendar and arguably the most impor-
their parties. tant. The fundamentals of the government’s finan- counter on application.
No question has structure to enrolment to
cial and economic policies are cleared in been raised by any research work, has not Today it takes weeks not
Parliament. If the Opposition parties do not intervene effectively when this is
being done, when indeed will they do so?
Parsa Opposition leader
been taken up by any of
the Opposition parties.
because Covid has cut
At the present juncture, unemployment is at a record high and so is inflation. Venkateshwar on why the India- The reputed British sci- down staff attendance but
made Covaxin of ence journal, Nature, has due to poor supply of lami-
Rao Jr
The rate of growth is at best a sobering datum. Two years of Covid have badly
retarded the economy. The World Bank’s assessment of the prospect in the next Hyderabad-based done a critical editorial nated plastic cards to
two years is far from reassuring. The situation that confronts the finance minister on the issue. No one in the
is thus daunting. This is a time for all parties, especially those in the Opposition Bharat Biotech has Opposition has paid emboss. The biggest sup-
but also members on the Treasury benches, to contribute to meaningful debate. failed to produce attention to the reality of plier is China and we have

I
The template the present government has adopted to deal with the Opposition t seems unlikely at
produces points of friction all the time. Recent revelations on the Pegasus affair the moment that the
made by New York Times are indeed damaging and contribute to the growing feel- Narendra Modi gov-
ing in the country that the government has targeted political leaders, judges, the ernment has any
media, business groups, and other key institutions of democracy. The Opposition major legislative agenda
parties may be duty-bound to highlight this important issue. But whether this apart from the Finance
should consume all the time of Parliament, as the last Winter Session had, is some- Bill 2022 in the Budget
thing to ponder. Session of Parliament
The Budget is to be presented on February 1 at a time when the country is in the that begins on Monday,
throes of important Assembly elections. Will it be populist? How will it tackle January 31, and whose
unemployment, very high prices, shrinking private consumption, and declining first phase will last till
savings and investment rates? The Opposition parties must themselves be February 11. The
accountable in order to oblige the government to be accountable. Economic Survey will be
laid before Parliament on
Monday itself, while
finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman will present
Stop denigrating nation’s icons the Union Budget 2022-23
on Tuesday. The second
phase of the session will
sures to deal with the
Covid-19 pandemic. As
the crisis has not yet
passed, the government
cannot hope to do any-
thing really new and
innovative. The
President’s speech to the
joint session of
Parliament, which is the
government’s statement,
is likely to talk about the
successes achieved in
rolling out the vaccina-
tion programme, the free
rations that have been
announced for 80 crore
ration card households,
and various incentives
for different segments of
the vaccine doses
needed in the
country...
argument.
As the first phase of the
Budget Session is quite
short, the Motion of
Thanks to the President’s
Address could take up
much of the time though
the presiding officers and
the government have
restricted it to a few days.
This will most probably
end up in a slanging
match between the gov-
ernment
Opposition.
and the
Prime
these so-called “uni-
corns” among the start-
ups as much of it is mar-
ket overvaluation. The
government is getting
away because there is not
an iota of diligence on the
part of the Opposition
parties, and they don’t do
their homework.
In a press conference at
the Congress office in
New Delhi on January 19,
2021, Rahul Gandhi
lamented: “Vipaksh ko
free and fair media ki
zaroorat hai” (The
Opposition needs a free
and fair media). But the
media needs substantial
expanded card usage. The
largest manufacturer of
cards globally is in
Shenzen at 10 million a
month and 12 years back it
was an MSME. It illustrates
how China found the
potential of this sector as
early as in 1990s. Our own
route to jobs and prosperi-
ty lie in this sector. Current
and future Budgets must
incrementally address this.
R. Narayanan

T
he Congress has demanded that Madhya Pradesh higher education minister be from March 14 to
Mohan Yadav apologise for the tweet in which he sought to ridicule April 8.
Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. According to the party, the It is of course possible
tweet that has since vanished, said “Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar that the government has
Vallabhbhai Patel were there in the parade of the Republic Day. Neither the coun- something up its sleeve,
try’s fake father nor the fake chacha were there”. and that it will put the
The tweet is a reflection of the desperate attempts by the Sangh Parivar to create cards on the table as it
a narrative that would give an impression that the Hindutva forces were part of were only at the eleventh
the freedom movement. Subhas Chandra Bose was president of the All-India hour. But it may not take
Congress Committee before he fell out with the then leadership, quit and formed too many risks in the first
the Forward Bloc, which was nationalist, secular and socialist in nature. Sardar phase of the session
Vallabhbhai Patel was a Congressman till the end. The Parivar is making every because of the Assembly
attempt at appropriating these leaders, and its outcome is yet to be seen. elections due in five states
The Mahatma and Pandit Nehru continue to remain a sore spot with the Indian — Uttar Pradesh,
right wing for many reasons. The Parivar, even when underscoring the role of Uttarakhand, Punjab,
Gandhiji in Indian history, would never agree to the title “Father of the Nation” Goa, and Manipur — in
borne by him. There are even fans of Nathuram Godse, Bapu’s assassin, associat- February-March. It may
ed with the ruling dispensation. Yet despite the best efforts to dig up the story of well try to announce
V.D. Savarkar, the finding of the Jivanlal Kapur commission that investigated the some measures in the
conspiracy behind Gandhi’s assassination that “all these facts taken together were Budget or bring in legisla-
destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his tion to deal with sections
group” comes in the way of further venerating the Hindutva icon. of the electorate in these
The Sangh Parivar can exult in celebrating the unsung heroes of the Indian free- five states. Due to the
dom movement and that would be welcome. But the tragedy is that it would have multi-phase polling, the
none of its own to name when the future generations ask about its role. Attempts
to denigrate two greatest Indians are unlikely to be accepted as the answer.
extent of the Election
Commission’s model code
of conduct will differ, and
the government will sure-
ly want to do something
electorally gainful in the
window that is available.
The major policy instru-
ment that the govern-
ment has is the Budget,
and it could announce
measures for farmers and
address the unrest by
unemployed youth as it
THE ASIAN AGE exploded during the rail-
way job examinations in
KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAR Bihar. There will just be
Editor Printer & Publisher minor bills that come up,
THE ASIAN AGE office is located at:
but little of major contro-
New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: versy. It does appear that
in the last two Covid-hit
(011) 23211124.
Published and Printed on behalf of and for years, the government
◗ Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,
had little room for any-
New Delhi 110 002 at BFL Infotech Ltd., C-9, Sector-III, Noida -201301.
◗ London: Quickmarsh Ltd, 8th Floor, Block 2, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London, SE1 7NQ. thing else but to come up
RNI Registration number: 57290/94 with ameliorative mea-
the economy.
The all-party meeting
that the government cus-
tomarily holds with the
Opposition parties and its
allies is unlikely to be
fruitful. The Opposition
will demand a discussion
on the Covid-19 situation,
on the controversial
Pegasus issue involving
Israeli spyware acquired
by the government, the
youth unrest over jobs.
The government is
unlikely to yield any
ground on the Pegasus
issue as it is being probed
by a Supreme Court-
appointed technical com-
mittee. The Congress is
likely to use an exhaus-
tive New York Times
report about an India-
Israeli deal, which includ-
ed the undisclosed
Pegasus spyware. But it
will not be sufficient to
cry foul and “treason”, as
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi did at a press con-
ference. There is a need
for some member to cull
the facts and build a
strong case against the
government’s secrecy in
the matter. It’s much
most likely the issue will
create a lot of predictable
heat and little of sub-
stance. There is likely to
be a furore in both Houses
on the issue. The
Opposition parties have
consistently failed to nail
the many omissions and
commissions of this gov-
ernment. All that they
display is fury and little
Minister Narendra Modi
will use his reply to the
debate on the Motion of
Thanks in the two Houses
to talk about the govern-
ment’s successes and dis-
miss the Opposition’s
charges, which could as
well be an indirect cam-
paign speech for the elec-
tions to take place in the
five states in the following
weeks.
In more ways than one,
the government is on safe
ground. The focus will be
on the Opposition. If the
Opposition parties can
chalk out a strategy of
cooperation, then it could
put pressure on the gov-
ernment on several
issues, especially during
the debate on the Motion
of Thanks to
President. Unfortunately,
the
the Opposition remains
divided, much to the
amusement of the
government.
It is indeed the case that
the government is unwill-
ing to yield time and
space to discuss issues
that the Opposition wants
to raise, but the
Opposition most of the
time is flailing its hands
in the air. It should be
using the Comptroller
and Auditor-General’s
reports, though there are
not many of them, to
expose the government.
For example, the CAG
report on the new Indian
Institutes of Technology,
which are failing on
every front, from infra-
stories and not rhetorical
hot air. When the BJP
was in Opposition, its
leaders used to dig out sto-
ries of corruption and
inefficiency, and hold
press conferences.
Though Mr Modi enjoys
huge support in sections
of the media, there are
others who are looking to
get real stuff about the
government’s exaggerat-
ed claims and even lies.
The Opposition leaders
are not willing to dig out
the facts.
An untapped story of
secrecy and wrongdoing
on the government’s part
is its much-hyped vacci-
nation programme, its
procurement of vaccines
from various manufac-
turers. No question has
been raised by any
Opposition leader on why
the India-made Covaxin
of Hyderabad-based Bhar-
at Biotech has failed to
produce the vaccine doses
needed in the country,
and why is it manufac-
tured-in-India Covishield
of Pune’s Serum Institute
of India that has supplied
about 85 per cent of the
vaccine doses adminis-
tered in the country.
It is not surprising,
therefore, that the
Narendra Modi govern-
ment can be assured of an
easy time in Parliament.
The writer is a
Delhi-based
commentator and
analyst
Navi Mumbai
NYT GAMECHANGER
THE PEGASUS controversy has come
back to haunt the Centre ahead of the
budget session. The New York Times
claimed the Indian government had
purchased the Pegasus spyware from
the NSO Group of Israel in July 2017 to
carry out targeted surveillance on citi-
zens, triggering a fresh political row.
The investigative report claimed that
the high-level visits by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to Israel in 2017 trans-
lated into the $2-billion deal. The reve-
lations could put the ruling dispensa-
tion on a sticky wicket.
N.J. Ravi Chander
Bengaluru
EVES COME OF AGE
WOMEN’S CRICKET has come of age
and we are witnessing keen matches in
the eves’ internationals. They are
vying for top honours just like men and
this year Smriti Mandhana got named
ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.
Women’s Ashes has been more well-
matched than the male counterparts.
Good quality cricket and talent on both
sides on show. If women’s teams easily
bowl over 96 overs in a Test day then
why do men’s teams struggle to bowl 80
within the stipulated time? Obviously
monetary fines are not doing much.
ICC should look into more punitive
measures.
M.R. Jayanthi
Coimbatore
`500 for the best letter of the
week goes to C.K. Ramani
(Jan. 27). Email:
asianage.letters@gmail.com.

A
s sunshine finally creeps across the the Sue Gray Report will be edited out if it — but let’s hope he no longer behaves like Wouldn’t you love to attend a Regency ball, a la
London skies, the Prime Minister hampers the police investigation! And so the Hindi film heroes of days gone by... Bridgerton? The serial by the way returns
Boris Johnson is set to get lucky Opposition can keep trying to get him out but soon with an Indian heroine at the centre of

H
again! While the Opposition has been Boris isn’t budging. It is an old trick to get com- aving shifted our home closer to the it... and then of course we have yoga being

Kishwar Desai fuming over Partygate, it seems that he may

get away with a rap on the knuckles and a 100
pound fine for attending parties at number 10
London Diary
Downing Street while the rest of country were
missions and inquiries to look into controver-
sial matters and it is the best way to kick
everything into the long grass.
city centre, I am always surprised at
the number of Indians who live and
taught everywhere — especially out in the
wilderness.
work here. And Asians of all varieties. The
B
other day the friendly green grocer asked me ut while having fun in London a word of

forbidden from doing so!
A lot of time in Parliament and on air has
been spent in discussing how many parties
there were actually at number 10 and who
O
bsession can come in many forms — and
now Emma Raducanu, the champion
tennis player is facing it from an over-
friendly fan who has become a stalker.
which country I was from — and then imme- caution — everyday the media is full of
diately said ‘Aap Hindi bol sakte hain?” women being duped by men they “met”
Turns out he is from Afghanistan and loves on a dating app — and even so-called smart
India — a country he said had always sup- women are being ripped off — of their money

Partygate to be attended. There was even an impromptu birth-

day party for the Prime Minister who turned
50 during this period. But Johnson has always
managed to survive crisis upon crisis through
Unemployed Amrit Magar expressed his affec-
tion not only from himself but also his wife
Bina and dog Logan towards Raducanu — and
while he decorated her porch with a Christmas
ported Afghanistan. He immediately offered
to deliver the groceries whenever I wanted to
our home. I was impressed at how far reach-
ing Indian diplomacy can be! But good eco-
and their reputations. So swiping right might
not be the easiest thing in the world anymore.
The pandemic probably made things worse
because many relationships remained online

watered down; machinations no one can predict. It is difficult

to outwit him — and though he may have
become the first Prime Minister to face a vote
tree, none of it was welcomed by either the ten-
nis player or her family. He even walked off
with a shoe he thought was hers as a souvenir.
nomic sense must have prevailed on him,
because as I left he mumbled that home deliv-
ery was only possible if the basic cost was
for a long time — and allowed gullible women
to fall victim to swindlers, who rarely revealed
their identity. This seems to be among the

dating fraud the of no-confidence over parties he had either

allegedly known about or attended — the pos-
He now has a restraining order on him, and
the young player is keen to move into a new
more than 20 pounds. most common scams to hit the Internet. So
watch out!

L
sibility looks increasingly remote. The house to avoid any further visits by him. Well, ondon is now done with social distanc- Otherwise, head for London, which is back in
Metropolitan police has been hauled in to not only does the stalker appear to be of Indian ing. And masks are increasingly becom- business!

newest menace investigate if there were any parties — or

indeed who organised them. Their “investiga-
tion”, however, comes after a report by a
senior civil servant — which is to be
announced shortly on the same matter.
This means that much of the information in
origin, the judge, Sushil Kumar, who found
him guilty certainly was... yes, we know hun-
dreds of Indian movies have been made where
the hero is a stalker, but no one thinks of it as
a sign of affection anymore. Magar has con-
fessed he was ashamed of his own behaviour
ing a rarity. This weekend the city is
back to its days of having fun in the sun, and
staycations with themes or short specially
Kishwar Desai is a prize-winning author
and her latest book is The Longest Kiss: The
curated experiential events are becoming Life And Times of Devika Rani. She is also
increasingly popular. These intense moments the chair of the trust that set up the world’s
include a few which I finding very tempting! first Partition Museum in Amritsar.
 WORLD
THE ASIAN AGE | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022 | LONDON
SHORT
LANKA’S TAMIL
TAKES
PARTY PROTESTS
13th AMENDMENT
Colombo: Sri Lanka’s hardline
Tamil minority party Tamil
National People’s Front (TNPF)
organised a protest march in
the Northern capital of Jaffna
to protest against the 13th
Amendment to the Constitution
on Sunday.
Tamils reject 13th
Amendment protest rally was
held near the historic Nallur
Kovil, organisers said, adding
that the protesters would also
stage a walk from Nallur to the
Kittu Park in Jaffna town.
The protest rally was held
after the main Tamil party
Tamil National Alliance (TNA)
and their allies wrote to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi last
week seeking India’s interven-
tion to force the Sri Lankan gov-
ernment to implement the pro-
visions of the 13th Amendment,
also known as 13A, in full.
TEAR GAS FIRED
AT ANTI-COUP
GROUP IN SUDAN
Khartoum: Sudanese security
forces fired tear gas in
Khartoum on Sunday at thou-
sands protesting for civilian
rule and against a military
coup that took place last year,
an AFP correspondent said.
Pro-democracy activists have
upped calls for protests to
restore a transition to civilian
rule since the October 25 mili-
tary takeover led by general
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The coup, one of several in
Sudan’s post-independence his-
tory, derailed a power-sharing
arrangement between the army
and civilians that had been
painstakingly negotiated after
the 2019 ouster of longtime
autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
ETHIOPIAN PM IN
UAE AS TIGRAY
WAR CONTINUES
Dubai: Ethiopian Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed has trav-
elled to the United Arab
Emirates on a state visit amid
his country’s ongoing war
against Tigray rebels. Ahmed
arrived on Saturday and was
greeted planeside by Abu
Dhabi’s powerful crown prince,
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed
Al Nahyan. They later attended
an honor guard ceremony and
held meetings, according to the
Emirates’ WAM news agency.
The Tigray war has been rag-
ing since November 2020. The
war has shifted in recent weeks,
with the Tigray forces retreat-
ing into their region after
attempting to advance on the
capital, Addis Ababa, and
Ethiopia’s military saying it
would not pursue them further.
BEIJING SEES SPIKE
IN COVID CASES
BEFORE OLYMPICS
Beijing: Beijing recorded its
highest number of new Covid-
19 cases after a year and a half
on Sunday, as the Chinese capi-
tal gears up to host the Winter
Olympics in five days.
China will hold the Games in a
strict “closed-loop” bubble as
part of its zero-Covid strategy
of targeted lockdowns, border
restrictions and lengthy quar-
antines. The approach has
helped the world’s second-
largest economy keep new infec-
tions far lower than many other
countries, but it is battling local
outbreaks in several cities as
well as in the Olympic bubble.
The upcoming Lunar New
Year — China’s biggest national
holiday — presents a further
challenge as millions of people
return to their hometowns.
MACRON REQUESTS
IRAN TO RELEASE
JAILED RESEARCHER
Paris: French President
Emmanuel Macron called for
the “immediate release” of a
French-Iranian researcher
imprisoned in Iran, officials
said on Sunday.
Macron made the plea in a
“long” phone call on Saturday
with Iranian President
Ebrahim Raisi, according to a
statement from the French
presidency. Fariba Adelkhah, a
62-year-old anthropologist, has
been detained in Iran since
June 2019. She had been under
house arrest since October 2020,
but was sent back to prison ear-
lier this month.
Adelkhah was given a five-
year sentence for “gathering
and colluding” against Iran’s
security. French authorities
said her conviction is “purely
political and arbitrary.”
Macron also expressed his
“concerns” over the situation of
another French national
detained in Iran.
Nato aim to take Ukraine NSO denies wrongdoing
into its fold, Russia fears after criticism of Pegasus
Russia amassing troops near Ukraine border sparks panic in the West
Moscow, Jan. 30: Russia’s
foreign minister claims
that Nato wants to pull
Ukraine into the alliance,
amid escalating tensions
over Nato expansion and
fears that Russia is prepar-
ing to invade Ukraine.
In comments on state tel-
evision Sunday, Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov
also challenged Nato’s
claim to be a purely defen-
sive structure.
Russia’s amassing of an
estimated 100,000 troops
near the border with
Ukraine has brought
increasingly strong warn-
ings from the West that
Moscow intends to invade.
Russia in turn demands
that Nato promise never to
allow Ukraine to join the
alliance, and to stop the
deployment of Nato
weapons near Russian bor-
ders and roll back its
forces from Eastern
Europe.
The head of Russia’s
Security Council, Nikolai
Patrushev, on Sunday
rejected Western warn-
ings about a planned inva-
sion.
“At this time, they’re say-
ing that Russia threatens
Ukraine — that’s com-
pletely ridiculous,” he was
quoted as saying by state
news agency Tass. “We
don’t want war and we
don’t need it at all.”
Russia has long resented
Nato’s granting member-
ship to countries that were
once part of the Soviet
Union or were in its
sphere of influence as
members of the Warsaw
Pact.
Nato “has already come
close to Ukraine. They also
want to drag this country
there,” Lavrov said.
— AP
Russia-Ukraine crisis: UK likely to
send more troops to support Nato
London, Jan. 30:
Embattled British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson,
who is yet to receive a cru-
cial report into alleged
Covid-19 lockdown breach-
es under his leadership, on
Sunday tried to focus
attention on the crisis
with Russian troop build-
up on the Ukrainian
border.
Downing Street said the
UK government is expect-
ed to bolster its offer to the
North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (Nato) with
a major military deploy-
ment to strengthen
Europe’s borders in the
face of “rising Russian
aggression”.
UK officials will be
deployed to Brussels to
finalise the details of the
offer with Nato next week,
and ministers will discuss
the military options on
Christian priest shot Thousands protest vax mandate in Ottawa
dead in Peshawar
Peshawar, Jan. 30: A
Christian priest was shot
dead and another wound-
ed by unidentified gun-
men who opened fire on
them as they were return-
ing home from Sunday
mass in Pakistan’s north-
western Peshawar city,
police said, describing it
as a “terrorist act”.
Bishop William Siraj
was shot multiple times
and died on the spot,
while Father Naeem
Patrick was wounded in
the attack that took place
near Ring Road within
Gulbahar police station
limits, police said.
Police officials immedi-
ately rushed to the spot
and started the search
operation. A strict securi-
ty has been made at the
entry and exit points to
nab the culprits.
No group has immedi-
ately claimed responsibil-
ity for the attack, the lat-
est on Pakistan’s small
Christian minority that
has often been targeted by
militants in recent years.
Capital City police offi-
cer Abbas Ahsan said that
there were two attackers
involved in the attack.
“A comprehensive inves-
tigation has been
launched,” he said,
adding that it was a “ter-
rorist act”.
“We are determined to
A military instructor trains civilians holding wooden replicas of Kalashnikov rifles
during a training session at an abandoned factory in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev on
Sunday amid growing fears of a potential Russian invasion.
No threat to Ukraine, want
mutual ties with US: Russia
Moscow, Jan. 30: Russia
said it wants “mutually
respectful” relations with
the United States and
denied posing a threat to
Ukraine, as the UK said it
was preparing fresh sanc-
tions against Moscow, on
Sunday. Tensions have
soared between Moscow
and Washington after
Western governments
accused Russia of amass-
ing tens of thousands of
troops on its border with
ex-Soviet Ukraine.
The military build-up has
sparked fears that Russia is
planning an invasion,
● A SECOND trip to meet
NATO member counter-
parts is being planned for
early next month. UK
Foreign Secretary Liz
Truss and UK Defence
Secretary Ben Wallace are
also preparing to make
visits to Moscow for talks
with their counterparts in
the coming days.
● THEY WILL be asked to
improve relationships with
President Putin’s govern-
ment and encourage de-
escalation.
Monday. “This package
would send a clear mes-
sage to the Kremlin — we
will not tolerate their
destabilising activity, and
we will always stand with
our Nato allies in the face
Russian hostility,” said
protect minorities,” he
said, adding that a team
consisting of officials
from the Counter
Terrorism Department
(CTD) and Peshawar
police had been formed to
probe the case.
Police said they were
reviewing the
footage to locate the
CCTV
attackers, who escaped on
motorcycles. “Evidence is
being collected from the
scene of the crime and
CCTV cameras are also
being checked,” police
said in a statement.
“William Siraj was a
padre at a church within
Chamkani police station
limits,” it said. The body
had been shifted to the
hospital for autopsy
while further investiga-
tion was underway.
A spokesperson for Lady
Reading Hospital said
that the injured priest
was discharged after
being provided medical
treatment for minor
injuries.
Hafiz Muhammad Tahir
Mahmood Ashrafi,
Chairman Pakistan
Ulema Council and
Special Representative of
the Prime Minister Imran
Khan for Interfaith
Harmony and Middle
East, condemned the
attack on the Christian
priests. — PTI
spooking Nato and its
members in the region and
prompting the Western
alliance to explore bolster-
ing its own deployments
there.
“We want good, equal,
mutually respectful rela-
tions with the United
States, like with every
country in the world,”
Russia’s Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov told Russian
TV on Sunday. He added,
however, that Russia does-
n’t want to remain in a
position “where our securi-
ty is infringed daily”.
Citing the encroachment
Johnson. “If President
Putin chooses a path of
bloodshed and destruc-
tion, it will be a tragedy
for Europe. Ukraine must
be free to choose its own
future. I have ordered our
Armed Forces to prepare
to deploy across Europe
next week, ensuring we
are able to support our
Nato allies on land, at sea
and in the air,” he said.
It comes after Johnson
asked UK defence and
security chiefs to step up
defensive efforts in
Europe during a high-level
intelligence briefing on
the situation in Ukraine
this week.
Downing Street said the
additional troop deploy-
ment is intended to rein-
force Nato’s defences and
underpin the UK’s support
for its Nordic and Baltic
partners.
Ottawa, Jan. 30: Hundreds
of trucks and thousands of
people blocked the streets
of central Ottawa on
Saturday as part of a self-
titled “Freedom Convoy”
to protest vaccine man-
dates required to cross the
US border.
Flying the Canadian flag,
waving banners demand-
ing “Freedom” and chanti-
ng slogans against Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau,
the truckers were joined
by thousands of other pro-
testers angered not only by
Covid-19 restrictions but
ROUGH | WEATHER
Storm in Boston triggers chaos, outages
Boston, Jan. 30: Blinding
snow whipped up by pow-
erful winds pummeled the
eastern United States early
on Sunday, as one of the
strongest winter storms in
years triggered transport
chaos and power outages
across a region of some 70
million people.
Major cities such as New
York and Boston bore the
brunt of the blizzard,
which the National
Weather Service (NWS)
confirmed had intensified
into a “bomb cyclone” —
characterized by the explo-
— AFP
of Nato near its eastern
border, Russia has put for-
ward security demands to
Washington and the US-led
military alliance.
These include a guaran-
tee that Nato will not admit
new members, in particu-
lar Ukraine, and the United
States will not establish
new military bases in ex-
Soviet countries. Russia
has also demanded a pull-
back of
deployed
Nato forces
to eastern
European and ex-Soviet
countries that joined the
alliance after the Cold War.
— AFP
Johnson is also expected
to speak to Russian
President Vladimir Putin
and travel to the region
sometime next week to
relay the message that
without deterrence and
diplomacy, thousands of
lives will be lost in both
Russia and Ukraine.
A second trip to meet
Nato member counter-
parts is being planned for
early next month. UK
Foreign Secretary Liz
Truss and UK Defence
Secretary Ben Wallace are
also preparing to make
visits to Moscow for talks
with their counterparts in
the coming days.
They will be asked to
improve relationships
with President Putin’s
government and encour-
age de-escalation,
Downing Street said.
— PTI
by broader discontent
with the government.
An enormous clamour
rang out as hundreds of
big trucks, their engines
rumbling, sounded their
air horns non-stop.
Closer to Parliament,
families calmly marched
on a bitterly cold day,
while young people chant-
ed and older people in the
crowd banged pots and
pans in protest under
Trudeau’s office windows.
Canadian media said the
Prime Minister and his
family had been escorted
Heavily-hit areas see 2ft of snow, over 95k homes left without power
● IN LONG ISLAND, offi-
cials said a woman had
been found dead in her
car by a snowplow
operator.
sive power of rapid drops
in atmospheric pressure.
The heaviest-hit parts of
New York and
Massachusetts received
two feet (61 centimeters) of
snow by early evening,
with more than 95,000
homes in Massachusetts
reported without power.
Snowfall in Boston
Jerusalem, Jan. 30:
Israel’s embattled cyber
tech company NSO Group
has denied wrongdoing as
it called criticism of its
sale of Pegasus spyware
programme to non-demo-
cratic countries “hypocrit-
ical,” comparing the sur-
veillance technology to
military weapons systems
being sold by others, amid
mounting allegations that
software was misused
globally, including in
Israel.
An undeterred chief
executive officer of NSO
Group, Shalev Hulio, in an
interview to Israeli
Channel 12 on Saturday,
strongly defended the
company’s operations,
though he also conceded
that some “mistakes” may
have happened over the
years.
“I absolutely sleep
soundly at night,” Hulio
told the Channel’s inter-
viewer when asked if he
can do so amid so much
ISRAELI PREZ.
ON FIRST-EVER
VISIT TO UAE
Abu Dhabi, Jan.
Israel’s President Isaac
30:
Herzog arrived in the
United Arab Emirates on
Sunday, in the latest
high-profile diplomatic
trip since the countries
normalised ties.
Herzog, who is travel-
ling with the first lady, is
scheduled to meet with
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince
Sheikh Mohammed bin
Zayed Al-Nahyan and for-
eign minister Sheikh
Abdullah bin Zayed Al-
Nahyan, his office said.
“Flying now with my
wife Michal for a historic
visit in the United Arab
Emirates, which symbol-
ises above all the prom-
ise of peace between
nations,” he tweeted
before departing to Abu
Dhabi.
Herzog will also sit
down with the UAE
Prime Minister and ruler
of Dubai,
Mohammed bin Rashid
Sheikh
Al-Maktoum, and visit
Expo 2020 Dubai, his
office added.
The visit comes some 16
months after the wealthy
Gulf country forged
diplomatic ties with
Israel, becoming the
third Arab nation to do
so after Egypt and
Jordan.
The Emirati ambassa-
dor in Israel, Mohamed
Al Khaja, tweeted
Saturday that the trip
was previously sched-
uled for January 9 but
“was postponed due to
Covid-19 conditions”.
“We look forward to
this historic visit, which
will enhance the bilater-
al relations... as we aim
to sign important eco-
nomic and trade agree-
ments between the two
countries in the near
future,” he added. — AFP
● AN ENORMOUS clam-
our rang out as hundreds
of big trucks, their engines
rumbling, sounded their
air horns non-stop.
out of their home and
taken to a secret location
in the Capital, with much
of the protesters’ wrath
directed at Trudeau.
“I want it all to stop —
these measures are unjus-
tified,” said one demon-
strator, 31-year-old busi-
nessman Philippe
Castonguay, outside the
equalled the one-day
record of 23.6 inches set in
2003, the NWS said, while
the town of Sharon, 29
kilometers to the south,
had recorded the highest
snowfall by 8.30 pm on
Saturday with more than
30 inches.
The towns of Islip, New
York, and Warren, Rhode
Island, were similarly
blanketed. Cold weather
stretched as far south as
Florida, where the NWS
warned of “scattered to
isolated falling iguanas
from trees” as plunging
worldwide criticism.
Hulio’s interview came a
day after a New York
Times report on Friday
claimed that India bought
Pegasus spyware as part
of a USD 2 billion defence
deal with Israel in 2017,
triggering a major contro-
versy with the Opposition
alleging that the govern-
ment indulged in illegal
snooping that amounted
to “treason”.
“There is not one coun-
try we’ve sold to, not one
that the US does not sell to,
or that Israel doesn’t sell
to. So it’s a bit hypocritical
to say it’s okay to sell F-35s
and tanks and drones, but
it’s not okay to sell a tool
that collects intelligence,”
Hulio said, defending the
company’s position.
He also pointed out that
out of almost 90 clients
that turned to them for the
technology, they sold only
to around 40 as per laid
down norms.
In reaction to the black-
People watch a news broadcast showing file footage of
a North Korean missile test in Seoul after North Korea
fired a “suspected ballistic missile” in the country’s
seventh weapons test this month.
North Korea tests
its longest-range
missile since 2017
Seoul, Jan. 30: North
Korea on Sunday fired
what appeared to be the
most powerful missile it
has tested since President
Joe Biden took office in
the US, as it revives its old
playbook in brinkman-
ship to wrest concessions
from Washington and
neighbors amid a pro-
longed stalemate in diplo-
macy.
The Japanese and South
Korean militaries said the
missile was launched on a
lofted trajectory, apparent-
ly to avoid the territorial
spaces of neighbors, and
reached a maximum alti-
tude of 2,000 kilometers
and traveled 800 kilome-
ters before landing in the
sea. The flight details sug-
gest the North tested its
longest-range ballistic
missile since 2017, when it
twice flew intermediate-
range ballistic missiles
over Japan and, separate-
ly, three intercontinental
ballistic missiles that
Parliament building.
He had driven seven
hours from northern
Quebec province to make
his feelings known, “The
vaccination requirements
are taking us toward a new
society we never voted
for,” he said.
The protest originated
last week in western
Canada, where dozens of
truckers organized a con-
voy to drive
Vancouver to Ottawa to
from
demonstrate against
Covid-related restrictions,
particularly a vaccination
temperatures temporarily
paralyzed the large lizards.
Residents in towns and
cities across the eastern
seaboard were urged to
avoid all unnecessary trav-
el for a second night of
whiteout conditions, with
additional snowfall expect-
ed to be heaviest across
New England.
In Long Island, officials
said a woman had been
found dead in her car by a
snowplow operator.
Salt machines and snow-
plows crawled along the
streets of New York City,
pg 6
listing of the company by
the US Department of
Commerce in November,
the company’s senior most
executive called it an “out-
rage” that he hopes will be
lifted soon.
“Our technology has
over the years helped the
interests and national
security of the United
States quite a bit,” he
claimed. “I think the fact
that a company like NSO
is on [a US blacklist] is an
outrage. I’m sure we’ll be
taken off that list. I have
no doubt.”
The NSO Group and its
controversial Pegasus
technology, which has
grabbed attention of gov-
ernments and people
worldwide with allega-
tions of misuse in India as
well, was blacklisted by
the US Department of
Commerce for acting con-
trary to the foreign policy
and national security
interests of the US last
year in November. — PTI
— AFP
demonstrated the poten-
tial to reach deep into the
American homeland.
Sunday’s test was North
Korea’s seventh round of
launches this month. The
unusually fast pace of
tests indicates its intent to
pressure the Biden admin-
istration over long-stalled
nuclear negotiations as
pandemic-related difficul-
ties put further stress on
an economy broken by
decades of mismanage-
ment and crippling US-led
sanctions over its nuclear
weapons program.
South Korean President
Moon Jae-in called an
emergency National
Security Council meeting
where he described the
test as a possible “mid-
range ballistic missile
launch” that brought
North Korea to the brink
of breaking its 2018 self-
imposed moratorium on
the testing of nuclear
devices and longer-range
missiles. — AP
requirement for truck
drivers.
Both Canada and the
United States imposed that
requirement in mid-
January, affecting drivers
who cross the 5,500-mile
(9,000-kilometer) border —
the world’s longest.
The movement rapidly
gained steam as the origi-
nal cross-country convoy
was joined by others en
route to the federal capital.
Their rallying point was
Parliament Hill, in the
heart of Ottawa. — AFP
where Central Park was
covered in 7.5 inches of
snow and regional train
lines were partially shut
down. In Boston, where a
snow emergency was
declared, Mayor Michelle
Wu tweeted a reminder
Saturday “to stay off the
roads if you can.”
Massachusetts Governor
Charlie Baker said, “This
storm is bringing strong
winds and lots of snow,
with coastal, eastern and
southeastern MA commu-
nities getting hit particu-
larly hard. — AFP
 MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022 | LONDON
pg 7

„Mutual funds witness decline in market share

quick Retail investors’ share in
Ambani’s $75-bn plan targets
lion’s share of hydrogen mkt
BITES stocks rises during Covid RAJESH KUMAR SINGH &
DEBJIT CHAKRABORTY
JAN. 30

INDICATORS % SANGEETHA G
Billionaire Mukesh
Ambani's ambitious effort
Sensex 57,200.23 -0.13
Nifty 50 17,102.00 -0.05
CHENNAI, JAN. 30

The share of retail

MARKET TO TRACK BUDGET, GLOBAL GEOPOLITICS to pivot his conglomerate
Reliance Industries Ltd
towards green energy
S&P 500* 4,431.85 2.43 investors in the ownership RAVI RANJAN PRASAD from a two-year old pan- could transform India
Dollar (`) 75.04 0.06 of listed companies has MUMBAI, JAN.30 demic," said Shanti into a clean-hydrogen jug-
Pound Sterling (`) 100.31 0.48 been rising since the Ekambaram, group presi- gernaut.
advent of the Covid-19 pan- The stock market will be dent-consumer banking, Ambani announced
Euro (`) 83.54 0.60 demic. Simultaneously, the largely tracking the Union Kotak Mahindra Bank. plans earlier this month broken out how much will Reaching a $1 price point
Gold (10gm)* (`) 47,777▼423 0.88 share of mutual funds has Budget scheduled for "We are expecting the to invest $75 billion in be devoted to hydrogen, will require a steep drop
witnessed a dip. Tuesday and so could take Union Budget to continue renewables infrastruc- the $75 billion investment in the cost of electroly-
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 91.18 2.06 During the pandemic, the global cues in its stride. As to support growth over fis- ture, including generation in clean energy is by far sers, the equipment need-
IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.768 0.33 share of individual retail the market faced the worst cal consolidation by con- plants, solar panels and the biggest in the country. ed to make green hydro-
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 1.778 -0.002 investors holding stocks of fortnight of foreign tinued focus on capital electrolysers. There is Other companies such as gen, says Debasish
listed companies rose. investors booking profit in expenditure, rural devel- growing speculation that Adani Enterprises Ltd Mishra, a Mumbai-based
* As of 8:30 PM IST Before the pandemic, retail the recent past, a positive opment, pandemic-related the strategy entails trans- and state-run energy partner at Deloitte Touche
investors accounted for 8.6 stance from them post- healthcare, support to forming all of that clean firms NTPC Ltd and Tohmatsu.
per cent of the total equity budget will boost market MSMEs, measures to power into hydrogen, one Indian Oil Corporation In addition, a capacity

MRPL Q3 net
of listed companies. This
rose steadily during the
pandemic months to reach
rises to `970 cr, 9.9 per cent in the quarter
ended December 2021, as
sentiments. boost green energy, and of the largest endorse- also have set plans for utilisation of more than
The US market's bounce of 16600-17600 and either spending on public wel- ments in the next-genera- green hydrogen. 80 per cent will be
back on Friday will cheer side's decisive break fare," Ekambaram said. tion fuel. The number of coun- required, and that should
Asian markets
Monday. Good fourth
on would trigger the next
directional move," said
“Other than the budget,
global cues will be very
Analysts say Reliance is
likely to opt for hydrogen
tries with a hydrogen
strategy doubled last year
be powered by constant
energy supplies at less

margins go up per the data of Centre for

The Mangalore Refinery and
Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL)
posted a net profit of Rs 969
crore during the third quarter
of 2021-22 against a loss of Rs
76 crore in the year-ago quar-
ter. The gross revenue from
operations stood at Rs 25,238
crore against Rs 14,136 crore.
The gross refining margin
stood at Rs 9.29 a barrel
against Rs 3.26 a barrel a year
ago. The refinery throughput
was 4.37 mt against 3.08 mt.
LIC chairman’s
Monitoring
Economy.
Indian
The share of retail
investors in the floating
stock or non-promoter
shares of listed companies
increased from 16.4 per
cent just before the pan-
demic in the quarter ended
December 2019 to 19.4 per
cent by the quarter ended
December 2021.
The rise of ownership by
individuals coincided with
the fall in ownership by
domestic mutual funds.
This shift in favour of indi-
viduals coincided with the
start of Covid-19, the con-
sequent lockdowns and the
phenomenon of work-for-
quarter performance
from Apple led to sharp
gains in US market
indices, led by Nasdaq
(3.13 per cent), S&P 500
(2.43 per cent) and Dow
Jones (1.65 per cent).
"The Union Budget
would set the tone for the
domestic markets amid
the global sell-off. Vola-
tility remains high during
the budget week. We
expect the Nifty index to
hover in a broader range
Smartphone-based per-
sonal apps and a sharp fall
in transaction costs with
the advent of discount bro-
kers helped. While work-
Ajit Mishra, VP-research.
Religare Broking.
"Global monetary policy
has seen a reversal on the
back of strong growth and
strong inflation. We are
likely to see rate hikes
this year signalling the
end of monetary accom-
modation. In this back-
drop, we are optimistic
that the government will
make the right moves in
Budget FY2023 to help the
economy emerge stronger
mutual funds lost only 94
basis points and foreign
portfolio investors lost 89
basis points.
Ownership of mutual
important where global
markets are trying to
digest the rising interest
rate scenario but geopolit-
ical uncertainties is
another major concern...
The rising dollar index
and rising crude oil prices
are other issues for
emerging markets like
India. We are in the mid-
dle of the Q3 earning ses-
sion," said Santosh
Meena, head of Research,
Swastika Investmart.
Foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs) continue
to remain the dominant
owners of listed equity in
the floating stock space.
in a bid to avoid the whole-
sale electricity market,
which is dominated by
financially stressed utili-
ties and plagued by
delayed payments.
"Reliance is preparing
itself to capture the entire
value chain of the green
hydrogen economy," said
Gagan Sidhu, director at
the Centre for Energy
Finance at New Delhi-
based think tank CEEW.
"They clearly have seen
the writing on the wall."
Green hydrogen -- made
from water and clean elec-
tricity -- is seen as crucial
for the world's emissions
reduction goals, helping
consumers and key indus-
to 26, and expected plans
from the US, Brazil, India
and China could reshape
the global market, accord-
ing to BloombergNEF. But
the sector is still experi-
mental and far from com-
mercially viable. India is
relying on its billionaires,
including Ambani and his
rival Gautam Adani, to
lead the way.
A key challenge will be
to produce it at affordable
costs. Green hydrogen
produced by renewables is
far from competitive com-
pared to other fuels, cost-
ing nearly double the
price using coal.
Ambani has vowed to
produce green hydrogen
than 3 cents per kilowatt-
hour, Mishra said. To
achieve around-the-clock
supplies, supplemental
forms of energy such as
storage or hydropower
will be needed, and that
can take the cost beyond
the desired levels.
Ambani may also be
hoping for government
support.
"No one knows if we can
get there," said R.
Ramachandran, a former
director for refineries at
Bharat Petroleum Corp.
"If Reliance succeeds,
then there is good oppor-
tunity. If it doesn't, then
there may be a need for
some government subsi-

tenure extended home of the salaried class-

es. This seems to suggest
from-home facilitated the
shift, the personal apps
funds in the equity of list-
ed companies peaked at 7.8
Even after yielding some of
their stake recently, these
tries such as steel transi-
tion to lower-carbon fuels.
at $1 per kg, a more than
60 per cent reduction from
dies" or other forms of
official support.

by a year
that individuals who earli-
er assigned the task of
managing their invest-
ments portfolio to profes-
sional fund managers like
MFs have taken direct
interest in investments.
helped engineer this shift
and the discount brokers
made the shift a com-
pelling case, said CMIE.
While the retail investors
gained 235 basis points in
market share, the share of
per cent in the quarter
ended March 2020. Then,
during the pandemic it
started to decline. By the
end of the June 2021 quar-
ter, the share had dropped
to 7.2 per cent.
investors account for a sub-
stantial 36 per cent of the
floating stock of listed
companies. FPIs' share had
peaked at 38.8 per cent in
the quarter of December
2020.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi last year announced
a plan to make India into a
global hub for production
and export of the fuel.
While Reliance hasn't
today's costs. "Reliance
will aggressively pursue
this target and achieve it
well before the turn of
this decade," Ambani said
last year.
India plans to unveil its
first green hydrogen poli-
cy in about 10 days, power
minister Raj Kumar
Singh said on Thursday.
—Bloomberg

MacKenzie Scott cut Online purchases moderate

The government has extended
LIC chairman M. R. Kumar’s
tenure by one year to facilitate
a smooth listing of the insurer,
sources said. The Centre has
also extended the tenure of
one of the managing directors,
Raj Kumar, who was to retire
on January 31, for one year.
With the extension, M. R.
Kumar will continue at the
helm of LIC till March 2023.
Notifications in this regard
would be issued soon.
JSW director
PAK SAYS TEXTILE
EXPORTS GAINING
SHARE FROM
BANGLADESH, INDIA
FASEEH MANGI &
KAMRAN HAIDER
JAN. 30
Pakistan's textile sector is
bringing cheer to its flail-
ing economy, with exports
set to swell to a record
after gaining an edge over
South Asian rivals during
the pandemic.
Textile exports are
poised to surge 40 per cent
from a year earlier to a
record $21 billion in the 12
months ending June,
Amazon stock worth after Covid 2nd wave: IMF
$8.5 billion last year
TOM MALONEY &
SOPHIE ALEXANDER
JAN. 30
MacKenzie Scott's stake
in Amazon.com Inc
shrunk by 2.5 million
shares last year, accord-
ing to a regulatory filing,
as the world's fifth-rich-
est woman set records
with the pace of her phi-
lanthropy.
MacKenzie Scott
Index. It would be con-
siderably more, but she's
donated more than $8.6
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, JAN. 30
The share of online pur-
chases in total commerce
went up during the peak
pandemic time compared
to the pre-pandemic lev-
els. But, it started moder-
ating since the second
wave, finds a study by the
International Monetary
Fund.
In India, the share of e-
commerce was 4.4 per cent
prior to the pandemic.
This went up during the
first and second waves of
economies," the study
said.
The latest data suggest
that the spikes in online
across industries is also
seen. The increase in
online spending shares is
more persistent in the
LAB-GROWN
SEAFOOD ON
THE MENU FOR
TOP TUNA FIRM
ANURADHA RAGHU &
RANDY THANTHONG-
KNIGHT
JAN. 30
In the race for alterna-
tive proteins, lab-grown
seafood could be next on
the dinner table.
One of the biggest
makers of canned tuna,
Thai Union Group Pcl,
has set up an innovation
center with more than
100 scientists and engi-

Malay Mukerjee according to Abdul Razak

Dawood, commerce advis-
Those shares would be
worth as much as $8.5
billion since their split
to hundreds of charities
the pandemic, and by May
2021 it stood at 7.4 per
spending shares are grad-
ually dissipating at the
retail sector and restau-
rants, suggesting some e-
neers working to devel-
op various forms of

passes away
er to Pakistan's prime min-
ister. Dawood predicted
that figure would expand
JSW Steel to $26 billion in the next
announced the fiscal year, surpassing the
passing away of nation's total exports last
Malay Mukerjee, 74, year, he said.
an independent The textiles industry—
director on its which supplies everything
board, on Saturday. from denim jeans to towels
Mukherjee held key for buyers in the US and
positions like CEO Europe—is one of the
of Essar Steel Global and mem- country's few economic
ber of the board of directors at bright spots. Textiles
ArcelorMittal. He was also sen- amount to about 60 per
ior executive vice-president at cent of Pakistan's total
ArcelorMittal. exports and the nation
allowed its factories to
open ahead of India and
Bangladesh when the pan-
demic first emerged in
billion based on the aver-
age of Amazon's share
price between the dates
of the two disclosures.
The stake would total
$7.3 billion based on
Amazon's current
$2,879.56 stock price.
Scott still holds 14.9
million shares, accord-
ing to the filing. It details
Jeff Bezos's holdings,
including stock that
Scott ended up with fol-
lowing their 2019 divorce
and which Bezos retains
voting power over.
Scott is worth $48.3 bil-
lion, according to the
Bloomberg Billionaires
across the US.
Scott announces her
donations in blog posts
that explain her motives
and concerns over
inequality in society. In
2021 she gave at least $2.7
billion, according to a
June 2021 post. In a
December post, she
opted to keep the amount
she gave secret.
Scott's philanthropy is
overseen by her Seattle-
based family office Lost
Horse.
Bezos is the world's sec-
ond-richest person with
a $168.9 billion fortune.
—Bloomberg
cent. From then on, with
increased mobility, it
started moderating and
currently stands at 6.5 per
cent.
The IMF had studied 47
economies, including
India, and 26 sectors for
the period between
January 2018 and
September 2021.
"When the Covid-19 pan-
demic hit unexpectedly in
early 2020, there was a
sudden surge in e-com-
merce. In a matter of a few
weeks, lockdowns were
imposed, severely limiting
physical retail purchases
and increasing the pace of
online purchases in most
aggregate level.
However, in some
economies this deviation
from the peak levels is
smaller compared to the
pre-Covid levels. This
includes small economies
such as Bahrain and
Jamaica, which are the
two main outliers, as well
as large developing
economies such as Brazil
and India. In all the other
economies, including the
United States and many
developed economies, the
online shares are now
either at or below the pre-
dicted pre-Covid trend lev-
els.
A significant variation
commerce learning and a
longer-lasting impact of
social mobility restric-
tions in these sectors.
Department stores, elec-
trical appliances, clothing
stores, discount stores,
restaurants-bars, and
drug stores still report
high online shares. Some
of these sectors, in partic-
ular, restaurant-bars and
drug stores, also had low
pre-Covid e-commerce
shares. On the other hand,
the share of online spend-
ing in services, specifical-
ly professional services,
utilities, and recreation,
has fallen below its pre-
pandemic trend.
faux meat and seafood.
It is also partnering
with several companies
through a venture fund,
which could lead to the
production of lab-grown
seafood.
The alternative sea-
food industry is expect-
ed to be worth $1.3 bil-
lion a year globally in 10
years’ time, up from $30
million to $50 million
currently, according to
Maarten Geraets, MD of
Alternative Proteins at
Thai Union, which owns
the Chicken of the Sea
and John West brands.
Faux seafood is about
eight years behind the

AGS Transact 2020, drawing orders from

global brands, including
more mature alterna-
tive meat market,

to make market
Target Corp and Geraets said. That pres-

debut today
Payment solutions provider
AGS Transact Technologies,
which has completed a Rs 680-
crore share sale with over eight
times subscription last week, is
listing on Monday. The issue
saw promoters and other sell-
ing shareholders divesting
stakes at a price band of Rs
166-175. AGS Transact provides
services like ATM and cash-
recycling machines outsourc-
ing, cash management and dig-
ital payment solutions.
Hanesbrands Inc.
"A lot of orders actually
were shifted
Bangladesh and India to
from
Pakistan" during the pan-
demic, said Dawood in an
interview at his Islamabad
office. "The other good
thing that's happening is
we are now becoming com-
petitive with Bangladesh.
Three, four years ago,
Bangladesh was really
beating us."
The government also
plans to announce a pro-
posal next month that will
likely provide incentives
for exports to new markets
such as Africa, South
America and Central Asia,
Dawood said. The nation is
doubling down to boost
textile exports through
measures,m including tax
breaks, cheap loans and
supplying electricity at
rates that are comparable
with rivals in South Asia.
A 60 per cent decline in the
local currency against the
dollar since 2018 has also
helped.
—Bloomberg
And prize for longest speech goes to Sitharaman
New Delhi, Jan. 30: Finance min-
ister Nirmala Sitharaman will on
February 1 present her fourth
straight Union Budget when she
presents financial statements and
tax proposals for fiscal year 2022-
23 (April 2022 to March 2023). Here
are some budget trivia:-
■ FIRST BUDGET: The budget
was first introduced in India on
April 7, 1860 when Scottish econo-
mist and politician James Wilson
from East India Company present-
ed it to the British Crown.
Independent India's first budget
was presented on November 26,
1947 by the then finance minister
R. K. Shanmukham Chetty.
■ LONGEST SPEECH: Sitha-
raman holds the record for deliv-
ering the longest speech when she
spoke for 2 hours and 42 minutes
while presenting the Union
Budget 2020-21 on February 1,
2020. With two pages still remain-
ing, she had to cut short her
speech as she felt unwell. She
asked the Speaker to consider the
rest of the speech as read.
Nirmala Sitharaman
During the course of this speech,
she broke her own record of July
2019—her maiden Budget—when
she had spoken for 2 hours and 17
minutes.
■ MOST WORDY SPEECH: At
18,650 words, Manmohan Singh
delivered the longest Budget
speech in terms of words in 1991
under the Narasimha Rao govern-
ment.
In 2018, then finance minister
Arun Jaitley's speech with 18,604
words was the second longest in
terms of word count. Jaitley
spoke for 1 hour and 49 minutes.
■ SHORTEST SPEECH: 800 words
was all that the then finance min-
ister Hirubhai Mulljibhai Patel
delivered in 1977.
■ TOP BUDGET PRESENTERS:
Former Prime Minister Moraraji
Desai holds the record for present-
ing the most number of budgets.
He had presented 10 budgets dur-
ing his tenure as finance minister
during 1962-69, followed by P.
Chidambaram (9), Pranab
Mukherjee (8), Yashwant Sinha (8)
and Manmohan Singh (6).
■ TIME CHANGE: Until 1999, the
Union Budget was presented at 5
pm on the last working day of
February as per British era prac-
tice. Former finance minister
Yashwant Sinha in 1999 changed
the budget presentation timing to
11 am.
Arun Jaitley started presenting
the Union Budget on February 1 in
2017, departing from the colonial-
era tradition of using the last
working day of that month.
■ LANGUAGE: Until 1955, the
Union Budget was presented in
English. However, the Congress-
led government later decided to
print the Budget papers in both
Hindi and English.
■ PAPERLESS : Covid-19 pandem-
ic turned the Budget for 2021-22
paperless—a first in Independent
India.
■ FIRST WOMAN: In 2019,
Sitharaman became the second
woman to have presented the
budget after Indira Gandhi, who
had presented the budget for the
financial year 1970-71.
■ RAILWAY BUDGET: Till 2017,
railway budget and Union Budget
were presented separately. After
being presented separately for 92
years, the Railway budget was
merged in the Union Budget in
2017 and presented together.
■ PRINTING : Till 1950, the budget
was printed at Rashtrapati
Bhavan till it got leaked and the
venue of printing had to be shifted
to a press at the Minto Road in
New Delhi. In 1980, a government
press was set up in the North
Block - the seat of the finance min-
istry. —PTI
ents a "huge opportuni-
ty" for the company
because it's based in
Asia and is already a top
seafood processor. US
sales of plant-based
seafood grew 23 per cent
to $12 million in 2020,
according to the Good
Food Institute, a non-
profit group pushing for
more sustainable pro-
teins, compared to the
conventional seafood
market worth tens of
billions of dollars.
Thai Union started a
plant-based seafood and
meat line in March, join-
ing the likes of Tyson
Foods Inc. and Nestle SA
in the faux seafood
space. Its OMG Meat
offering features items
like fish nuggets,
seafood burger patties,
crab dumplings and dim
sum. It mainly uses soy
and pea protein as
ingredients, and is look-
ing at options like mung
beans, lentils and chick-
peas. —Bloomberg
 GAMES
THE ASIAN AGE | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022 | LONDON
SHORT TAKES
Arjun reigns in
Challengers chess
Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands:
Indian Grandmaster Arjun
Erigaisi won the Tata Steel
Challengers event with a round
to spare after a draw with Thai
Dai Van Nguyen of Czech
Republic in the 12th and penul-
timate round here. The 18-year
old Erigaisi, who has been in
fine form throughout the event
and has been unbeaten so far,
took a quick draw late on
Saturday against Nguyen, who
is joint second, in just 15 moves
to take his tally to 9.5 points.
He is 1.5 points ahead of the
second placed Nguyen and
Jonas Buhl Bjerre.
The teenaged player (Elo 2632)
has so far won seven games
and drawn five. He faces Marc
Andria Maurizzi of France in the
final round later on Sunday.
Maurizzi had beaten India’s
Surya Shekhar Ganguly in the
12th round. Ganguly has 5.5
points and is in 9th place.
With the triumph, the Indian
GM qualifies for next year’s Tata
Steel Masters Group.
He is the fourth Indian after P.
Harikrishna, B. Adhiban and
Vidit Santhosh Gujrathi to win
the Tata Steel Challengers
event. — PTI
Unnati, George
win Odisha Open
Cuttack: Teenager Unnati
Hooda became the youngest
Indian to win a Super 100 tour-
nament as she beat compatriot
Smit Toshniwal in straight
games to claim the women’s
singles title while unseeded
Kiran George emerged tri-
umphant in men’s singles final
of the $75,000 Odisha Open
badminton tournament here on
Sunday. The 21-year-old George
prevailed over Priyanshu
Rajawat 21-15, 14-21, 21-18 to
clinch the men’s singles title
after battling hard for
58 minutes.
Before that, the 14-year-old
Unnati produced an excellent
performance to emerge tri-
umphant in her event. Unnati
won 21-18, 21-11 to be crowned
the Odisha Open champion for
the first time.
In the mixed doubles final,
India’s MR Arjun and Treesa
Jolly suffered a 16-21 20-22
defeat at the hands of Sri
Lankan duo Sachin Dias and
Thilini Hendadahewa in a match
that lasted 36 minutes. — PTI
Moeen stars as
Eng level series
Bridgetown, Barbados: Stand-in
skipper Moeen Ali starred with
bat and ball as England beat
the West Indies by 34 runs to
set up a series decider.
Moeen, leading England in
place of the injured Eoin
Morgan, struck seven sixes,
including four in a row off
Jason Holder, during a 63 made
from just 28 balls as England
posted a total of 193 for
six on Saturday.
The off-spinner then took two
wickets for 28 runs in four overs
during the West Indies’ 159 for
five as England levelled the
five-match series at 2-2 ahead
of the teams’ return to the
Kensington Oval.
England’s bowling in the latter
stages of matches earlier in this
series had proved expensive.
But with the West Indies need-
ing 61 off the final four overs,
Chris Jordan — recalled after
England’s defeat on Wednesday
— and Reece Topley held their
nerve. — AFP
Brief scores: England 193/6
(Moeen Ali 63, Jason Roy 52;
Jason Holder 3/44) bt West
Indies 159/5 (Kyle Mayers 40,
Jason Holder 36; Moeen Ali
2-28).
Starc didn’t want
to be in IPL bubble
Melbourne: Australia pacer
Mitchell Starc has said that he
opted out of the IPL auction at
the last minute as he did not
want to spend another 22
weeks in a bio-bubble. “I was a
click of the button away from
entering the auction but per-
sonally didn’t want to spend 22
more weeks in a bubble,” said
Starc, who won Australia’s
men’s cricketer of the year
award on Saturday. “They’ll be
a time where I’d love to go
back to the IPL but in terms of
wanting to play as much as I
can for Australia that’s a deci-
sion I’ve done for a while,” he
was quoted as saying by
espn.in.
The former Royal Challengers
Bangalore player has only fea-
tured in two IPL seasons, bag-
ging 37 wickets in 27 matches.
In 2018, he was handed `9.4
crore contract by Kolkata
Knight Riders but he had to pull
out due to an injury suffered on
the South Africa tour a few
weeks before the start of the
IPL season. The 32-year-old had
said on Saturday that not long
before he was on the verge of
quitting the sport. — PTI
RAFA & TOUGH
Nadal comes from two sets down to win historic 21st Slam
Melbourne, Jan. 30:
Rafael Nadal roared back
from two sets down to win
a titanic five-set duel with
Daniil Medvedev and
claim a record 21st Grand
Slam men’s title in the
Australian Open final on
Sunday.
The Spanish great
looked dead and buried as
the Russian world num-
ber two carved out a two-
set lead but Nadal surged
home for one of his
mightiest comeback wins
2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in
5hr 24min on Rod Laver
Arena.
Nadal came out on top in
the physical war of attri-
tion to move ahead of era
rivals Novak Djokovic
and Roger Federer on the
all-time list of men’s
major winners.
Djokovic missed his
chance to improve on his
nine Australian Open
wins when he was deport-
ed over vaccination
issues on the eve of the
tournament,
Federer is injured.
while
It was one of the 35-year-
old Spanish warrior’s
greatest title victories in
his 29th Grand Slam final
as he won his second
Australian Open, 13 years
after his first in 2009.
“This has been one of
the most emotional
matches of my tennis
career,” Nadal said.
“It’s just amazing. I did-
n’t know a few months
back if I would even be
playing again on the tour
and I am back on this
court before you all today.
You don’t know how
much I fought to be here.
“The huge support I
have received in the three
weeks here is going to
stay in my heart for the
rest of my life.”
Nadal also became only
the fourth man to win
each of the four Grand
Slams twice and the third
oldest man in the Open
Era (since 1970) to win a
Grand Slam title, behind
Ken Rosewall and
Federer.
The final went down to
the bitter end with Nadal
being broken as he served
for the championship
only for the Spaniard to
break back.
On his second attempt to
serve it out, Nadal pow-
ered to three match points
to win amid chaotic
scenes in his player’s box
and the frenzied crowd.
‘I WAS AMAZED’
It was the second time
Nadal had denied
Medvedev in a Grand
Slam final, winning a five-
Barty ‘humbled’ after
joining tennis royalty
Melbourne, Jan. 30:
Ashleigh Barty says she
feels “humbled” to have
joined tennis royalty’s
most exclusive club with
a Grand Slam crown on
three different surfaces,
but vowed: “There’s still
work to be done.”
The 25-year-old
achieved the feat by
becoming the Australian
Open’s first home cham-
pion in 44 years when she
beat Danielle Collins 6-3,
7-6 (7/2) in the final.
It followed her break-
through French Open
success in 2019 and
Wimbledon last year, put-
ting her in elite company.
Yuki, Prajnesh open campaign today
Pune, Jan. 30: India’s Yuki
Bhambri and Prajnesh
Gunneswaran will kick-
start their campaign at
the 4th Tata Open
Maharashtra as the main
draw begins on Monday at
the Balewadi Stadium
here.
The Delhi-born
Bhambri, who received a
directed entry into the
main draw, will take on
Slovak player Jozef
Kovalik in the opening
round encounter while the
Asian Games medallist
Prajnesh, who entered the
tournament as a wildcard,
will start his challenge
against the fifth seeded
Daniel Altamaier.
Apart from Bhambri and
RESULTS
Men’s singles final: Rafael
Nadal (ESP x6) bt Daniil
Medvedev (RUS x2) 2-6, 6-7
(5/7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Women’s doubles final:
Barbora Krejcikova
(CZE)/Katerina Siniakova
(CZE x1) bt Anna Danilina
(KAZ)/Beatriz Haddad Maia
(BRA) 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-4.
set epic at the 2019 US
Open. Nadal holds a 4-1
lead over Medvedev in
their five matches to date.
It crowned an extraordi-
nary effort from Nadal at
the year’s opening major,
having to modify his
game to compensate for a
degenerative bone disease
in his left foot that ended
his 2021 season last
The only other active
players to snare majors
on clay, grass and hard
courts are legends of the
sport — Serena Williams,
Roger Federer, Rafael
Nadal and Novak
Djokovic. Barty and
Williams are the only
two to win their first
three Slams on three sur-
faces. “I feel very humble
to be in such a select
group. To be honest, I
don’t really feel like I
belong with those cham-
pions of our sport,” said
the world No. 1.
“I’m still learning and
trying to refine my craft
and try and learn every
Gunneswaran, the fourth
edition of Asia’s only ATP
250 event, which is organ-
ised by the Maharashtra
State Lawn Tennis
Association, will also have
country’s top-ranked play-
er Ramkumar
Ramanathan and local boy
Arjun Kadhe starting
directly in the singles
main draw which consists
of a strong field in the
presence of top players
from the world including
World No. 15 Aslan
Karatsev.
Lithuanian highest
ranked player for all time,
Ricardas Berankis, who
had a semi-final finish in
the last edition, will also
be seen in action as seven
Rafael Nadal celebrates after
defeating Daniil Medvedev of
Russia in the Australian Open
final on Sunday. — AP
August.
He then caught Covid in
December which, he said,
made him “very sick”.
Medvedev had wrecked
Djokovic’s calendar
Grand Slam push and bid
for a 21st title in New York
four months ago and was
aiming to do the same to
Nadal in Melbourne.
Medvedev lost his sec-
single day and get better
and better.”
Even her coach Craig
Tyzzer is amazed at what
Barty has achieved.
“I think we’ve all got to
sit back and just look at
what she’s been able to
do on different surfaces
and just her ability to
play the level of tennis
that she does,” he said.
“I mean, sometimes I’m
just in awe of it.”
She often pays tribute
to Tyzzer for helping her
become the player that
she is, but it started at a
much younger age with
childhood coach Jim
Joyce. — AFP
TATA | OPEN
Yuki Bhambri
NADAL FACTFILE
■ Age: 35
■ World ranking: 5
■ Prize money: $125,050,235
■ Career titles: 89
■ Grand Slam titles: 21
■ Australian Open winner:
2009, 2022
■ French Open winner: 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011,
2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018,
2019, 2020
■ Wimbledon winner: 2008,
2010
■ US Open winner: 2010,
2013, 2017, 2019
■ Coaches: Carlos Moya,
Francisco Roig, Marc Lopez
LEADING MEN’S
SLAM WINNERS
21: Rafael Nadal (ESP)
20: Roger Federer (SUI),
Novak Djokovic (SRB)
14: Pete Sampras (USA)
12: Roy Emerson (AUS)
11: Rod Laver (AUS), Bjorn
Borg (SWE)
10: Bill Tilden (USA)
9: Fred Perry (GBR), Ken
Rosewall (AUS), Ivan
Lendl, Andre Agassi,
Jimmy Connors (all USA).
MEDVEDEV ‘NOT
DISAPPOINTED’
WITH FINAL LOSS
Melbourne, Jan. 30:
Daniil Medvedev insisted
on Sunday he was not dis-
appointed to give up a
two-set lead and lose the
Australian Open, while
heaping praise on “unre-
al” Rafael Nadal.
“If we talk about tennis,
I’m not that disappointed.
It was a huge match,” said
the 25-year-old Russian.
“For sure, some small
points, small details that I
could have done better if I
wanted to win. But that’s
tennis, that’s life. Rafa
played unreal, he raised
his level.”
It was the second time
Nadal had denied
Medvedev in a Grand
Slam decider, winning a
five-set epic at the 2019 US
Open.
“At two sets to love up I
was just like, ‘go for
him’,” said Medvedev,
ond consecutive who was in his fourth
Australian Open final
after falling in straight
Grand Slam final.
“In the fifth set I was
sets to Djokovic in last just like ‘make him run’.
year’s final.
“It’s tough to talk after
But he was unreal, he was
really strong the way he
five hours 30 and losing played.
but I want to congratulate
“So talking about ten-
Rafa because what you nis, I don’t have much
did today, I was amazed,” regret. I’m going to try
Medvedev said. and continue my best,”
— AFP he added. — AFP
Newly-crowned Australian Open champion Ash Barty
poses with the trophy at a park in Melbourne on Sunday.
— AP
● Lithuanian matches will take place on
highest ranked Day 1 of the main draw.
In the qualifying match-
player for all time, es, played on Sunday,
Ricardas Berankis, India’s Sasikumar
who had a semi- Mukund and Manish
final finish in the Sureshkumar suffered
defeats in the first round.
last edition, will also While Mukund lost to
be seen in action. Turkey’s Celikbilek Altug
6-3, 6-3, Sureshkumar con-
singles opening round ceded a 6-2, 6-3 loss against
matches will be played on Czech player Kopriva Vit.
Monday. Berankis will be Alexandre Muller, Elias
up against Halys Quentin Ymer, Jay Clarke, Gian
of France. Marco Moroni, Marc
Top-seeded Australian Polmans and Kimmer
pair of Luke Saville and Coppejans were the play-
John-Patrick Smith will ers who progressed into
open their campaign the second qualifying
against Stefano Travaglia round and are now a win
and Bernabe Zapata away from a spot in the
Miralles as four doubles main draw. — Agencies
pg 8
U-19 | WORLD CUP
India’s Angkrish Raghuvanshi en route to his 44 against
Bangladesh in their U-19 World Cup quarterfinal in
Coolidge, Antigua, on Saturday. — BCCI
India oust Bangla
to set up Oz clash
Coolidge (Antigua), Jan.
30: Left-arm pacer Ravi
● Four-time
champions India will
Kumar bowled a sensation-
al opening spell as India’s meet Australia in
‘class of 2022’ exacted a their semifinal on
sweet revenge on
Bangladesh, knocking out
the defending champions
February 2.
by five wickets to enter the
semifinals of the U-19
World Cup here. In the last
In reply, India chased
down the target in 30.5
overs with opener
edition of the tournament,
India lost to Bangladesh in
Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s
44 being the top score.
the title clash. Skipper Yash Dhull made
Four-time champions 20 not out and his deputy
India will meet Australia Shaik Rasheed contributed
in their semifinal on 26. The victory was even
February 2, having won an more satisfying consider-
unprecedented seven out of ing the youngsters came
their nine U-19 World Cup back without any training
quarterfinals. post recovery from Covid-
Son of a CRPF personnel, 19. It was a fitting reply
the Uttar Pradesh-born from the ‘Boys in Blue’ to
Ravi, who has followed in the ‘Tiger Cubs’ after their
the footsteps of his illustri- predecessors lost an ill-
ous state senior tempered final of the 2020
Mohammed Shami to ply edition, which was fol-
his trade for Bengal, ended lowed by boorish behav-
with excellent figures of 7- iour from both sides, espe-
1-14-3 on a tacky track as cially the Bangladeshis,
Bangladesh were all out for whose reactions have
111 in 37.1 overs. always been over the top
Bangladesh were 56 for when it came to beating
seven at one stage before India. — PTI
SM Mehrob (30) and Brief scores: Bangladesh 111
Ashiqur Zaman (16) added (Meherob 30, Ravi 3-14, Ostwal
50 runs for the eighth wick- 2/25) lost to India 117/5
et to take the team past 100-
run mark.
(Raghuvanshi 44, Rasheed 26,
Dhull 20 n.o., Mondol 4/31).
EARTHQUAKE DURING U-19
GAME, TV VISUALS SHOOK
Port of Spain, Jan. 30: Live visuals of the ICC U-19
World Cup match between Ireland and Zimbabwe
shook vigorously for few seconds as an earthquake off
the coast of Port of Spain sent mild tremors through
the Queen’s Park Oval here. While the players were
unaware and continued the action on the field, the
commentators could feel the tremors as the commen-
tary box began shaking.
The earthquake was measured at 5.2 magnitude on
the richter scale. Commentator Andrew Leonard
described the tremors as the commentary box began to
wobble. “We are... I believe we are having an earth-
quake right now. In the box. We are indeed having an
earthquake. It felt like not just a train going by behind
us, but the whole Queen’s Park Oval media centre
rocked,” he said.
The tremors were said to have lasted for 15-20 sec-
onds.
Ireland spinner Matthew Humphreys was bowling
the fifth ball of the sixth over to Zimbabwe’s Brian
Bennett when the front-on camera showing the action
began to shake. — PTI
WEST INDIES | SERIES
Shahrukh, Sai
join as reserves
New Delhi, Jan. 30: Rising ● Both Shahrukh and
T20 sensation M.
Shahrukh Khan and his Sai Kishore played a
state-mate, orthodox left- huge part in Tamil
arm spinner Sai Kishore, Nadu’s victorious
will be joining the Indian campaign and their
white-ball team as stand-by
players for the upcoming
call-up is more of a
six-match series against precautionary
the West Indies. measure in Covid-19
Both Shahrukh and Sai times.
Kishore played a huge part
in Tamil Nadu’s victorious
campaign and their call-up For Sai Kishore, this is
is more of a precautionary the second opportunity in
measure in Covid-19 times an Indian team set-up after
when there is every possi- he was part of the net
bility of a player from the bowlers’ group during a
main squad testing posi- tour of Sri Lanka under
tive. Rahul Dravid last year.
“Yes, Shahrukh and Sai Shahrukh, who was in
Kishore have been called contention to make it to the
as stand bys for the main squad, has been in
Windies series. They will the news this season for
also enter the bubble with scoring runs at critical
main team players,” a sen- stages, including a last ball
ior BCCI official confirmed six against Karnataka, to
the development. win the Syed Mushtaq Ali
The limited overs series Trophy final.
starts in Ahmedabad with It was the same match
a three-match ODI rubber where his colleague Sai
followed by three T20 Kishore got three wickets.
Internationals in Kolkata. — PTI