YK MYK LOCKDOWN DUE TO PANDEMIC COMPLETES ONE YEAR ON MARCH 24 OPINION Rs. 5 RANCHI FRIDAY, 19 MARCH, 2021 PG-12, YEAR—10, ISSUE—313 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) WEATHER TODAY MAX 33 C MIN 21 C NEW CORRUPTION CHARGES LEVELLED AGAINST SUU KYI WORLD Morning India ‘Plan to restructure blocks after survey’ SANJAY SAHAY Sky will be clear. AT A GLANCE ONSCREEN RAM ARUN GOVIL JOINS BJP NEW DELHI: More than three decades after essaying the role of Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar's epic TV serial 'Ramayan', actor Arun Govil joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the national capital on Thursday in the presence of its national General Secretary Arun Singh and Union minister Debasree Chaudhuri. Welcoming Govil into the BJP, Singh said the actor has joined the party after being influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies. "He (Govil) played the character of Lord Ram in 'Ramayan', which was watched by over 7.7 crore people when the show was retelecast during the lockdown last year," Singh said. RANCHI: Chief Minister (CM) Hemant Soren on Thursday announced in Vidhan Sabha that the government will carry out a detailed survey in the State with a view to increase the number of blocks if required. Replying to a question raised by MLA Lobin Hembrom, he said that the survey would be house to house to ascertain the distance of residential localities to the government offices and other problems of people. He said based on data of the survey, the government would take a decision on the creation of new blocks. He said that the topography of the state is undulated, adding there is a huge distance between two blocks which is causing inconvenience to people. Replying to another question raised by BJP MLA Neelkanth Singh Munda, the CM said that the government would create a unique identity code for land plots adding CM Hemant Soren bats at JSCA ground in Ranchi on Thursday. Speaker XI beat CM XI in a friendly match. Hemant Sutradhar devices would also be set up for identification of land. Rajesh Kachhap raised the issue of surplus land being sold by the Heavy Engineering Corporation. He said that the land should be returned to the government. He demanded implementation of the Dr Rameshwar Oraon committee report in this regard. Apart from land issues, the House also witnessed a prolonged discussion on irrigation schemes. MLA Lobin Hembrom sounded irritated with the reply of his own minister and said that the latter is simply reading out replies provided by the officials in the House. Bandhu Tirkey raised the issue of the closure of the Koel Karo project. Ramchandra Chandravanshi demanded that the hydel project should be set up at all 42 small and big dams of the state. Pushpa Devi who was assisted by Bhanu Pratap Shahi pointed out that the 6 EACH FROM JD-U, BJP NOMINATED AS MLCS IN BIHAR LIC ALLOWS POLICYHOLDERS TO DEPOSIT MATURITY CLAIMS AT ANY OFFICE NEW DELHI: To mitigate the hardships faced due to corona pandemic, insurance major LIC has allowed its policyholders to deposit their maturity claim documents at their nearest LIC office anywhere in the country. "LIC has allowed its 113 divisional offices, 2,048 branches, 1,526 satellite offices and 74 customer zones to receive maturity claims documents from policyholders whose maturity payments are due, irrespective of the servicing branch of the policy," it said in a statement. CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 1,14,75,543 TOTAL DEATH: 159,259 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 121,959,298 TOTAL DEATH: 2,695,046 dam in Chattarpur has been repaired a number of times since 1980 but is not providing irrigation. Minister Mithlesh Thakur said that 200 hectares of kharif and 90 hectares of rabi crops are being irrigated. Shahi demanded that a committee be set up to inquire into misuse of funds by officials in name of repair. MLA Amit Mandal raised the issue of non-payment of pension. He said that while the government says that pension has been paid till January, the district administration has forwarded contradictory statements. The House witnessed a heated discussion when Mandal wanted to know whether the government would increase the pension from Rs 1000 to Rs 2500 as promised in the JMM manifesto. When the minister said that the proposal could be considered but no commitment can be made now MLA CP Singh alleged that the government was cheating the people. A farmer covers his head to protect from heat and drinks water during a protest against the new farm laws, at the Delhi-Ghazipur border in New Delhi on Thursday. ANI PATNA: Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan on Wednesday nominated 12 MLCs from JD-U and BJP from his own quota. This includes six leaders from the JD-U and six from the BJP, with Upendra Kushwaha being the most surprise pick, barely 72 hours after joining the JD-U. Sources said that Kushwaha is also a front-runner to get a place in the Cabinet of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Besides Kushwaha, JD-U minister Ashok Choudhary, who's known for his negotiation skills, has also been nominated as an MLC. Choudhary was instrumental in bringing BSP MLA. Toll booths to be replaced by GPS imaging technology within 1 year, says Nitin Gadkari NEW DELHI: All physical toll booths in the country will be removed and replaced by GPS imaging technology within one year, informed Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday. While addressing the Lok Sabha, Gadkari added that toll money will be collected based on GPS which will capture an image of the vehicle and charge accordingly. "I want to assure the House that within one year, all physical toll booths in the country will be removed. Toll money will be collected based on GPS imaging. At the entry of the road, there will be a camera that will capture an image on GPS. Toll money will be Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari addresses a Press conference regarding an issue of Vehicle Scrappage Policy in New Delhi on Thursday. ANI charged based on where one is coming and going from," the Union Minister said. "There will be no toll booths and no one will be stopped on their way," he added. Earlier in the day, the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister had also announced a vehicle scrappage policy in the House. "In case of failure to get a fitness certificate, commercial vehicles will be de-registered after 15 years. Private vehicles will be de-registered after 20 years if found unfit or in case of a failure to renew registration certificates," the Minister said. He added that under the new vehicle scrappage policy, owners of old vehicles will get strong incentives. COURTS SHOULDN'T SUGGEST MARRIAGE, COMPROMISE IN RAPE CASES: SUPREME COURT NEW DELHI: In a major judgment on gender-related crimes, the Supreme Court on Thursday stressed that courts should not suggest marriage or compromise between the accused and the victim in rape cases. A bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Ravindra Bhat said: "The courts while adjudicating cases involving genderrelated crimes, should not suggest or entertain any notions (or encourage any steps) towards compromises between the prosecutrix and the accused to get married, suggest or mandate mediation between the accused and the survivor, or any form of compromise as it is beyond their powers and jurisdiction." The top court emphasised that court should avoid discussion about the dress, behaviour, or past "conduct" or "morals" of the prosecutrix, and such things should not enter the verdict granting bail. Bail conditions should also not mandate, require or permit contact between the accused and the victim, it said. "Such conditions should seek to protect the complainant from any fur- ther harassment by the accused.. In all cases where bail is granted, the complainant should immediately be informed that the accused has been granted bail," it said. The top court said bail conditions and orders should avoid reflecting stereotypical or patriarchal notions about women and their place in society. "Sensitivity should be displayed at all times by judges, who should ensure that there is no traumatisation of the prosecutrix, during the proceedings, or anything said during the arguments," it said. The top court said the courts should desist from expressing any stereotypical opinion, in words spoken during proceedings, or in the course of a judicial order, to the effect that (i) women are physically weak and need protection; (ii) women are incapable of or cannot take decisions on their own; (iii) men are the "head" of the household and should take all the decisions relating to family; (iv) women should be submissive and obedient according to our culture; (v) "good" women are sexually chaste; (vi) motherhood is the duty and role of every woman, and assumptions to the effect that she wants to be a mother; (vii) women should be the ones in charge of their children, their upbringing and care; (viii) being alone at night or wearing certain clothes make women responsible for being attacked; (ix) a woman consuming alcohol, smoking, etc may justify unwelcome advances by men or "has asked for it"; (x) women are emotional and often overreact or dramatise events, hence it is necessary to corroborate their testimony; ALSO SEE PG 5 US DEFENCE SECRETARY VISITING INDIA TO DEEPEN STRATEGIC TIES NEW YORK: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is on his way to New Delhi for discussions on deepening strategic ties between the two democracies, affirming India's role as a key partner in President Joe Biden's focus on the Indo-Pacific to meet China's challenge. During his visit -- the first by a member of Biden's cabinet - that starts on Friday, he is to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Austin will come to India after visiting two US treaty allies, Japan and South Korea, on the frontlines of Chinese aggressiveness at sea in the region, and the military headquarters of the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii. Last week Biden held a virtual summit with other leaders of the Quad, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan, at which they discussed security issues in the face of Chinese aggressive actions. It was his first multilateral summit indicating his priority to the region. Outlining Austin's agenda in India, Acting Assistant Defence Secretary for Indo-Pacific, David F. Helvey, said that he will "discuss operationalising the major defence partnership that we have with India, including through enhanced information sharing, regional security cooperation, defence trade, and cooperation in new domains". Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the family members of the BJP workers who were killed, in Purulia on Thursday. ANI 'Khela' will end, 'vikas' start: Modi tells Didi KOLKATA: Countering Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress' popular slogan "Khela Hobe", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday trained guns at the West Bengal chief minister countering her with politics of developments, instead of unabated violence. "Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole chaakri hobe. Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole vikas hobe. Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole shiksha hobe....Khela shesh hobe, Didi ar vikas aarambho hobe, (Didi says there will be a game but BJP says there will be employment generation, development and education. Didi's match will come to an end and the process of development will start in Bengal)," Modi said at an election rally in Purulia. Modi also took a dig at the issues like drinking water crisis, rampant corruption and violence across the state by the ruling Trinamool Congress in the past 10-years. "People of Bengal want an answer from Mamata Didi. This government has robbed people of its rights in the name appeasement. It has neglected the issues of Other Backward Class (OBC) communities. The state government has also encouraged coal and sand mafias in running syndicate raj across Bengal," he said. Optimistic about Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s electoral win, he said that the people of Bengal would resist the misrule of Trinamool in the forthcoming state assembly polls this time. Braving high mercury, hundreds of sloganeering BJP supporters, armed with party's flags, caps and posters, came to attend the Modi rally that was held at Bhangra More in Purulia district on Thursday. "The countdown for the end of the Trinamool government has begun. Now no more fear. Our target is to only secure electoral victory...Didi has received leg injury. I'm concerned about that. I pray so that' she gets well soon," he said, wishing Mamata Banerjee a speedy recovery. Earlier, the state unit of BJP had dubbed Mamata's Nandigram incident a sheer 'drama' to win voters' sentiment in the seat.