YK MYK COMPREHENSIVE PREPARATIONS FOR BUDGET SESSION, SAYS OM BIRLA TRY THESE APPETIZING DISHES FOR WARM WINTER MEAL NATION FOOD AND TASTE Morning India Rs. 5 RANCHI SATURDAY, 9 JAN, 2021 PG-12, YEAR—10, ISSUE—245 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) LALU'S CASE: ANOTHER RAPE CASE ROCKS STATE CAPITAL HC takes WIDOW GANG-RAPED IN CHATRA, REWARD FOR ORMANJHI CLUE HIKED TO RS 5 L RAJ KUMAR RANCHI: Even as the Ranchi police are struggling to resolve the Ormanjhi murder case, yet another rape case rocked the capital on Friday. This was reflected today when another case of rape surfaced from Hatia under Jagannathpur police station. The victim is a 25-yr-old woman, who runs a tea shop for livelihood in front of Family Mart at Hatia. She is a resident of Sisai in Gumla. The rapist injured her head in order to commit rape. The matter came to the fore after a youth, who found her unconscious near WEATHER TODAY MAX 28 C MIN 16 C Sky will be partly cloudy. AT A GLANCE 26/11 ATTACK: LAKHVI AWARDED 15 YEARS JAIL TERM BY PAK COURT LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court in Lahore on Friday sentenced 26/11 Mumbai Terror attacks mastermind Zakiur-urRehman Lakhvi, a leader of the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist outfit to 15 years in prison in a terror-funding case. ATC-III Judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar pronounced the verdict and awarded a fine of Rs 300,000 to Lakhvi for running a medical dispensary to collect and disburse funds for terrorist activities according to The Express Tribune. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police arrested Lakhvi on January 2 on the charges of terror financing case. The arrest was made in relation to terrorism financing, a spokesman for CTD clarified, and not for a "specific militant attack". WORLD Birsa Chowk, brought her to a private nursing home for treatment, and from the nursing home, she was referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for better treatment. Treatment of the victim is undergoing under the supervision of Dr Anil Kumar at the neuro-surgery department. Officer-in-charge of Jagannathpur police station, Ajay Kumar Singh, confirmed the incident but refused to divulge any further details in the matter. "One arrest has taken place in the connection. The matter is under investigation," OC Singh said when asked for comment. The beheaded body of the woman had been recovered on January 3. So far no clue has been found in the case. Police who had earlier declared the reward of Rs 25,000 on the second day of the recovery of the body for a clue today increased the reward amount to Rs 5 lakh. The situation has made police, public, and politicians restless. On January 4, the convoy of the chief minister was also attacked at Harmu Road due to the situation. The main opposition party of the state, BJP, has taken serious note of this situation and has started agitation against it. But despite all, the morale of rapists is high. Notably, on December 14, Governor Droupadi Murmu had directed the state DGP M.V.Roa to upgrade policing to provide proper safety and security to everyone, especially women and children while expressing her concern over the growing instances of rape. In another incident of rape, four youths gangraped a 50-yr-old widow at 11 pm on Thursday at a village under Hunterganj block of Chatra district. The woman was admitted to a community health centre in critical condition. An FIR was registered against three persons in this connec- tion and an investigation was started. Superintendent of police of Chatra, Rishav Kumar Jha, confirmed the incident sharing a press release issued in this connection from his office. The release suggested two have been arrested in this connection so far while an attempt is on to arrest the third. The release suggested the condition of the victim is normal. The press release claims to ensure quick justice to the victim. The release does not name any accused. However, a police official said the accused include Bablu Paswan and Biltu Paswan and an unknown. "Bablu has been arrested," the official said. In yet another case of rape, on Thursday around 1am (night hour) at Barharhi village under Mandar police station area, one Ishtiyque Ansari (21) raped a minor girl when she was alone. After the girl raised the alarm, two villagers caught Ansari and handed him over to the police. Today the tribals protested against the incident by burning effigy of chief minister Hemant Soren and threatened to intensify the agitation if the government fails to put a check against crime against women. SC TELLS STATES Give firearms, bullet-proof jackets to forest officials NEW DELHI: Expressing serious concern over brutal attack by poachers on unarmed forest officials, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the state governments to follow the Assam model and provide firearms and bulletproof jackets to forest guards. The bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said that it was "extremely distressing" to see forest officials wearing slippers and armed with sticks put on duty to protect large tracts of forest land and flora and fauna. The Chief Justice also observed that the unarmed officials stood little chance against heavily armed poachers. "A forest ranger is in a situation where he cannot call for help unlike a policeman in a city. No one to help him in a forest," he remarked. The bench pointed out that the situation was "serious and difficult to comprehend" as to how these guards have to protect vast tracts of inhabited land, which the poachers take undue advantage of to carry out their nefarious activities. The Chief Justice recalled that pangolin scales were seized by forest officials in the past, adding that these were in great demand in China. The poachers operate as part of an illegal international trade in wildlife, running into millions of dollars. "When powerful organised gangs are behind it, one must arm the forest officials and if possible open a wildlife wing in the Enforcement Directorate to deal exclusively with illegal trade in wildlife involving millions of dollars," the CJI said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta agreed with the court's suggestion and submitted that the central government would explore such possibility. COVID-19 TREATMENT MAY QUALIFY FOR TAX BENEFITS NEW DELHI: Continuing with its pandemic relief initiatives, the government may extend income tax deduction benefits for Covid-19 treatment to individuals not covered under any health insurance. Sources said that several pre-budget proposals for providing tax relief for Covid-19 treatment have come to the Revenue Department and these are being actively examined. If the proposal is accepted, it may form part of budget proposals for 2021-22, they added. Currently, few deductions have been prescribed under Chapter VI-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for medical treatment for self or dependent suffering from disability/severe disability (Sections 80DD, 80U), and medical treatment of prescribed diseases and ailments (Section 80DDB). PG 5 serious view of jail norms’ violation SANJAY SAHAY RANCHI: Jharkhand High has taken a serious view of the alleged violation of the jail manual during treatment of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad in the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences(RIMS). During the hearing before the court of Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh on Friday the state government informed the court that there are no clear cut provisions in the jail manual for keeping the prisoners outside the jail for treatment. There is no standard operating procedure (SOP) in this regard also, it stated, adding the government is updating the jail manual and also preparing the SOP. The court fixed the next date of hearing on January 22 while instructing the government to submit the SOP. Earlier, the High Court had directed the state to file STATE RECORDS 207 NEW COVID CASES Indian squad celebrates a dismissal on the second day of the Third Test Match at Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney on Friday. ANI RANCHI: The State on Friday reported 207 cases of Covid19 taking the total tally to 116436. Among the samples tested positive, 102 cases were reported from Ranchi, 4 from Chaibasa, 2 from Koderma, 17 from Jamshedpur, 10 from Palamu, 3 from Deoghar, 29 from Dhanbad, 12 from Bokaro and 3 from Saraikela. Meanwhile, 2 deaths were reported, one each from Dhanbad and Ranchi. Earlier, 195 cases were reported on Thursday. However, 188 patients recovered from the virus and returned home. 87 patients recovered from the virus in Ranchi, 22 in Jamshedpur, 18 from Dhanbad, 2 from Garhwa, 6 from Hazaribagh, and 2 from Saraikela. Active cases reached 1465 and total of 113928 patients recovered from the virus so far in the state. However, 1043 people lost their lives. Health Secretary, Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni said that the recovery rate of COVID19 infected patients has increased to 97.84 percent which is a good sign for us. Govt-farmers meeting ends; Next round of talks likely on Jan 15 NEW DELHI: The eighth round of talks between the government and representatives of protesting unions ended without any outcome on Friday and the next meeting is likely to take place on January 15, sources said. Sticking to their key demand of the repeal of three farm laws to end their protest, farmer leaders told the government their "ghar wapsi" from protest sites on Delhi borders can happen only after "law wapsi" but the Centre insisted talks must be limited to contentious clauses and ruled out a complete withdrawal of Acts. Sources said not much discussions could take place at the meeting and the next date has been decided after keep- Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar speaks to media after the meeting with farmers' leaders at Vigyan Bhavan on Friday. ANI ing in mind a scheduled hearing of Supreme Court on January 11. The government sources said the apex court may look into the legality of the three laws, besides other issues related to farmers' protests. At the eighth round of negotiations with the 41member representative group of protesting farmers, the government ruled out the repeal of the laws, while asserting that these reforms have been welcomed by a large section of farmers in various states and asked the unions to think about the interests of the entire country. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, have been holding talks with unions at Vigyan Bhawan in the heart of the national capital, while thousands of farmers have stayed put at various Delhi borders to protest against the three laws they find pro-corporate and against the existing mandi and MSP procurement systems. ALSO SEE PG 6 Army officers face higher stress levels than jawans: Study NEW DELHI: Observing that the continuous exposure to counterterrorism operations has been contributing to the higher stress levels in the Indian Army, a study done by the United Services Institution of India (USI) suggests that the officers in the force face much more stress than what is faced by the jawans. The USI study 'Prevailing Stress Levels in Indian Army due to Prolonged Exposure to Counter Insurgency/Counter Terrorism Environment" was done by Colonel Mor--an Army officer on study leave. The study suggests that presently, more than half of the Army personnel seem to be under stress and the force has been losing more personnel every year due to suicides, fratricides and untoward incidents than in response to any enemy or terrorist activity. The study pointed out that the main reason behind the stress were both operational and nonoperational, which are avoidable and are resented against. The Indian Army rejected the findings made by the study saying the number of personnel who have been talked to or the sample sur- an affidavit listing out details of the directions leading to shifting of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad from the paying ward to the Kelly bungalow and back in RIMS. The State counsel was also asked to file details about the number of persons who visited Lalu and other details like rules for allowing sewadars to the prisoners. It may be stated here that two PILs related to the alleged violation of the jail norms by Lalu may be also taken up on January 22. vey is too minuscule to derive such conclusions and the morale of the troops is very high. "Unsurprisingly, it is precisely these non-combat stressors that add on to the operational stressors and have compounding adverse effects on health and combat efficiency of soldiers and thus affect- ing their respective units too. The stress management measures, therefore, need to be focused towards mitigating organisational causes of non-operational stressors," the study said. It added that despite the harsh and challenging service conditions, Indian Army personnel remain highly motivated to serve in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency areas voluntarily and "possess high confidence in the training, weapons and equipment provided." The study suggests that prolonged exposure to excessive stress has serious adverse effects on the health and efficiency of soldiers and combat units. "Units and sub-units under stress are likely to witness an increased number of incidents of indiscipline, unsatisfactory state of training, inadequate maintenance THE STUDY POINTED OUT THAT THE MAIN REASON BEHIND THE STRESS WERE BOTH OPERATIONAL AND NON-OPERATIONAL, WHICH ARE AVOIDABLE AND ARE RESENTED AGAINST. THE INDIAN ARMY REJECTED THE FINDINGS MADE BY THE STUDY. of equipment and low morale, motivation, and esprit-de-corps, thereby, adversely affecting their combat preparedness and operational performance," it said. It suggested that the "soldiers under stress need to be counseled, motivated, and dealt with empathy. Military leaders need to be capable of identifying the stressors and initiating appropriate actions at their level to mitigate the effects of stress." The study lists "inadequacies in the quality of leadership, overburdened commitments, inadequate resources, frequent dislocations, lack of fairness and transparency in postings and promotions, down gradation in pay and status, zero error syndrome, inadequate promotional avenues, micromanagement, insufficient accommodation, and educational facilities, lack of motivation amongst juniors, nongrant of leave, indifferent attitude of civilian officials and short command tenures" as part of the organisational stressors among the officer cadre in the forces. The study suggested that to address the stress levels in the force, the main focus should be on addressing the stress caused by the non-combat factor. BHARAT BIOTECH SEEKS NOD FOR TRIALS OF NASAL COVID-19 VACCINE NEW DELHI: The Bharat Biotech International Limited has sent a proposal to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for conducting the phase 1 trials of a nasal vaccine against COVID-19, informed a government official on Friday. "Bharat Biotech sent an application to DCGI for conducting the phase 1 trials of a nasal vaccine against COVID19. The matter is yet to be taken up," the official said. A nasal vaccine could save on medical equipment, such as syringes, and save time taken for vaccination. COVID-19 vaccines of Serum Institute of India's 'Covishield' and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' were granted permission for restricted use in an emergency situation by the DCGI on January 3. This comes a day after Bharat Biotech announced the successful completion of volunteer enrolment for phase-3 clinical trials of 'Covaxin.' The indigenous vaccine has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) National Institute of Virology (NIV). MORE INSIDE