C M Y K A ND-NDE Delhi City Edition 22 pages O ₹ 15.00 P r i n t e d at Ch e n n a i Co i m b ato r e Be n g a lu ru Hy d e r a b a d M a d u r a i No i da V i s a k h a pat n a m Th i ru va n a n t h a p u r a m Ko c h i V i j ayawa da M a n g a lu ru Ti ru c h i r a pa l l i Ko l k ata Hu b b a l l i M o h a l i M a l a p p u r a m M u m b a i Ti ru pat i lu c k n ow c u t tac k pat n a follow us: thehindu.com facebook.com/thehindu twitter.com/the_hindu december 13, 2020 We are not in favour of imposing family planning, govt. tells SC page 8 National Family Health Survey records jump in childhood vaccination page 8 Trump administration did not close trade deal, says Jaishankar page 8 Vihari and Pant's centuries highlight day two of warmup game page 14 India was not only on track to fulfi lling its climate com mitments but would go further, Prime Minister Na rendra Modi said at the Cli mate Action Summit on Sa turday. However, he refrained from announcing enhanced ambitions or targets. The online event was or ganised to mark fi ve years since the signing of the Paris Agreement, in which 190 countries committed to tak ing action to limit global temperature from rising beyond 2 degrees Celsius. ‘Rise in renewables’ In his fi veminute address, Mr. Modi said India had re duced its emissions intensi ty by 21% since 2005. In stalled solar capacity had grown to 36 gigawatt in 2020. The country’s renew able energy capacity was the fourth largest in the world and would reach 175GW before 2022. “We have an even more ambitious target, 450GW of energy capacity by 2030. We have also succeeded in increasing forest cover,” he added. India had pioneered the International Solar Alliance as well as the Coalition for Disaster Relief, he said. “In 2047, India will cele brate 100 years as an inde pendent modern nation. Centennial India will not on ly meet its own targets but also exceed expectations,” Mr. Modi said. He was among the several heads of state — including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan — to address the meeting. India has announced its Nationally Determined Con tribution of reducing emis sions intensity of GDP by 33 35% by 2030 along with its renewable energy and for est cover targets. India, ho wever, didn't announce new goals on Saturday. Mr. Modi and President Ramnath Kovind earlier an nounced that India was planning to increase its re newable energy capacity to 450 GW by 2030. Emissions intensity cut by 21%, says PM Special Correspondent New Delhi India set to exceed climate targets: Modi MAGAZINE A 8 PAGES CLASSIFIEDS A PAGE 4 Farmers’ groups picketed toll plazas at 165 locations across the country, allowing tollfree movement of vehi cles on major national high ways on Saturday, as part of the ongoing protests de manding the repeal of the three contentious farm laws. By evening, a small group of farmers from Rajasthan had moved to block the Del hiJaipur highway at Rewari in Haryana, while thousands more gathered on the Rajas than side of the border to be gin a march to Delhi on Sun day morning. This is the 17th day of prot est on the highways sur rounding the national capi tal, with tens of thousands of farmers, under the joint ban ner of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, already blocking four major crossing points on Delhi’s borders with Ha ryana and Uttar Pradesh. Since the talks broke down earlier this week, with farm ers rejecting the Centre’s proposal to amend some provisions in the laws, the Morcha has vowed to step up the agitation. “We will go for talks if the government calls us, but the focus is on these three laws. Until these laws are re pealed, we will not begin dis cussing other issues,” said Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu, president of the Kisan Sang harsh committee, at a press conference at the Singhu border point. Hunger strike He added that farm union leaders would also sit on a daylong hunger strike on Monday. Across States, protests were held at about 165 out of the 450 toll booths, accord ing to estimates provided by the All India Kisan Sabha. In Punjab, all toll plazas have been free since October after the new laws were passed. In Haryana, farmers staged sitins, shouting anti BJP slogans, at toll plazas in 20 locations. They also pick eted petrol pumps and malls run by the Reliance group, which farmers see as an ex ample of large corporates set to benefi t from these laws. “Farmers staged dharna at almost all the toll plazas in Haryana. Group of farmers gathered at tollplazas since morning on the AmbalaHi sar highway. Besides, we were picketing at toll plazas in Hisar district, situated on the roads leading to Delhi, Rajgarh, Sirsa and Chandi garh,” Rattan Mann, presi dent of the Haryana Bharati ya Kisan Union (Tikait), told The Hindu Farmers picket 165 toll plazas nationwide Commuters allowed to travel free; blockade of DelhiJaipur NH begins as protesters step up agitation Special Correspondent NEW DELHI No let up: Farmers heading to join the protest at the Singhu border on Saturday. * V.V. KRISHNAN “How many more sacrifi ces would it take from our farmer brothers to repeal the farm laws,” asked former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Twitter, and shared photos of 11 farmers who reportedly died in the past 17 days of the farmers’ stir. The party also accused Cabinet Ministers of branding every opponent of the government as Maoists and traitors. Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala alleged that the Modi government was refusing to listen to the farmers despite so many of them dying during the agitation. A page 7 Farmers are sacrifi cing their lives: Rahul DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the government is committed to the welfare of farmers through “ niti aur niyat ” (policy and intention), ad ding that the aim of the re forms is to help them in crease their income. Speaking at the 93rd an nual general meeting of the industry body FICCI, Mr. Modi said the reforms will open up new markets for farmers. Mr. Modi said in a vi brant economy, when one sector grows, it has a direct impact on other sectors as well. However, unneces sary walls between indus tries were hampering growth, and reforms being undertaken will remove these walls. “The agriculture re forms are part of this pro cess. We have seen such walls between agriculture and allied sectors such as agriculture infrastructure, food processing, and cold chains. We are now remov ing these walls,” he said. Committed to welfare of farmers: PM Special Correspondent NEW DELHI CONTINUED ON A PAGE 6 CONTINUED ON A PAGE 6 Delhi records 1,935 new COVID cases, 47 deaths NEW DELHI The Capital reported 1,935 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 6,05,470 on Saturday. The death toll has reached 9,981 after 47 more fatalities were recorded in a single day. The test positivity of COVID-19 cases was 2.64% on Saturday. CITY A PAGE 2 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD NEARBY Gujjars demand Parliament session JAIPUR Gujjars in Rajasthan, demanding reservation in jobs and education, have sought the Centre’s intervention for Ninth Schedule protection to a 2019 State law which accords Most Backward Class category for the community. NEWS A PAGE 7 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Delhi government offi cials will be inspecting the NTPC Eco Park where 274 trees, uprooted to make way for the new Parliament building, have been transplanted by the Central Public Works De partment (CPWD). The transplantation was done in violation of the ap proval given by the Delhi go vernment, according to which the trees were to be transplanted near the exist ing Parliament, close to the India Gate area. The CPWD has also re quested for a oneyear exten sion for compensatory plan tation of 4,040 trees. “It is not feasible to com plete compensatory aff ores tation by January 2021 as the land needs to be deve loped... Completion by re vised date of 31.01.2022,” read a letter by the CPWD dated December 3. It further sought for the plantation to be done at the Eco Park, instead of near the existing Parliament and In dia Gate as per the Delhi go vernment approval. On November 25, The Hindu had reported how trees from a plot next to the current Parliament are being transplanted at the Eco Park, about 22 km away, in viola tion of the approval given by the Delhi government. Citing the news article, the Delhi government had sent a showcause notice to the CPWD. “Violation of the conditions of the approval can attract a fi ne of up to ₹ 10,000. But the fi ne will in crease if any tree has died due to this violation,” a Delhi government offi cial said. Delhi offi cials to inspect transplant site Tree shifting for new Parliament violated terms of approval Staff Reporter New Delhi Mamita Pujari, 22, may have made Poharighat, a remote village in Odisha’s Kalahandi district, her marital home for the past three years, but in government records, she does not exist. Nor is she the only ‘invis ible’ woman in the village. Soon after Ms. Pujari got married in 2017, her name was struck off the ration card in her parental home at Khairbhadi village. Her as sumption that her name would be added to her hus band’s card soon has been rudely challenged. Around the same time, Mangala Naik, 25, also came to Poharighat, under the Chancher gram panchayat, as a bride. Both women have since made several attempts in vain to get their names in cluded in the ration cards belonging to their hus bands’ families. In Nagjhari village, under the Sagada panchayat, Jaso da Dharua’s struggle to add her name to her husband’s card has continued for more than seven years. Neither Ms. Dharua nor her two children fi gure in the ration card, which de prives them of subsidised foodgrains in one of the country’s poorest districts. After marriage, Anita Maj hi, 21, shifted to Talapipli, but her name continues to remain in her parents’ ra tion card. “I badly need the subsi dised rice as my husband, who works as daily wager, cannot meet all needs. I too cannot go to my parents’ house to collect my share of rice,” a desperate Ms. Majhi says. Odisha’s brides go missing in ration cards Inordinate delay in name inclusion Satyasundar Barik BHUBANESWAR Suchitra Majhi and Rita Majhi from Khutruguda village are awaiting inclusion of names. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT CONTINUED ON A PAGE 6 SPECIAL Army veterans camping at the Singhu border, the heart of the farmers’ agita tion, have collected 5,000 gallantry medals since No vember 26 to return to the Union government “in lieu” of a decision to repeal the three new farm laws. Predominantly hailing from Punjab and Haryana and with farming as a source of sustenance now, the veterans said on Satur day that they planned to collect 25,000 medals over the next two days. Lakhs more are on their way to the protest site, they added. “I come from a family of jawans (soldiers) and kisans (farmers), which have eight martyrs either in war or at the border. I was proud of that fact, but because of what the government is do ing to us now, it has begun feeling like this country is no longer worth living in, leave alone to die for,” said retired Havaldar Balwant Singh, 80, from Jhajjar in Haryana. “We have been here since the 26th [of Novem ber] and the government, instead of listening to us cry, is busy fi nding ways to force upon us these black laws created by people in airconditioned rooms.” Retired Subedar S.P. Singh from Gurdaspur said some six farmers were de tained when they had at tempted to meet President Ram Nath Kovind to return a small batch of medals last week. Retired Havaldar Bar tar Singh from Patiala al leged that the group of vete rans was detained for two whole days and their phones and belongings were confi scated. Army veterans to lay down 25,000 medals for farmers’ cause ‘The govt. has let down soldiers and farmers, we are willing to sacrifi ce these medals for repeal of the laws’ Jatin Anand New Delhi Stripping the epaulettes: A few veterans who have decided to return their medals, at the Singhu border. * V.V. KRISHNAN CONTINUED ON A PAGE 6 F riday was a busy day at the utility block of the Rajiv Gandhi Sup er Speciality Hospital. Sound of hammer hitting the chisel, breaking parts of the walls echoed in the building. In some areas, the fl oor was being redone, doors were being made big ger, and workers constantly moved in and out of the building. Two fl oors of the building are being converted into a storage facility for any CO VID19 vaccine, which is ex pected to be approved the government. With the possibility of a vaccine brighter than ever, the Delhi government has started its preparation to vaccinate the residents. Apart from the storage facil ity, the government has col lected a list of more than 1.5 lakh healthcare workers to be inoculated and is also looking at data of people above 50 years of age and with comorbidities to be in oculated next. Diff erent temperatures “Right now, civil and electrical works are happening at the utility block. Some doors are being made bigger to accom modate large equipment for refrigeration. We will prepare for diff erent temperatures as a vaccine is not yet decided,” said Chhavi Gupta, spokesper son of Rajiv Gandhi Hospital. Earlier this month, Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said that Delhi can vaccinate the whole popula tion in three to four weeks once the vaccine is availa ble. “The priority is health care and frontline workers. After which the focus will be on senior citizens, and sub sequently moving to the en tire population of Delhi. The Delhi government is fully capable of rolling out the vaccine to the entire popu lation of the city. We are prepared with the storage facilities too. We are just waiting for it to be made available to us,” the Minister had said. Training doctors The government has also asked 47 hospitals to pro vide two doctors each to be trained for the vaccination process. These doctors will then conduct training pro grammes for others and help to make the whole training process faster. The actual vaccinators will be ANMs and nurses, and training will also be im parted to ASHA workers and anganwadi workers to spread the message about the vaccine in the commun ity, according to offi cials. There will be more clarity once the Central govern ment approves a vaccine, offi cials said. A few are wary But even as the government is moving ahead, many healthcare workers are wa ry about the vaccine. “We did not get enough time to check if there are any longterm side eff ects to this vaccine. Many nurses are apprehensive about the vaccine, but this has not turned into a strong discus sion as the government is yet to approve a vaccine,” said Fameer C.K., general secretary of AIIMS Nurses’ Union. He said that ideally the vaccine should not be given to healthcare workers fi rst as if there are any problems with the vaccine, then all the frontline warriors will be down and the healthcare system will be crippled. Shoukat Ali, vicepresi dent of Nurses’ Union of LokNayak Hospital, the lar gest Delhi government hos pital for COVID19, also had a similar opinion. “Many healthcare work ers are concerned about the vaccine. There has been multiple controversial news about the vaccine. For in stance, I saw a news today about a person developing antibodies against HIV after taking the vaccine for CO VID19. There has been news also about people be ing paralysed. In a way the vaccine is a trial attempt,” Mr. Ali said. He said that they have raised the issue with doc tors. Suresh Kumar, medical director of Lok Nayak Hos pital said that a few doctors have spoken to him about the safety of the vaccine, but there no “major con cerns”. “Most of the health care workers are happy that there will soon be a vaccine. We have sent a list of 3,900 healthcare workers from our hospital to the Delhi go vernment for vaccination,” Dr. Kumar said. City hospital readies to store COVID19 vaccines Delhi will see over 1.5 lakh healthcare workers being inoculated in the fi rst phase, followed by people above 50 years of age and with comorbidities Nikhil M Babu New Delhi Construction work in full swing for the COVID19 vaccine storage unit at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in Tahirpur in New Delhi on Saturday. * R.V. MOORTHY Open book examinations for second and thirdyear un dergraduate students and fi nalyear postgraduate stu dents of Delhi University (DU) began on Saturday. This is the second time that DU is undertaking the OBE due to the ongoing CO VID19 pandemic. Approximately 1.3 lakh students are expected to ap pear for the exams this time with around 5,700 opting for physical examinations, to be conducted in respective colleges. Earlier, university offi cials had said that students will only be able to upload their answer scripts on the OBE portal and unlike last time, options of emailing would not be available. However, as an “emergent measure”, the university has given students the option of emailing their answer scripts to the nodal offi cers. D.S. Rawat, Dean of Ex aminations, said, “We have given students an alternative of emailing their answer scripts to respective nodal offi cers. However, it has been specifi ed that this mode can be used only in cases of emergency. They have to provide documen tary evidence, including snapshots, to prove that they had tried to upload the scripts on the portal, but were unable to. Without evi dence their requests will not be accepted.” On the fi rst day of OBE, examination of around 190 papers were conducted in the morning and around 180 in the evening session, offi cials said. Open book exam for UG, PG students at DU begins This is the second time OBE is being conducted due to COVID19 Staff Reporter NEW DELHI DU offi cials said that students will only be able to upload their answer scripts on the OBE portal. * FILE PHOTO Jamia Millia Islamia ( JMI) on Saturday announced that the odd semester examina tions have been put on hold in view of students raising concerns over the “online proctored examination” as announced by the varsity earlier. In a notice, the JMI admi nistration said, “The univer sity has received several re presentations from the students regarding their problems or issues with on line proctored examination. The university has apprised the University Grants Com mission [UGC] of the con cerns of the students and the decision of the universi ty regarding the mode of conduct of examinations. The directions or guidelines from the UGC on the matter are sought and awaited.” The administration said that the university will take a decision regarding the mode of conduct of the ex amination based on the di rectives issued by the UGC. Earlier, the varsity had announced that the odd semester examination would commence from De cember 21. The university had said that only desktops and lap tops would be permitted to be used during the exami nation, along with a func tioning webcam. The direc tive had led to several students raising concerns over the lack of access to devices and internet facilities. The notice issued on Sa turday added, “Meanwhile, students are advised to re lax and continue with their ongoing online classes and their preparation for exami nation.” Students had raised concerns over online proctored exam Staff Reporter NEW DELHI Odd semester exams have been put on hold, announces Jamia G.B. Nagar’s COVID-19 tally crosses 24,000 mark NOIDA U.P.’s Gautam Buddha Nagar recorded 96 new COVID19 cases on Saturday that pushed the district’s infection tally to 24,038, official data stated. Active cases in the district came down to 893 from 899. IN BRIEF The Capital witnessed 1,935 new COVID19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the to tal number of cases to 6,05,470, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Sa turday. Also, 47 more deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, taking the total num ber of deaths to 9,981. Of the total cases, 5,78,116 people have recovered and there are 17,373 active cases in the city at present. The positivity of CO VID19 cases was 2.64% on Saturday, lesser than the av erage daily positivity in No vember, which was 11.65%. The overall positivity till now was 8.47%, as per the bulletin. Out of the total 18,814 beds available for CO VID19 treatment in the city, 14,183 were vacant, as per the bulletin. There were 6,451 contain all precautions [sic.],” Mr. Jain said in a tweet. He also said that the number of deaths in Delhi are on a de cline and lowest since No vember 2. In another tweet, he said, “7 days average per day cas es now are 2275 one month ago this was 7196. Cases are continually on a decline for a month in Delhi. Wear mask and beat the virus [sic].” ment zones in the city as on Saturday. Health Minister Satyen dar Jain said that positivity was less than 5% for the past 11 days. “Today overall posi tivity is 2.46% this is less than 5% for last 11 days. To day RTPCR positivity is 5.14%, RTPCR positivity was 30 % on 7 Nov. Today 1935 positive cases, less than 3500 cases for last 8 days. Please continue to observe 1,935 new virus cases take Delhi’s tally to 6,05,470 There are 6,451 containment zones and 17,373 active cases in the Capital at present: govt. bulletin Staff Reporter New Delhi The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday demanded a CBI inquiry into “loss of ₹ 2,500 crore” by the BJPruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation and said that they will protest out side the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at 11 a.m. on Sunday. On Friday, Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain had said that he has ordered an inquiry into “misappropriation” of more than ₹ 2,400 crore by the North Corpo ration. Earlier this week, AAP al leged that the civic body had waived ₹ 2,457 crore owed by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). Meanwhile, Mayors and senior leaders of the three BJPled munici pal corporations of Delhi beat “thaali” outside Chief Minister Ar vind Kejriwal’s residence on Satur day to demand release of funds “due to the civic bodies”. The dharna by the municipal leaders seeking release of funds en tered its sixth day as they refused to budge. “Baseless protest’ “The sitin protest by the BJP Mayor and its councillors for the last few days, demanding an out standing amount of ₹ 13,000 crore, everyone knows, is baseless. The Delhi government does not owe anything to the civic body,” AAP leader Atishi said while addressing a press conference. Our demand of the CBI inquiry into the matter of loss of ₹ 2,500 crore, due to which we are going to the Home Minister’s and LG’s resi dences tomorrow, is correct, fac tual, and has a basis. We hope that the LG and Home Minister Amit Shah will allow a CBI inquiry into the scam at the earliest and, at the same time, we sincerely expect the Delhi Police to allow us to sit out side the LG’s and Home Minister’s residences, just like they allowed BJP Mayors and Councillors to sit outside Delhi CM’s residence,” she said. The AAP leader said that there must be stringent action against culprits because with the said fund of ₹ 2,500 crore, doctors, staff , nurses, and teachers, could have been paid salaries, which are pend ing. Ms. Atishi, AAP MLA and nation al spokesperson Raghav Chadha and other MLAs will be part of the protest and the party has written to the Delhi Police for permission for the protest. AAP to hold protest outside Amit Shah’s residence today It demands CBI inquiry into ‘loss’ of ₹ 2,500 crore Staff Reporter New Delhi AAP leader Atishi Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, on Saturday appealed to Chief Minister Arvind Kej riwal to be less rigid to wards the Mayors of the three municipal corpora tions sitting outside his re sidence on a dharna for the last six days. ‘Clear dues’ Mr. Kejriwal, he also said, should also ensure the payment of dues amount ing to ₹ 13,000 crore to the municipal corporations so that payment of the salar ies of Corona warriors, such as health workers, teachers, sanitation work ers and other employees of the civic bodies can be done. “The three Mayors and senior Councillors of the municipal corporations have been sitting outside the residence of the Chief Minister in this winter sea son for the last six days, but he did not consider it necessary to meet these leaders,” he said. “On the contrary, AAP party leader Durgesh Pathak is threatening to kill the Mayors in the pre sence of Deputy Chief Mi nister Manish Sisodia...it is condemnable,” he also al leged. ‘Be less rigid towards Mayors’ Special Correspondent New Delhi C M Y K A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2020 2 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE CITY C M Y K A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU DELHI SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2020 3 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE CITY Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. UPENG/1986/49939 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 10 ● No. 48 0 DISCLAIMER: Readers are requested to verify and make appropriate enquiries to satisfy themselves about the veracity of an advertisement before responding to any published in this newspaper. THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher & Owner of this newspaper, does not vouch for the authenticity of any advertisement or advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s products and/or services. In no event can the Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Dir ector/s, Employees of this newspaper/ company be held responsible/liable in any manner whatsoever for any claims and/or damages for advertisements in this newspaper. Timings DELHI SUNDAY, DEC. 13 RISE 07:05 SET 17:26 RISE 05:20 SET 16:18 MONDAY, DEC. 14 RISE 07:06 SET 17:27 RISE 06:30 SET 17:11 TUESDAY, DEC. 15 RISE 07:07 SET 17:27 RISE 07:39 SET 18:08 The government wants to di vide us and put an end to the protest at any cost, said farmer leaders and protes ters at the Singhu border af ter Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that ‘Leftists and Maoists have infi ltrated the farmers protest’. Avtar Singh Mehma, State press secretary of Krantikari Kisan Union Punjab, said that demand for public intel lectuals, students, and acti vists who have been impri soned for speaking ‘for the greater good of the nation’ has been on the list of de mands since the very begin ning of the protest, months ago. ‘Nothing new’ “This is nothing new we are demanding in the posters that show a few imprisoned activists. They [government] are bringing it up now be cause their tagging us as Khalistanis didn’t work,” he said, adding that the jailed intellectuals and activists have only spoken for their rights and didn’t indulge in any violence. Hence, their imprisonment is wrong. According to Mr. Avtar, calling protesters Leftists or Maoists is the government’s way of dividing them. “They call Punjabis as Khalistanis, students as Urban Naxals and Maoists. The govern ment is basically rattled right now. Instead or listening to us, they are indulging in mudslinging,” he said. Baldev Singh Zeera, State general secretary of Bharat Kisan Union Krantikari, said that the farmers started the agitation. “They called us Khalistani and now as we are proceeding and farmers from Haryana has also joined us, their theory fell fl at. Now, they’ve begun using words like Maoists for us”. Activists’ release He said that the demand of activists’ release has been there since the beginning, but at that time, no one called them Leftists or Maoists. “They’re not able to get what they want. With the protest only strengthening, they are fi nding ways to crack us up. Now, they’ve changed our tag from Khalis tani to Maoists,” he said. Harjeet Ravi, State secre tary of Kisan Sangharsh Committee, said that they’re all farmers and talking about farming only. “We are not asking for separate farming, separate State or separate language. All we want is for the laws to be repealed,” he said. However, a protesting farmer who identifi ed him self as Harinder Singh Mann Singh from Ludhiana dis tanced himself from the de mand for the release of im prisoned activists and said, “We are here only for the roll back of farm laws. There are so many people here and one can’t control what peo ple say,” he said. Another protester who identifi ed himself as Devi Singh (26) from Uttar Pra desh’s Shamli said that namecalling and tagging is an old trick of the govern ment. “If Hindus protest, they’re called Communists, if Mus lims protest, they’re called Pakistanis,” he said. ‘Govt. is trying to dilute farmers’ protest’ Farmer leaders and demonstrators take umbrage at Union Minister’s ‘Leftists and Maoists’ remark Hemani Bhandari NEW DELHI Farmers protest against Centre’s antifarm laws at the Singhu border. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR < > They’re [Central government] not able to get what they want. With the protest only strengthening, they are fi nding ways to crack us up. Now, they’ve changed our tag from Khalistani to Maoists Baldev Singh Zeera State general secretary of Bharat Kisan Union Krantikari A langar being served at the protest site; security enhanced at the Singhu border in New Delhi on Saturday. * V. V. KRISHNAN AND PTI Sudhir Das, Anoop Kumar, Sunny and Adit Kumar were out of work for the entire lockdown period and the reafter, till a few days ago. However, at the protest site at the Singhu border, they’ve been employed. The four labourers, from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who reside in a rented ac commodation in Narela have found work, at ₹ 3,000 a day, at one of the many langar services at the protest site. They come in around noon, set up a tandoor for rotis and leave around 8 p.m. It was their second day on Satur day. “We were out of work because we operate tan doors and weddings were not happening. Thankfully, we got this opportunity,” said Sudhir. The four of them get ₹ 3,000 a day out of which they pay ₹ 1,000 as rent for tandoor and divide ₹ 500 each amongst themselves. Money for commute “We also get money for com mute,” he said. The langar service where the labourers have been fi red is being run by Baba Amreek Singh (from Patiala) and serves hundreds of peo ple multiple meals through the day. “We need the tandoor be cause we haven’t brought it with us from Punjab and we want to give people hot rotis. At night, the number of peo ple who eat increases and tandoori rotis make less time to make,” said Kuldeep Singh alias Baba Kala who is one of the managers at the service. The four labourers also eat the meals here at the service and take food home, they said. They work at a protest site langar Hemani Bhandari NEW DELHI The four labourers at the protest site at the Singhu border. * HEMANI BHANDARI Out of work since lockdown, 4 get hired The JamaateIslami Hind ( JIH) on Saturday extended its support to the ongoing farmers’ protest against the three newly elected agriculturerelated legisla tions, and alleged the country’s farming laws are being changed to favour multinationals and corporates. The JIH supports the on going protest by farmers against the new farm laws enacted by the Centre, the Islamic body’s vice presi dent Mohammad Saleem Engineer said. The three laws concern ing contract farming and essential items were passed “hastily” without consultation, and by “by passing” the parliamentary norm, he charged. Muslim leaders come out in support Press Trust of India New Delhi Light to moderate rains in parts of Delhi brought the maximum temperature down by a notch on Satur day, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). However, the cloud cover led to an increase in the mini mum temperature that set tled at 14.4 degrees Celsius, six notches above normal. The Safdarjung Observato ry, which provides represen tative data for the city, re corded a maximum temperature of 21.8 degrees Celsius and 1.6 mm rainfall, the IMD said. Thunderstorms and light to moderateinten sity rains occurred over South Delhi, New Delhi, Lod hi Road, Central Delhi, NorthEast Delhi and East Delhi. Southwest Delhi, Dwarka, IGI Airport, Narela, North Delhi and neighbour ing areas also witnessed light rainfall, the IMD said. The rains are a result of a western disturbance passing over the Himalayas, an IMD offi cial said, adding that the mercury is expected to drop by Monday with the wind di rection changing to northwesterly. These winds blow from the snowladen western Hi malayas towards the plains. An increase in the mois ture content in the air due to the rain is likely to result in moderate to dense fog over the next twothree days, the offi cial said. Cloud cover leads to a rise in minimum temperature that settled at 14.4° Celsius Press Trust of India New Delhi Women keep themselves warm around a small bonfi re on a foggy and chilly Saturday morning. * SANDEEP SAXENA Rain brings down maximum temperature The air quality of Delhi and Noida deteriorated to the higher end of the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday and Gurugram’s was close to ‘ve ry poor’ category, according to the Central Pollution Con trol Board (Central Pollution Control Board). Air quality of the national capital is expected to dete riorate and remain in ‘very poor’ category on Sunday. “As an aftermath of west ern disturbance, high mois ture availability with higher airholding capacity, dense fog formation is expected [mainly during early morn ing hours]. This can trigger heterogeneous aqueous reactions to form secondary aerosols, which can lead to deterioration of AQI. The AQI is likely to dete riorate to the higher end of ‘very poor’ category by late Sunday. ‘Very poor’ catego ry is forecast for Monday and Tuesday,” said a state ment by the government run monitoring agency Sys tem of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Re search (SAFAR). The AQI of Delhi was 356 on Saturday, up from 295 on Friday, as per CPCB’s 4 p.m. bulletin, which is an average of the past 24 hours. The va lues for Gurugram and Noi da were 296 and 393 respec tively. The eff ect of stubble burning on the city’s air quality was negligible on Sa turday. However, the local surfacelevel winds were calm, which does not help in the dispersion of pollutants. Also, the mixing height, which is the height from the ground level up to which pollutants can be dispersed, was low at night. This also prevents pollutants from getting dispersed easily. Air quality likely to remain in ‘very poor’ category today Eff ect of stubble burning in neighbouring States negligible Staff Reporter New Delhi An 18yearold college stu dent was arrested for alleg edly kidnapping a minor girl from Delhi after befriending her on Facebook, and subse quently luring her to marry him, the police said on Sa turday. DCP (West) Deepak Puro hit said that the accused has been identifi ed as Shoyab Khan, who’s pursuing Ba chelors in pharmacy from a college at his hometown in Rajasthan’s Alwar. He was arrested from Badarpur bor der on December 9 and the kidnapped girl was also res cued, he said. The police said that a probe was initiated into the matter after the girl’s father approached the police at Ra jouri Garden station on Oc tober 23 stating that his 15 yearold daughter was kid napped by an unknown person. During investigation, call detail records and the girl’s social media accounts, in cluding Facebook, Messen ger and WhatsApp were scrutinised. It was then revealed that the victim received several messages from a particular Facebook account of a per son named Shoyab Khan and the location of the al leged account was found to be active in Mewat region. Raids conducted Raids were conducted at Me wat and a police offi cer also disguised himself as a local to gather whereabouts. The accused, however, was ar to the victim, which she ac cepted last year on July 5 . Later on, they both became good friends and started chatting frequently. Khan started forcing her to get married to him, he added. On October 22 this year, Khan came to Delhi and forced victim to get married with him. He took her to Muzaff ar pur in Bihar where they stayed for one day at his friend’s place and next day, they moved to Azamgarh, , the DCP said. rested from near Badarpur. The police said that Shoyab — after kidnapping the girl from Delhi — took her to various States, includ ing Azamgarh in Uttar Pra desh and Muzaff arpur in Bi har but later he left her alone in an autorickshaw at Badarpur border and fl ed away. During probe, theaccused allegedly revelaed that he created a Facebook account and had 4,845 friends on his list. Khan further disclosed that he sent a friend request 18yearold had befriended her on Facebook and subsequently lured her to marry him, say police Staff Reporter NEW DELHI College student arrested for kidnapping minor girl Maintain vigil against plastic burning: NGT NEW DELHI Following a plea seeking action against industrial units operating in violation of norms laid down in the MPD2021, the NGT has directed authorities to maintain a vigil against plastic burning and utilise the funds recovered from violators for legitimate purposes. 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