YK MYK WEATHER TODAY MAX 24 C MIN 11 C NARENDRA MODI GOVERNMENT’S FOOD ECONOMY POLICY IS FLAWED OPINION Sky will be clear. URDU WRITER AND CRITIC SHAMSUR RAHMAN FARUQI PASSES AWAY PEOPLE & CINEMA Morning India Rs. 3 KOLKATA SATURDAY, 26 DEC, 2020 PG-12, YEAR—7, ISSUE—219 (RNI NO: WBENG / 2014 / 56803) Durgapur Municipal Corporation holds meeting with councilors AT A GLANCE TRP SCAM: MUMBAI POLICE SAY EX-BARC CEO WAS 'MASTERMIND' MUMBAI/PUNE: The Mumbai Police on Friday asserted that ex-BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta who was arrested on Thursday - was the 'mastermind' of the alleged multi-crore rupees TRP scam, unearthed last October. Addressing the media, Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and other officers said that the former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) had allegedly conspired to boost the ratings of one new channel by reducing the viewership of its rival channels. The 15th person to be arrested so far in the sensational TRP scam, Dasgupta was nabbed by the Pune Police on Thursday and produced before a Mumbai Court (on Friday) which remanded him to police custody till Dec. 28. BHU TO SOON START COUNTRY'S FIRST 'ATAL STUDY CENTRE' VARANASI: The country's first Centre for Studies, the 'Atal Study Centre', named after Bharat Ratna and late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is going to be established in Uttar Pradesh's prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU). This study centre run by the Faculty of Social Sciences would have detailed study and research programmes related to lives of eminent political personalities of the country. Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Kaushal Kishore Mishra, told IANS, "The Atal Study Centre is being established in the BHU named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee.’ CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 1,01,52,104 TOTAL DEATH: 147,167 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 79,864,734 TOTAL DEATH: 1,751,877 Christmas Day Celebration in Kolkata on Friday. Prabir Bhattacharya Hafiz Saeed jailed PM-KISAN SCHEME for over 15 yrs PM Modi releases Rs 18k cr to farmers in another case ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the banned Jamaatud-Dawa (JuD) who mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, to more than 15 years in prison after he was convicted in another case, a media report said on Friday. Verdicts of three cases against Saeed, who been behind bars since last year, have already been pronounced, whereas several others against JuD leaders are pending with the ATCs, according to The Express Tribune report. Besides Saeed, ATC Judge Ijaz Ahmed Buttar also handed down punishments to Hafiz Abdul Salam, Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Ashraf and Yahya Mujahid to 15 years and six-month imprisonment, whereas a six-month imprisonment was handed down to Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki, the report quoted details issued by the JuD as saying. Besides the prison terms, all those convicted will also have to pay a fine of 200,000 PKR each, the banned outfit added. The latest verdict came after Saeed and three others were convicted by an ATC on November 19 in two separate terror-financing cases. In the November verdict, the court also forfeited property possessed by Saeed, besides imposing a fine of 110,000 PKR. In September, the Interior Ministry had informed the Senate that the federal government had frozen a total of 964 properties belonging to the JuD and Jaish-eMohammad (JeM). On February 12, Saeed was convicted in the two cases and sent to jail for fiveand-a-half years. Banned by the UN Security Council after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Saeed faces 23 terror cases in Pakistan alone. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released Rs 18,000 crores as the next instalment under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to over 9 crore farmers. PM Modi also interacted with farmers after the release of Rs 18,000 crores as part of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. Under the PMKISAN Scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to the eligible beneficiary farmers, payable in three equal 4-monthly installments of Rs 2000 each through direct benefit transfer. Meanwhile, Union Agricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomar appealed to the protesting farmers to end their protest and hold talks with the government. "I appeal to the protesting farmers to end their protest and hold talks with the government. I hope they will understand the importance of the new farm laws, and the issue will be resolved soon," Tomar said. Farmers continue their protest at the borders of Delhi against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) ASANSOL: Durgapur Trinamool Councilor Sunil Chatterjee of the 29 number ward will be made chairman of the 4 number borough committee of Durgapur Municipal Corporation. He will be appointed as borough chairman on Monday. This was agreed in the meeting on Thursday evening in the presence of Minister of State Molay Ghatak, Durgapur West MLA Vishwanath Padial in the auditorium of Durgapur Municipal Corporation. Durgapur Municipal Corporation Mayor Dilip Augusti, all Mayor Council members and councilors were present in the meeting. In the meeting, Minister Molay Ghatak took the records of the development works of Durgapur Municipal Corporation and directed the councilors to complete the development work quickly. At the same time, it was decided to appoint Sunil Chatterjee, councilor of the number 29 ward, to the vacant post of 4 number borough committee chairman. It is known that after the resignation of Chandrasekhar Banerjee, a supporter of Subhendu Adhikari and former chairman of the number 4 borough com- mittee, the post of number 4 borough chairman in Durgapur Municipal Corporation was vacant. After the meeting at Durgapur Municipal Corporation, Minister Molay Ghatak told media personnel that he had come to have a meeting with the councilors. When asked about the meeting of Durgapur Municipal Corporation Mayor Dilip Augusti, he said that the development work of Durgapur Municipal Corporation was discussed in the meeting and Minister Molay Ghatak instructed all councilors and mayor council members to complete the development works as quick as possible because state assembly election is knosking at the door. Mayor said that number 4 has been agreed upon in the name of Sunil Chatterjee as chairman of the Borough Committee. The Mayor said that the development works of Durgapur Municipal Corporation will be completed on time by giving more momentum. When asked by councilor Sunil Chatterjee of ward number 29, he said that his name has been announced for the post of number 4 borough chairman. The appointment will be made officially on Monday. Moloy Ghatak inaugurated Candle Light Foundation Act, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. ‘GOVT READY TO DISCUSS ALL ISSUES WITH FARMERS’ As the farmers' agitation along the borders of Delhi entered its 30th day on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government is open to hold discussions with the farmers and opposition political parties to iron out the confusion over the newly passed farm laws. Modi said this after transferring more than Rs 18,000 crore to over nine crore beneficiary farmer families as part of the seventh instalment of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme -- a direct transfer scheme for the farmers -- even as the farmers continued to hold fort against his government over the contentious farm laws. MORE ON PG 5 ASANSOL: Ravindra Bhawan at BNR Asansol organized a grand event on the occasion of Christmas by Candle Light Foundation. On the occasion, Labour, Law and Justice Minister Molay Ghatak inaugurated the programme by cutting the cake. On the occasion, Raja De, the founder of the organization gave information about the organization in detail, on the occasion, Molay Ghatak said that he participates in every program of candle light foundation. He said that many people in the entire country as well as in this Shilpanchal were infected with Corona, but Mamta Banerjee provided one year's ration free during the ongoing lockdown in the Corona period. Not only this, the expensive treatment of corona was given free in Bengal. Molay Ghatak attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that during the lockdown when people were being forced to throw, Modi came on TV twice and asked to light the lamp and play the plate. He asked the attendees whether burning the lamp or playing the plate would make the corona worse or people would get food. Malay Ghatak accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of tricking people and said that under the leadership of Modi, BJP is trying to sell national resources like Coal India Railways. Malay Ghatak said that he prays to Lord Jesus that the Ganga Jamni of Bengal, who wants to hurt Tehzeeb, should not succeed in his plans and this large family of Bengal should be safe.He congratulated everyone for Christmas and New Year. Office parties, chai stalls are what people miss about workplace W ith work-fromhome taking over most of our lives in 2020, do people miss going to their workplaces? A WeWork year-end survey reveals that office parties, tea breaks, street food treats, meetings and even their office chairs, top the list of what people missed most about their workspace while hustling from home. The survey was carried out on respondents across levels and industries including IT, Internet, Hospitality, Human Resource, and three major metros -- Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The survey was taken by 3,000 plus participants. Here are some of the key insights gathered from the survey that reveal what people missed most about offices and expected trends of how workplaces in 2021 will look like: "Keep calm and drink beer" When asked, "What is the one thing that everyone misses most about the office but won't say out loud", a majority of the respondents agreed that they miss office parties - for the free beer. Among the top responses, about 33 per cent (LinkedIn) of the respondents also said that a break from family drama is sorely missed, and around 23 per cent (Twitter), missed that one glimpse of their office crush when away. "I want my chair back!" Working from home has led us to work from beds, sofas, bean bags or even floors. A majority of the respondents in the survey revealed that they want to go back to work because they want their office chairs back. Also, the satisfaction of uninstalling Zoom and prepping for a one-on-one meeting is what respondents look forward to the most upon their return. "Back to work, back to life" About 60 per cent of the respondents rated the 'lack of company and reduced personal connect with colleagues', distractions during work -- like children, visitors, housework and 'monotony of being in the same environment' as the top reasons to go back to work. "Stuck in traffic, no more an excuse" About 76 per cent of the postpandemic world don't wish to travel more than 5 km to get to work. Workspaces near homes and flexible workplaces are the need of the hour. "Safety and Hygiene is nonnegotiable" Almost two-thirds of the respondents said that strict social distancing norms had a very high likelihood to increase their willingness to go back to the office. An extra cautious and apparent behaviour toward safety and hygiene is what every respondent in the post pandemic world will be indulging in. A WEWORK YEAR-END SURVEY REVEALS THAT OFFICE PARTIES, TEA BREAKS, STREET FOOD TREATS, MEETINGS AND EVEN THEIR OFFICE CHAIRS, TOP THE LIST OF WHAT PEOPLE MISSED MOST ABOUT THEIR WORKSPACE WHILE HUSTLING FROM HOME. "Office lunch time is bae" When asked about the importance of lunch breaks, 33 per cent responded that a typical lunch while working is with colleagues and a side of office gossip. However, if that's what one doesn't choose to indulge in, street food treats during and post work come to the rescue as well. "Miss you everyday, chaiwala bhaiya" More than 40 per cent agree that the one thing they missed about the office but would rather not say it out loud is that they missed their tapri wali chai (local tea stall) "The year 2020 was a massive change not just for the business but for the entire human race globally. It changed how we worked and lived, blurring lines and sense of time. As 2020 was drawing to a close, we decided to lighten up the mood a little and hence we planned this year-end survey to find out in all honesty if and what people miss about their offices. And the survey did reveal some really fascinating and quirky insights. Respondents opened their hearts and their responses have also helped us identify their exact needs from workplaces in 2021. We observed enthusiasm to go back to work in a safe and healthy environment," Vineet Singh, Head of Brand and Marketing at WeWork India signed off.